December 27 Birthday
On December 27, 1979, 100,000 Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. The invasion was intended to support the communist government against a growing insurgency. The war lasted ten years and killed over 1 million Afghans and 15,000 Soviets. The US funded the mujahideen through Pakistan, providing $3 billion in weapons including Stinger missiles. The Soviet withdrawal in 1989 was a humiliation that contributed to the collapse of the USSR. The civil war that followed produced the Taliban, which provided safe haven to al-Qaeda. Charles Darwin departed on HMS Beagle on December 27, 1831. The voyage was planned to last two years; it lasted five. Darwin collected specimens, observed species, and filled notebooks with observations that would become the basis for On the Origin of Species. He was twenty-two. He was seasick for most of the voyage and spent as much time as possible on land. The Beagle's captain, Robert FitzRoy, later regretted taking Darwin — he felt that Darwin's theory undermined the Bible and his own faith. People born on December 27 fall under the zodiac sign of Capricorn. The birthstone is Tanzanite and the birth flower is Holly. Historical events on December 27 include 1831: Charles Darwin departs on HMS Beagle for five-year voyage, 1979: Soviet Union invades Afghanistan (begins ten-year war), 1945: International Monetary Fund and World Bank formally established. Famous people born on December 27 include Johannes Kepler (1571), Louis Pasteur (1822), Marlene Dietrich (1901).