April 27

April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 248 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 33 BC – Lucius Marcius Philippus, step-brother to the future emperor Augustus, celebrates a triumph for his victories while serving as governor in one of the provinces of Hispania.

• 395 – Emperor Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of the more powerful Roman empresses of Late Antiquity.

• 1296 – First War of Scottish Independence: John Balliol's Scots army is defeated by an English army commanded by John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey at the Battle of Dunbar.

• 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.
• 1522 – Combined forces of Spain and the Papal States defeat a French and Venetian army at the Battle of Bicocca.
• 1539 – Re-founding of the city of Bogotá, New Granada (now Colombia), by Nikolaus Federmann and Sebastián de Belalcázar.
• 1565 – Cebu is established becoming the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.
• 1578 – Duel of the Mignons claims the lives of two favourites of Henry III of France and two favorites of Henry I, Duke of Guise.
• 1650 – The Battle of Carbisdale: A Royalist army from Orkney invades mainland Scotland but is defeated by a Covenanter army.
• 1667 – The blind and impoverished John Milton sells the copyright of Paradise Lost for £10.
• 1749 – First performance of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks in Green Park, London.
• 1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Ridgefield: A British invasion force engages and defeats Continental Army regulars and militia irregulars at Ridgefield, Connecticut.
• 1805 – First Barbary War: United States Marines and Berbers attack the Tripolitan city of Derna (The "shores of Tripoli" part of the Marines' hymn).
• 1810 – Beethoven composes Für Elise.
• 1813 – War of 1812: United States troops capture the capital of Upper Canada in the Battle of York (present day Toronto, Canada).
• 1840 – Foundation stone for new Palace of Westminster, London, is laid by wife of Sir Charles Barry.
• 1861 – President of the United States Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus.
• 1865 – The New York State Senate creates Cornell University as the state's land grant institution.
• 1865 – The steamboat SS Sultana, carrying 2,400 passengers, explodes and sinks in the Mississippi River, killing 1,700, most of whom are Union survivors of the Andersonville and Cahaba Prisons.
• 1904 – The Australian Labor Party becomes the first such party to gain national government, under Chris Watson.
• 1909 – Sultan of Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II is overthrown, and is succeeded by his brother, Mehmed V.
• 1911 – Following the resignation and death of William P. Frye, a compromise is reached to rotate the office of President pro tempore of the United States Senate.
• 1914 – Honduras becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
• 1927 – Carabineros de Chile (Chilean national police force and gendarmery) are created.
• 1936 – The United Auto Workers (UAW) gains autonomy from the American Federation of Labor.
• 1941 – World War II: German troops enter Athens.
• 1941 – World War II: The Communist Party of Slovenia, the Slovene Christian Socialists, the left-wing Slovene Sokols (also known as "National Democrats") and a group of progressive intellectuals establish the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People.
• 1945 – World War II: German troops are finally expelled from Finnish Lapland.
• 1945 – World War II: Benito Mussolini is arrested by Italian partisans in Dongo, while attempting escape disguised as a German soldier.
• 1950 – Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed formally segregating races.
• 1953 – Operation Moolah is initiated by General Mark W. Clark against Communist pilots.
• 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 officially opens in Montreal, Canada with a large opening ceremony broadcast around the world. It opens to the public the next day.
• 1974 – 10,000 march in Washington, D.C., calling for the impeachment of US President Richard Nixon
• 1977 – 28 people are killed in the Guatemala City air disaster.
• 1978 – Former United States President Nixon aide John D. Ehrlichman is released from an Arizona prison after serving 18 months for Watergate-related crimes.
• 1981 – Xerox PARC introduces the computer mouse.
• 1987 – The U.S. Department of Justice bars the Austrian President Kurt Waldheim from entering the United States, saying he had aided in the deportation and execution of thousands of Jews and others as a German Army officer during World War II.
• 1992 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, comprising Serbia and Montenegro, is proclaimed.
• 1992 – Betty Boothroyd becomes the first woman to be elected Speaker of the British House of Commons in its 700-year history.
• 1992 – Russia and 12 other former Soviet republics become members of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
• 1993 – All members of the Zambia national football team lose their lives in a plane crash off Libreville, Gabon en route to Dakar, Senegal to play a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Senegal.
• 1994 – South African general election, 1994: The first democratic general election in South Africa, in which black citizens could vote. The Interim Constitution comes into force.
• 1996 – The 1996 Lebanon war ends.
• 2002 – The last successful telemetry from the NASA space probe Pioneer 10.
• 2005 – The superjumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380 makes its first flight from Toulouse, France.
• 2006 – Construction begins on the Freedom Tower for the new World Trade Center in New York City.
• 2007 – Estonian authorities remove the Bronze Soldier, a Soviet Red Army war memorial in Tallinn, amid political controversy with Russia.
• 2011 – The April 25–28, 2011 tornado outbreak devastates parts of the Southeastern United States, especially the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee. 205 tornadoes touched down on April 27 alone, killing more than 300 and injuring hundreds more.

