Daily Archives: February 27, 2012

Nixons depart China, ending historic visit 40 years ago this hour (1972)


Video: Shanghai Communique comes together (at 3:44)

(Sunday, February 27, 1972, 9:12 p.m. EST) — U.S. President Richard M. Nixon departed China this morning (10:12 a.m. local time, Feb. 28, 1972) with a goodbye wave from a solemn Premier Chou En-lai in his gray tunic. Nixon and his wife Pat spent a week in China, an important step in formally normalizing relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Morant, Handcock executed for war crimes 110 years ago today (1902)


Video: 'Breaker Morant' film (part 12)

(Thursday, February 27, 1902, shortly before 6:00 a.m. local time) — Australian soldiers Harry “Breaker” Morant and Peter Handcock were shot this morning by a British firing squad in South Africa for the murder of 12 prisoners of war during the dying days of the Boer War. Questions have since been raised as to whether they received a fair trial.

‘Stonewall’ Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign begins 150 years ago today (1862)

Video: Shenandoah Valley Campaign begins (at 8:06)

(Thursday, February 27, 1862, during the American Civil War) — The Shenandoah Valley Campaign, Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s famous spring 1862 campaign through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, began today.

In six small engagements (through June 9), at Kernstown, McDowell, Front Royal, Winchester, Cross Keys, and Port Republic, Jackson tied down large Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley that otherwise would have been used—probably decisively, in a Union offensive against the Confederate capital at Richmond.