Friday, February 27, 2026

Russian statesman and politician Boris Nemtsov, an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin, was assassinated in central Moscow.

Violent riots, perceived to have been instigated by a train fire that killed 59 Hindu pilgrims, broke out in the Indian state of Gujarat, killing at least 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, over three days.

The multimedia franchise Pokémon was launched with the release of the video games Pocket Monsters Red and Green.

The Armenian community of Sumgait in Azerbaijan was the target of a violent pogrom (memorial pictured).

The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, known for its performances of Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas, gave its final performance.

The Sunday People revealed that James Humphreys, a notorious pornographer, had bribed a senior London police officer with a holiday to Cyprus and Beirut.

Two dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots bombed the Independence Palace in Saigon in a failed attempt to assassinate President Ngo Dinh Diem.

American biochemists Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discovered carbon-14, a radioactive isotope of carbon, which is now used extensively as the basis of the radiocarbon dating method to date archaeological and geological samples.