 

Births

• 1623 – Johann Adam Reinken, German organist and composer (d. 1722)
• 1650 – Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1714)
• 1701 – Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (d. 1773)
• 1718 – Thomas Lewis, Irish-American surveyor and lawyer (d. 1790)
• 1724 – Thomas Gardner, American politician and soldier (d. 1775)
• 1737 – Edward Gibbon, English historian (d. 1794)
• 1748 – Adamantios Korais, Greek scholar (d. 1833)
• 1755 – Marc-Antoine Parseval, French mathematician (d. 1836)
• 1759 – Mary Wollstonecraft, English author and philosopher (d. 1797)
• 1791 – Samuel Morse, American inventor and painter, co-inventor of the Morse code (d. 1872)
• 1806 – Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies (d. 1878)
• 1812 – Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (d. 1883)
• 1812 – William W. Snow, American politician (d. 1886)
• 1820 – Herbert Spencer, English philosopher (d. 1903)
• 1822 – Ulysses S. Grant, American general and politician, 18th President of the United States (d. 1885)
• 1840 – Edward Whymper, English mountaineer (d. 1911)
• 1848 – Otto I of Bavaria (d. 1916)
• 1850 – Hans Hartwig von Beseler, German general (d. 1921)
• 1853 – Jules Lemaître, French critic and dramatist (d. 1914)
• 1857 – Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian artist (d. 1914)
• 1862 – Rudolph Schildkraut, Turkish-American actor (d. 1930)
• 1866 – Maurice Raoul-Duval, French polo player (d. 1916)
• 1878 – Frank Alvin Gotch, American wrestler (d. 1917)
• 1887 – Warren Wood, American golfer (d. 1926)
• 1888 – Florence La Badie, Canadian actress (d. 1917)
• 1893 – Draža Mihailović, Serbian-Yugoslav military commander (d. 1946)
• 1893 – Allen Sothoron, American baseball player (d. 1939)
• 1894 – George Petty, American artist (d. 1975)
• 1894 – Nicolas Slonimsky, Russian composer, conductor, musician, critic, and author (d. 1995)
• 1896 – Rogers Hornsby, American baseball player (d. 1963)
• 1896 – Sir William Hudson, Australian engineer, head of construction for the Snowy Mountains Scheme (d. 1978)
• 1898 – Ludwig Bemelmans, American author and illustrator (d. 1962)
• 1899 – Walter Lantz, American cartoonist (d. 1994)
• 1902 – Tiemoko Garan Kouyaté, French communist (d. 1942)
• 1903 – Horace Stoneham, American baseball team owner (d. 1990)
• 1904 – Cecil Day-Lewis, Irish poet and writer (d. 1972)
• 1904 – Nikos Zachariadis, Greek politician (d. 1973)
• 1906 – Yórgos Theotokás, Greek novelist (d. 1966)
• 1910 – Chiang Ching-kuo, Chinese-Taiwanese politician, President of the Republic of China (d. 1988)
• 1911 – Bruno Beger, German anthropologist (d. 2009)
• 1912 – Jacques de Bourbon Busset, French novelist, essayist, and politician (d. 2001)
• 1912 – Zohra Segal, Indian actress and dancer
• 1913 – Philip Abelson, American physicist (d. 2004)
• 1913 – Irving Adler, American mathematician, scientist, and author (d. 2012)
• 1913 – Luz Long, German athlete (d. 1943)
• 1916 – Enos Slaughter, American baseball player (d. 2002)
• 1918 – Sten Rudholm, Swedish jurist (d. 2008)
• 1920 – Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (d. 1956)
• 1920 – Edwin Morgan, Scottish poet (d. 2010)
• 1920 – Mark Krasnosel'skii, Ukrainian-Soviet mathematician (d. 1997)
• 1920 – James R. Mann, American attorney and politician (d. 2010)
• 1921 – Robert Dhéry, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
• 1921 – John Stott, English theologian and clergyman (d. 2011)
• 1922 – Martin Gray, Polish Holocaust survivor and author
• 1922 – Jack Klugman, American actor (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Tim LaHaye, American author
