Good morning. It's August 27th — let's begin where we always do: on this very date in history.
📅 On This Day — August 27
🤷 (It's also National Just Because Day.)
1955 — The first Guinness Book of Records was published — dreamed up to settle pub arguments, it became a global phenomenon of its own.
1962 — NASA launched Mariner 2 toward Venus — soon to become the first spacecraft to successfully fly by another planet.
1982 — Oakland's Rickey Henderson stole his 119th base of the season, breaking Lou Brock's record on his way to an untouchable 130.
1991 — Seattle's Pearl Jam released their debut album "Ten" — a cornerstone of the grunge era about to sweep the decade.
2003 — Mars made its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, blazing bright in the late-summer sky for backyard stargazers everywhere.
Now, let's set the dial back to 2012…
⏪ REWIND: 2012 Barack Obama is president, a first-class stamp is 45 cents, gas is about $3.70 a gallon — and there's a brand-new rover rolling across another planet.
📰 The Headlines Earlier this month, on August 6, NASA's Curiosity rover survived its "seven minutes of terror" — a wild sky-crane landing — and touched down safely on Mars. Now the SUV-sized robot is beaming home postcards from Gale Crater.
🎬 At the Movies Still filling theaters: The Dark Knight Rises — Christopher Nolan's epic, thunderous finale to his Batman trilogy, with Bane rumbling through a besieged Gotham.
🎵 On the Charts At #1 is "Whistle" by Flo Rida — the breezy, impossible-to-avoid earworm of the summer.
🏆 In Sports The afterglow of the London Olympics is everywhere — the Games closed just two weeks ago, with Usain Bolt's lightning double and Michael Phelps swimming off into retirement as the most decorated Olympian ever.
🏰 The Disney Vault In theaters from Disney and Pixar: Brave — the Scottish Highlands, a wild-haired archer named Merida, and Pixar's first film led by a heroine.
— a couple of quick things before you go —
👟 Step Challenge: the Summer 2026 Step Challenge is rolling — grab the free Pacer app and walk with us: Join the challenge (already have Pacer? Club code E42727228). Every step counts.
💡 Health Snap: "just because" is reason enough — take a short walk today for no reason at all, and notice how the late-August light is starting to change.
🎉 Born on an August 27th — or know someone who was?
Forward this to them right now — there's no better "this is the day you were born" gift than a little time travel.
🎂 In good company: August 27 babies include artist Man Ray (1890), actress Tuesday Weld (1943), Paul "Pee-wee Herman" Reubens (1952), designer Tom Ford (1961), and Aaron Paul (1979).
(Got this from a friend? Subscribe free at yesterdaytoday.news.)
Yesterday Today — A NovaOpsLab Briefing Series 345 Route 9 South, Suite 358, Englishtown, NJ 07726 You subscribed at yesterdaytoday.news. [Unsubscribe anytime]. Yesterday Today may earn a commission from partner links.