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
Up to 1900
- 33 BC - Lucius Marcius Philippus, step-brother of future Roman Emperor Augustus, celebrates a triumph for his victories while serving as Governor in one of the Provinces of Hispania.
- 711 - Islamic Conquest of Hispania: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus).
- 1296 – First Scottish War of Independence: John Balliol's Scottish army is defeated by an English army commanded by John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey at the Battle of Dunbar.
- 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan is killed in the Philippines.
- 1522 - Combined forces of Spain and the Papal States defeat a French and Venetian army at the Battle of Bicocca.
- 1539 – Re-founding of Bogota, in present-day Colombia.
- 1565 – Cebu is established as the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.
- 1749 – First performance of George Frideric Handel's Music of the Fireworks in Green Park, London.
- 1777 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Ridgefield - A British invasion force engages and defeats Continental Army regulars and militia irregulars at Ridgefield, Connecticut.
- 1810 - Ludwig van Beethoven composes the musical piece Für Elise.
- 1813 - War of 1812: US troops capture the capital city of Upper Canada in the Battle of York (present-day Toronto).
- 1840 – The foundation stone is laid for the new Palace of Westminster.
- 1865 – The SS Sultana steamboat explodes and sinks on the Mississippi River, killing 1,700 people.
1901 – 2000
- 1904 – Chris Watson becomes Prime Minister of Australia.
- 1908 - The 1908 Summer Olympics in London begin.
- 1909 – Ottoman Empire Sultan Abdul Hamid II is overthrown by his brother Mehmed V.
- 1914 – Honduras becomes a signatory of the Buenos Aires Convention.
- 1927 – The Carabineros de Chile, the national police and gendarmerie of Chile, is created.
- 1936 - United Auto Workers gains autonomy from the American Federation of Labor.
- 1941 – World War II: German troops enter Athens.
- 1945 – World War II: Benito Mussolini is arrested by Italian partisans.
- 1945 - World War II: German troops are expelled from Finnish Lapland.
- 1950 - Apartheid: in South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed, formally segregating (separating) Black people from White people.
- 1950 - The United Kingdom officially recognizes the state of Israel.
- 1960 – Togo becomes independent from France.
- 1961 – Sierra Leone becomes independent from the UK.
- 1967 - The Expo 67, a trade fair, begins in Montreal, Canada.
- 1974 - 10,000 people march in Washington, DC, calling for the impeachment for Richard Nixon.
- 1977 - 28 people are killed in the Guatemala City air disaster.
- 1981 - Xerox PARC introduces the computer mouse.
- 1987 – The US Department of Justice bars Austrian President Kurt Waldheim from entering the United States over revelations of possible war crimes committed by him during World War II.
- 1992 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is created, consisting of Serbia and Montenegro.
- 1992 – Russia and 12 former Soviet Republics join the International Monetary Fund.
- 1992 – Betty Boothroyd becomes the first female Speaker of the British House of Commons.
- 1993 – Several members of the Zambia national football team are killed in a plane crash near Libreville, Gabon.
- 1994 – South Africa holds its first general elections under free and equal conditions, with Nelson Mandela being elected President.
- 1996 - The 1996 Lebanon war ends.
- 1999 - Abdelaziz Bouteflika becomes President of Algeria.
From 2001
- 2005 – The Superjumbo aircraft Airbus A380 makes its first flight in France.
- 2006 – Construction begins on the Freedom Tower in New York City.
- 2007 – The Bronze Soldier Soviet war memorial in Tallinn is removed by Estonian authorities, amidst tensions with Russia.
- 2009 – The United Kingdom announces its first cases of the 2009 Swine flu outbreak.
- 2011 - A tornado outbreak kills hundreds of people in the Southeastern United States.
- 2014 - Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II are declared saints.
- 2018 - South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meet for talks.