• 1927 – Coretta Scott King, American civil rights activist, wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. (d. 2006)
• 1927 – Joe Moakley, American politician (d. 2001)
• 1927 – Sheila Scott, English aviator (d. 1988)
• 1927 – Tato Bores, Argentinian comedian (d. 1996)
• 1931 – Igor Oistrakh, Ukrainian violinist
• 1932 – Anouk Aimée, French actress
• 1932 – Pik Botha, South African politician
• 1932 – Maxine Brown, American singer (The Browns)
• 1932 – Casey Kasem, American actor and radio personality
• 1932 – Gian-Carlo Rota, Italian-American mathematician and philosopher (d. 1999)
• 1935 – Theodoros Angelopoulos, Greek director and screenwriter (d. 2012)
• 1936 – Geoffrey Shovelton, English singer and illustrator
• 1937 – Sandy Dennis, American actress (d. 1992)
• 1937 – Robin Eames, Irish clergyman
• 1938 – Earl Anthony, American bowler (d. 2001)
• 1938 – Alain Caron, French-Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1986)
• 1939 – Judy Carne, English actress and comedian
• 1939 – Stanislaw Dziwisz, Polish Cardinal
• 1939 – Jerry Mercer, Canadian drummer (Mashmakhan and April Wine)
• 1941 – Jennings Michael Burch, American author
• 1941 – Lee Roy Jordan, American football player
• 1941 – Pat Choate, American economist
• 1942 – Ruth Glick, American writer
• 1942 – Jim Keltner, American drummer (Traveling Wilburys, Plastic Ono Band, and Delaney & Bonnie and Friends)
• 1943 – Helmut Marko, Austrian race car driver
• 1944 – Michael Fish, English meteorologist
• 1944 – Cuba Gooding, Sr., American singer (The Main Ingredient)
• 1944 – Herb Pedersen, American singer-songwriter and musician (The Desert Rose Band)
• 1945 – Helen Hodgman, Australian author
• 1945 – August Wilson, American playwright (d. 2005)
• 1946 – Nicholas Serota, English director
• 1947 – George Kenneth Butterfield, American politician
• 1947 – Pete Ham, Welsh singer-songwriter and musician (Badfinger) (d. 1975)
• 1947 – Keith Magnuson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2003)
• 1947 – Ann Peebles, American singer-songwriter
• 1948 – Frank Abagnale, American security consultant
• 1948 – Kate Pierson, American singer-songwriter and musician (The B-52's and NiNa)
• 1948 – Amrit Kumar Bohara, Nepalese politician
• 1949 – Grant Chapman, Australian politician
• 1951 – Ace Frehley, American musician and songwriter (Kiss, Wicked Lester, and Frehley's Comet)
• 1952 – George Gervin, American basketball player
• 1952 – Ari Vatanen, Finnish World Rally Champion (1981) and Member of the European Parliament (1999-2009).
• 1952 – Larry Elder, American political commentator
• 1953 – Arielle Dombasle, French singer, actress, model, and director
• 1954 – Herman Edwards, American football player and coach
• 1954 – Frank Bainimarama, Fijian politician, 8th Prime Minister of Fiji
• 1955 – Gudrun Berend, German hurdler (d. 2011)
• 1956 – Douglas P., English musician, photographer, and actor (Death in June and Crisis)
• 1956 – Bryan Harvey, American singer-songwriter and musician (House of Freaks) (d. 2006)
• 1957 – Rosanna Scotto, American news anchor
• 1957 – Michel Barrette, Canadian actor and comedian
• 1957 – Willie Upshaw, American baseball player
• 1957 – Adrian Utley, English musician (Portishead)
• 1959 – Sheena Easton, Scottish singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
• 1959 – Louis Lortie, French-Canadian pianist
• 1959 – Neil Pearson, English actor
• 1960 – Mike Krushelnyski, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1961 – Andy Schlafly, American attorney and activist, founder of Conservapedia
• 1962 – Ángel Comizzo, Argentine footballer
• 1962 – James LeGros, American actor
• 1962 – Choi Min-sik, South Korean actor
