Template:On this day - February 27

Alejandro Malaspina

• 1537 – King Charles I creates the Spanish marine infantry, the oldest in the world of its kind.
• 1767 – Charles III of Spain issues a Pragmatic Sanction by which the Jesuits are expelled from all the dominions of the Spanish Monarchy.
• 1807 – The explorer Alejandro Malaspina reports to the Viceroy of the Río de la Plata that he has carried out a survey of Tierra del Fuego and the Patagonian coast, and has explored the Santa Cruz and Gallegos rivers.
• 1827 – Death of Simón de Rojas, Spanish botanist (b. 1777).
• 1829 – Gran Colombia defeats the Republic of Peru at the Battle of Portete de Tarqui.
• 1843 – In Equatorial Guinea, a Spanish expedition carries out the effective occupation of the island of Fernando Poo (Bioko).
• 1844 – The Dominican Republic gains its independence from Haiti, and General Pedro Santana is appointed president. It is the first time that name is used to refer to the eastern half of the island of Hispaniola.
• 1852 – In the Republic of New Granada (present-day Panama), the city of Colón is founded.
• 1853 – In Mataró, the Española, the first steam locomotive built in Spain, enters service.
• 1855 – The Isthmus of Panama becomes a federal State of the United States of Colombia.
• 1864 – In Tabasco (Mexico), the nationals drive out the invading French troops at the Capture of San Juan Bautista.
• 1879 – Chile occupies the Bolivian city of Antofagasta.
• 1937 – In Spain, the Francoist regime restores the Grenadiers' March as national anthem and makes official the Cara al Sol, the Marcha de Oriamendi and the Hymn of the Legion.
• 1939 – At the end of the Spanish Civil War, France and England recognize as legitimate the regime of the rebel faction led by Francisco Franco.
• 1942 – England returns the Patos Island to Venezuela, recognizing its jurisdiction over the Gulf of Paria.
• 1945 – In the Philippines, the American general MacArthur names Sergio Osmeña puppet president.
• 1946 – The French government closes the border with Spain, as part of its policy of isolating the Francoist regime.
• 1963 – Juan Bosch takes office as President of the Dominican Republic, after the death of the dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo.
• 1974 – In Venezuela, Las Tetas de María Guevara (on Margarita Island) are declared a national park.
• 1976 – In Western Sahara, the Polisario Front proclaims the establishment of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
• 1980 – The Colombian guerrilla group 19th of April Movement takes over the embassy of the Dominican Republic in Bogotá during a reception for Dominican independence, holding hostage for up to two months 15 ambassadors, the apostolic nuncio and dozens of Colombian and foreign officials.
• 1981 – Mass demonstrations are held in all Spanish capitals in support of the democratic system and in rejection of the attempted coup d'état of 23 February.
• 2010 – In Chile, at 3:34 (local time), a strong earthquake of magnitude 8.8 shakes the country. The tragedy causes some 530 deaths, millions affected and extensive material damage.