Births
Up to 1900
- 85 BC - Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, Roman politician and general (d. 43 BC)
- 1623 - Johann Adam Reinken, German organist and composer (d. 1722)
- 1650 – Charlotte-Amalie of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1714)
- 1676 – King Frederick I of Sweden (d. 1751)
- 1701 – Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (d. 1773)
- 1724 - Thomas Gardner, American politician and soldier (d. 1755)
- 1755 - Marc-Antoine Parseval, French mathematician (d. 1836)
- 1759 – Mary Wollstonecraft, English writer and feminist (d. 1797)
- 1770 - Edward Codrington, English admiral (d. 1851)
- 1788 - Charles Robert Cockerell, English architect, archaeologist and writer (d. 1863)
- 1791 – Samuel Morse, American inventor (d. 1872)
- 1802 - Louis Niedermeyer, French-Swiss composer and teacher (d. 1861)
- 1806 – Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies (d. 1878)
- 1820 – Herbert Spencer, English philosopher (d. 1908)
- 1822 – Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States (d. 1885)
- 1840 – Edward Whymper, English mountaineer (d. 1911)
- 1848 – Otto I of Bavaria (d. 1916)
- 1853 - Jules Lemaitre, French critic and dramatist (d. 1914)
- 1856 – Tongzhi Emperor of China (d. 1875)
- 1857 - Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian artist (d. 1914)
- 1860 – Frank Winkelmeier, Austrian, tallest man at the time of his death (d. 1887)
- 1862 - Rudolph Schildkraut, Turkish-American actor (d. 1930)
- 1866 - Marcel Raoul-Duval, French polo player (d. 1916)
- 1875 – Maurice de Broglie, French physicist (d. 1960)
- 1878 - John Rimmer, British athlete (d. 1962)
- 1878 - Frank Gotch, American wrestler (d. 1917)
- 1880 - Mihkel Lüdig, Estonian organist, composer and conductor (d. 1958)
- 1882 - Jessie Redmon Fauset, American writer and poet (d. 1961)
- 1887 - Warren Wood, American golfer (d. 1926)
- 1888 - Florence La Badie, Canadian actress (d. 1917)
- 1892 - Albert Rudomine, French photographer (d. 1975)
- 1893 - Allen Sothoron, American baseball player, coach and manager (d. 1939)
- 1893 - Prince Paul of Yugoslavia (d. 1976)
- 1894 - Nicolas Slonimsky, Russian composer, conductor, musician, critic and writer (d. 1995)
- 1894 – George Petty, American artist (d. 1975)
- 1896 - William Hudson, Australian engineer (d. 1978)
- 1896 - Wallace Carothers, American chemist (d. 1937)
- 1898 - Ludwig Bemelmans, Italian-American writer and illustrator (d. 1962)
- 1899 – Walter Lantz, American cartoonist (d. 1994)
1901 – 1950
- 1902 - Tiemoko Garan Kouyaté, Malian educator and activist (d. 1942)
- 1903 - Horace Stoneham, American businessman (d. 1990)
- 1904 – Cecil Day-Lewis, Irish poet and writer (d. 1972)
- 1904 - Nikos Zachariadis, Greek politician (d. 1973)
- 1905 - John Huck, American javelin thrower and shot putter (d. 1986)
- 1909 - Guillermo León Valencia, President of Colombia (d. 1971)
- 1910 – Chiang Ching-kuo, Chinese-Taiwanese politician (d. 1988)
- 1911 - Chris Berger, Dutch sprinter (d. 1965)
- 1912 - Zohra Sehgal, Indian actress, dancer and choreographer (d. 2014)
- 1912 - Jacques de Bourbon Busset, French novelist, essayist and politician (d. 2001)
- 1913 - Luz Long, German long jumper (d. 1943)
- 1918 - Sten Rudholm, Swedish jurist (d. 2008)
- 1920 - Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (d. 1956)
- 1920 – Edwin Morgan, Scottish poet (d. 2010)
- 1921 - Robert Dhéry, French actor, director and screenwriter (d. 2004)
- 1922 - Martin Gray, Polish Holocaust survivor and writer (d. 2016)
- 1922 - Jack Klugman, American actor (d. 2012)
- 1926 - Tim LaHaye, American minister, writer and speaker (d. 2016)
- 1927 – Coretta Scott King, American Civil Rights activist (d. 2006)
- 1927 - Sheila Scott, English aviator (d. 1988)
- 1929 - Nina Ponomaryova, Russian athlete (d. 2016)
- 1931 – Igor Oistrakh, Ukrainian violinist