• 1962 – Im Sang-soo, South Korean director and screenwriter
• 1963 – Cali Timmins, Canadian actress
• 1963 – Russell T Davies, Welsh producer and screenwriter
• 1964 – Michael Mahonen, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1964 – Lisa Wilcox, American actress
• 1966 – Matt Reeves, American writer, director and producer
• 1967 – Aki Avni, Israeli actor
• 1967 – Tommy Smith, Scottish jazz musician, composer, and educator
• 1967 – Erik Thomson, Australian actor
• 1967 – Jason Whitlock, American journalist
• 1967 – Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange
• 1968 – Dana Milbank, American reporter and columnist
• 1969 – Cory Booker, American politician
• 1969 – Darcey Bussell, English ballerina
• 1969 – Grahame Cheney, Australian boxer
• 1969 – Vladimir Kozlov, Ukrainian-American wrestler and actor
• 1969 – Mica Paris, English singer and actress
• 1970 – Kylie Travis, English actress and model
• 1971 – Tess Daly, English television host
• 1972 – Nigel Barker, English photographer
• 1972 – Almedin Civa, Bosnian footballer
• 1972 – Mehmet Kurtuluş, German actor
• 1972 – David Lascher, American actor
• 1972 – Maura West, American actress
• 1973 – Duško Adamović, Serbian footballer
• 1973 – Andre Gower, American actor
• 1973 – Sébastien Lareau, Canadian tennis player
• 1974 – Frank Catalanotto, American baseball player
• 1974 – Johnny Devine, Canadian wrestler
• 1974 – Richard Johnson, Australian footballer
• 1975 – Rabih Abdullah, American football player
• 1975 – Chris Carpenter, American baseball player
• 1975 – Pedro Feliz, Dominican baseball player
• 1976 – Isobel Campbell, Scottish singer-songwriter, musician, and composer (Belle & Sebastian)
• 1976 – Sally Hawkins, English actress
• 1976 – Walter Pandiani, Uruguayan footballer
• 1976 – Faisal Saif, Indian director, critic, and writer
• 1976 – Olaf Tufte, Norwegian rower
• 1977 – Khalid Zoubaa, French runner
• 1979 – Will Boyd, American musician (Evanescence, American Princes, and The Visitors)
• 1979 – Natasha Chokljat, Australian netballer
• 1980 – Sybille Bammer, Austrian tennis player
• 1980 – Talitha Cummins, Australian journalist
• 1980 – Christian Lara, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1980 – Ananda Mikola, Indonesian race car driver
• 1981 – Fabrizio Faniello, Maltese singer-songwriter
• 1981 – Joey Gathright, American baseball player
• 1981 – Patrik Gerrbrand, Swedish footballer
• 1982 – Katrina Johnson, American actress
• 1982 – François Parisien, Canadian professional cyclist
• 1982 – Alexander Widiker, German rugby player
• 1983 – Ari Graynor, American actress
• 1984 – Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1984 – Daniel Holdsworth, Australian rugby player
• 1984 – Patrick Stump, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer (Fall Out Boy and Arma Angelus)
• 1985 – José António de Miranda da Silva Júnior, Brazilian footballer
• 1986 – Elena Risteska, Macedonian singer-songwriter
• 1986 – Dinara Safina, Russian tennis player
• 1986 – Jenna-Louise Coleman, English Actress
• 1987 – Taylor Chorney, American ice hockey player
• 1987 – William Moseley, English actor
• 1987 – Elliott Shriane, Australian speed skater
• 1987 – Emma Taylor-Isherwood, Canadian actress
• 1988 – Kris Thackray, English footballer
• 1988 – Semyon Varlamov, Russian ice hockey player
• 1989 – Lars Bender, German footballer
• 1989 – Sven Bender, German footballer
• 1989 – Emily Rios, American actress
• 1990 – Martin Kelly, English footballer
• 1991 – Jennifer Braun, German singer
• 1991 – Isaac Cuenca, Spanish footballer
• 1992 – Allison Iraheta, American singer
• 1994 – Elmo Magalona, Filipino actor and singer

