1. On August 27, 1908, African American boxer Jack Johnson defeated Tommy Burns to become the first black heavyweight boxing champion. This historic event took place in Sydney, Australia, but Johnson was a native of Galveston, Texas.

2. On August 27, 1928, Hurricane San Felipe-Okeechobee struck South Florida, causing extensive damage and claiming hundreds of lives. The storm also affected parts of Texas, including the town of Beeville, which experienced heavy rainfall and flooding.

3. On August 27, 1962, NASA's Mariner 2 spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a mission to Venus. The probe successfully flew by the planet in December of that year, becoming the first spacecraft to conduct a successful planetary encounter.

4. On August 27, 1983, Texas Monthly magazine published an article by author Jan Reid about the controversial 1978 murder of San Antonio millionaire and former Senator John Tower's campaign treasurer, Martha Whitehead. The article, titled "The Witness," garnered national attention and played a key part in bringing the case to trial.

5. On August 27, 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Rockport, Texas, causing catastrophic flooding and leaving tens of thousands of people displaced or without power. The storm was one of the costliest and deadliest natural disasters in the history of the United States.