April 27
April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 248 days remaining. Events1124 - David becomes King of Scotland. 1296 - Battle of Dunbar: The Scots are defeated by Edward I of England. 1509 - Pope Julius II places the Italian state of Venice under interdict. 1521 - Battle of Mactan: Explorer Ferdinand Magellan is killed by natives in the Philippines led by chief Lapu-Lapu. 1565 - Cebu is established becoming the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines. 1667 - The blind, impoverished John Milton sells the copyright of Paradise Lost for £10. 1773 - The British Parliament passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade. 1805 - First Barbary War: United States Marines and Berbers attack the Tripolitan city of Derna (The "shores of Tripoli" part of the Marines' hymn). 1813 - War of 1812: United States troops capture the capital of Ontario, York (present day Toronto, Ontario).1840 - Foundation stone for new Palace of Westminster, London, laid by wife of Sir Charles Barry.1861 - President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus. 1865 - The steamboat Sultana, carrying 2,300 passengers, explodes and sinks in the Mississippi River, killing 1,700, most of whom were Union survivors of the Andersonville Prison. 1897 - Grant's Tomb is dedicated.1904 - The Australian Labor Party becomes the first such party to gain national government, under Chris Watson.1908 - The 1908 Summer Olympics open in London. 1909 - Sultan of Turkey Abdul Hamid II is overthrown, and is succeeded by his brother, Murat V. 1936 - The United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) gains autonomy from the American Federation of Labor.1941 - World War II: German troops enter Athens. 1947 - Babe Ruth Day is celebrated at Yankee Stadium1950 - Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed formally segregating races. 1954 - The film White Christmas, starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, premieres.1960 - Togo gains independence from French-administered UN trusteeship. 1961 - Sierra Leone is granted its independence from the United Kingdom, with Milton Margai as the first Prime Minister. 1967 - Expo '67 opens in Montreal, Quebec. 1972 - Constructive Vote of No Confidence against German Chancellor Willy Brandt fails under obscure circumstances.1981 - Xerox PARC introduces the computer mouse. 1986 - Captain Midnight (John R. MacDougall) hijacks HBO's satellite and transmits his own message to HBO viewers. 1994 - The first democratic general election in South Africa, in which black citizens vote.1994 - The funeral of former U.S President Richard Nixon is held in Nixon's hometown of Yorba Linda, California. Several foriegn dignitaries and all five living U.S. presidents attend.1997 - Andrew Cunanan murders Jeffrey Trail, beginning a murder spree that will last until July and terminate with the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace.
Births1737 - Edward Gibbon, historian (d. 1794)1759 - Mary Wollstonecraft, feminist, activist, author (d. 1797)1791 - Samuel F. B. Morse, inventor of Morse code (d. 1872)1812 - Friedrich von Flowtow, composer (d. 1883)1820 - Herbert Spencer, philosopher (d. 1903)1822 - Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States (d. 1885)1878 - Frank Alvin Gotch, American wrestler (d. 1917)1888 - Florence La Badie, pioneer actress (d. 1917)1894 - Nicolas Slonimsky, musicologist and composer (d.1995)1896 - Rogers Hornsby, Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1963)1899 - Walter Lantz, American cartoonist (d. 1994)1900 - Martin Beheim-Schwarzenbach, narrator, lyricist and essayist (d. 1985)1904 - Cecil Day-Lewis, poet and writer (d. 1972)1913 - Philip Hauge Abelson, physicist, co-discoverer of Neptunium (d. 2004)1916 - Enos Slaughter, Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 2002)1920 - Guido Cantelli, conductor (d. 1956)1922 - Jack Klugman, actor1927 - Coretta King, civil rights activist and widow of the Reverend Martin Luther King1931 - Igor Oistrakh, Ukrainian violinist1932 - Anouk Aimée, actress 1932 - Casey Kasem, American disc jockey 1932 - Gian-Carlo Rota, mathematician and philosopher (d. 1999)1937 - Sandy Dennis, actress (d. 1992)1941 - Lee Roy Jordan, American football player1945 - August Wilson, playwright1947 - Ace Frehley, musician ("KISS")1959 - Sheena Easton, singer1963 - Cali Timmins, actress1967 - Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, crown prince of the Netherlands1969 - Darcey Bussell, UK ballerina1969 - Mica Paris, UK singer and presenter1970 - Kylie Travis, actress and model
Deaths399 BC - Socrates, philosopher (poison via hemlock) (b. 470 BC)630 - Ardashir III, king of the Sassanid dynasty1404 - Philip the Bold Duke of Burgundy (b. 1342)1521 - Ferdinand Magellan, explorer (b. 1470)1530 - Jacopo Sannazaro, Italian poet (b. 1458)1605 - Pope Leo XI (b. 1535)1613 - Robert Abercromby, Jesuit (b. 1532)1813 - Zebulon Pike, mountain man, explorer (b. 1779)1882 - Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist (b. 1803)1915 - Alexander Scriabin, composer (b. 1872)1921 - Arthur Mold, controversial Lancashire fast bowler and alleged "chucker" (b. 1863)1932 - Hart Crane, writer (suicide) (b. 1899)1936 - Karl Pearson, statistician (b. 1857)1965 - Edward R. Murrow, journalist (b. 1908)1972 - Kwame Nkrumah, first post-independence leader of Ghana (b. 1909)1992 - Olivier Messiaen, composer (b. 1908)1995 - Willem Frederik Hermans, Dutch writer (b. 1921)1999 - Al Hirt, musician (b. 1922)2002 - George Alec Effinger, science fiction author (b. 1947)2002 - Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, Swiss industrialist and art collector
Holidays and observancesSlovenia: Day of Uprising Against OccupationSouth Africa: Freedom dayIndependence Day: Togo, 1960; Sierra Leone, 1961Feast of Saint Zita in the Roman Catholic Church
External links BBC: On This Day
April 26 - April 28 - March 27 - May 27 -- listing of all days
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