Deaths

• 630 – Ardashir III of Persia
• 1272 – Zita, Italian saint (b.1212)
• 1404 – Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1342)
• 1463 – Isidore of Kiev (b. 1385)
• 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese explorer (b. 1480)
• 1530 – Jacopo Sannazaro, Italian poet (b. 1458)
• 1599 – Maeda Toshiie, Japanese general (b. 1538)
• 1605 – Pope Leo XI (b. 1535)
• 1613 – Robert Abercromby, Scottish missionary (b. 1532)
• 1625 – Mori Terumoto, Japanese warrior (b. 1553)
• 1656 – Jan van Goyen, Dutch painter (b. 1596)
• 1694 – John George IV, Elector of Saxony (b. 1668)
• 1695 – John Trenchard, English statesman (b. 1640)
• 1702 – Jean Bart, French admiral (b. 1651)
• 1782 – William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot, English politician (b. 1710)
• 1813 – Zebulon Pike, American frontiersman and explorer (b. 1779)
• 1873 – William Charles Macready, English actor (b. 1793)
• 1882 – Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist (b. 1803)
• 1896 – Henry Parkes, English statesman and politician (b. 1815)
• 1915 – John Labatt, Canadian businessman and brewer (b. 1838)
• 1915 – Alexander Scriabin, Russian composer (b. 1872)
• 1921 – Arthur Mold, English cricketer (b. 1863)
• 1932 – Hart Crane, American writer (b. 1899)
• 1936 – Karl Pearson, English mathematician (b. 1857)
• 1937 – Antonio Gramsci, Italian Communist, writer, and politician (b. 1891)
• 1941 – Penelope Delta, Greek author (b. 1874)
• 1952 – Guido Castelnuovo, Italian mathematician (b. 1865)
• 1961 – Roy Del Ruth, American director (b. 1893)
• 1962 – A. K. Fazlul Huq, Bengali statesman (b. 1873)
• 1965 – Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (b. 1908)
• 1967 – William Douglas Cook,New Zealand founder of Eastwoodhill Arboretum and Pukeiti (b. 1884)
• 1969 – René Barrientos, Bolivian politician, President of Bolivia (b. 1919)
• 1970 – Arthur Shields, Irish actor (b. 1896)
• 1972 – Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanaian leader, 1st President of Ghana (b. 1909)
• 1973 – Carlos Menditeguy, Argentine race car driver (b. 1914)
• 1977 – Stanley Adams, American actor (b. 1915)
• 1977 – Scott Bradley, American composer, pianist and conductor (b. 1891)
• 1981 – Münir Nurettin Selçuk, Turkish tenor and musician (b. 1968)
• 1988 – David Scarboro, English actor (b. 1968)
• 1988 – Fred Bear, American bow-hunter (b. 1902)
• 1989 – Konosuke Matsushita, Japanese industrialist, founder of the Panasonic Corporation (b. 1894)
• 1992 – Olivier Messiaen, French composer (b. 1908)
• 1992 – Gerard K. O'Neill, American physicist (b. 1927)
• 1995 – Willem Frederik Hermans, Dutch writer (b. 1921)
• 1996 – William Colby, American director of the Central Intelligence Agency (b. 1920)
• 1996 – Gilles Grangier, French director and screenwriter (b. 1911)
• 1998 – Carlos Castaneda, Peruvian writer (b. 1925)
• 1998 – John Bassett, Canadian publisher (b. 1915)
• 1998 – Dominique Aury, French novelist (b. 1907)
• 1998 – Browning Ross, American runner (b. 1924)
• 1999 – Al Hirt, American trumpeter and bandleader (b. 1922)
• 1999 – Rolf Landauer, American physicist and electrical engineer (b. 1927)
• 1999 – Dale C. Thomson, Canadian professor and historian (b. 1923)
• 2000 – Vicki Sue Robinson, American actress and singer (b. 1954)
• 2002 – George Alec Effinger, American author (b. 1947)
• 2002 – Ruth Handler, American businesswoman, created the Barbie doll (b. 1916)
• 2002 – Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, Swiss industrialist and art collector (b. 1921)
• 2005 – Red Horner, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1909)
• 2006 – Julia Thorne, American writer, ex-wife of John Kerry (b. 1944)
• 2007 – Mstislav Rostropovich, Russian cellist and conductor (b. 1927)
• 2008 – Marios Tokas, Cypriot composer (b. 1954)
• 2009 – Frankie Manning, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1914)
• 2009 – Feroz Khan, Indian actor (b. 1939)
• 2009 – Woo Seung-yeon, South Korean actress and model (b. 1983)
• 2011 – Marian Mercer, American actress(b. 1935)
• 2012 – Bill Skowron, American baseball player (b.1930)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
• Liberalis of Treviso
• Virgin of Montserrat
• Zita
• April 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Day of the Uprising Against the Occupying Forces (Slovenia)
• Freedom Day (South Africa), and its related observances:
• UnFreedom Day (South Africa, unofficial)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Sierra Leone from United Kingdom in 1961.
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Togo from France in 1960.
• National War Veterans' Day (Finland)
• King's Day (Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten) (from 2014)