August 27 Holidays

August 27 is the 239th day of the year. More than 10 holidays and observances fall on the date. National Just Because Day was created to encourage people to do something spontaneous for no particular reason. National Petroleum Day marks August 27, 1859, when Edwin Drake struck oil at his Titusville, Pennsylvania, well — the first commercially successful oil well in the United States, launching the petroleum industry. National Pots De Creme Day celebrates the individual French baked chocolate custard — a dessert whose name means “pots of cream” and whose intense cocoa concentration makes it one of the richest chocolate preparations in the French pastry canon. The Duchess Who Wasn’t Day marks August 27, 1899, the birthday of Mazo de la Roche, the Canadian author who created the Jalna series — the most successful Canadian fiction franchise of the 20th century. This page is refreshed each year as new observances are added.