- 1931 - Krzysztof Komeda, Polish jazz pianist (d. 1969)
- 1932 – Anouk Aimée, French actress
- 1932 – Casey Kasem, American radio show host and voice actor (d. 2014)
- 1932 - Derek Minter, English motorcycle racer (d. 2014)
- 1932 – Pik Botha, South African politician (d. 2018)
- 1932 - Chuck Knox, American football coach (d. 2018)
- 1932 - Gian-Carlo Rota, Italian mathematician and philosopher (d. 1999)
- 1939 - Stanislaw Dziwisz, Polish cardinal
- 1939 - Jerry Mercer, Canadian drummer
- 1939 - Joao Bernardo Vieira, President of Guinea-Bissau (d. 2009)
- 1941 - Fethullah Gülen, Turkish politician and religious leader
- 1942 - Valeri Polyakov, Soviet-Russian cosmonaut
- 1943 - Ryszard Bugajski, Polish film director (d. 2019)
- 1944 – Michael Fish, English weather presenter
- 1944 – Cuba Gooding, Sr., American singer (d. 2017)
- 1944 - Stoker Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire, English academic and politician
- 1947 - Nick Greiner, Hungarian-Australian politician, 37th Premier of New South Wales
- 1947 - Pete Ham, Welsh singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1975)
- 1947 - Ann Peebles, American singer-songwriter
- 1948 – Josef Hickersberger, Austrian footballer and coach
- 1948 - Frank Abagnale, American security consultant and trickster
- 1949 - Jean Asselborn, Luxembourgish politician
- 1950 – Paolo Pulici, Italian footballer
1951 – 1975
- 1951 – Ace Frehley, American musician
- 1951 - Viviane Reding, Luxembourgish journalist and politician
- 1952 – Ari Vatanen, Finnish rally driver
- 1953 - Arielle Dombasle, French-American actress and singer
- 1954 – Frank Bainimarama, Fijian politician
- 1954 – Herman Edwards, American football manager
- 1954 - John Cygan, American actor (d. 2017)
- 1955 - Eric Schmidt, American entrepreneur, former CEO of Google
- 1956 - Bridget Kendall, English journalist
- 1957 - Adrian Utley, English musician
- 1959 - Andrew Fire, American Nobel Prize-winning biologist
- 1959 – Sheena Easton, Scottish singer
- 1959 – Jim Duffy, Scottish footballer and coach
- 1961 - Moana Pozzi, Italian pornographic actress, television personality, model, politician and writer (d. 1994)
- 1961 - Andrew Schlafly, American conservative lawyer and activist
- 1962 - Edvard Moser, Norwegian neurologist, 2014 Nobel Prize winner
- 1963 – Russell T Davies, Welsh television writer
- 1965 - Anna Chancellor, English actress
- 1966 - Yoshihiro Togashi, Japanese manga artist
- 1967 – King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
- 1967 - Tommy Smith, Scottish saxophonist, composer and educator
- 1968 - Cristian Mungiu, Romanian filmmaker
- 1969 – Darcey Bussell, English ballerina
- 1969 – Mica Paris, English singer
- 1969 – Tess Daly, English television presenter
- 1969 - Cory Booker, American politician
- 1971 - Olari Elts, Estonian conductor
From 1976
- 1976 - Sally Hawkins, English actress
- 1976 - Isobel Campbell, Scottish singer-songwriter and cellist
- 1976 - Walter Pandiani, Uruguayan footballer
- 1976 - Faisal Saif, Indian director, screenwriter and critic
- 1976 - Olaf Tufte, Norwegian rower
- 1978 - Jim James, American singer, songwriter and guitarist (My Morning Jacket)
- 1980 – Christian Lara, Ecuadorean footballer
- 1981 – Patrik Gerrbrand, Swedish footballer
- 1981 - Fabrizio Faniello, Maltese singer-songwriter
- 1982 - Nicole Hosp, Austrian politician
- 1983 - Ari Gaynor, American actress
- 1984 – Patrick Stump, American musician
- 1984 - Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 - Hannes Thór Halldórsson, Icelandic footballer and filmmaker
- 1986 - Jenna Coleman, British actress
- 1986 – Dinara Safina, Russian tennis player
- 1986 – Elena Risteska, Macedonian singer
- 1987 - William Moseley, English actor
- 1988 - Semyon Varlamov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1989 – Lars Bender, German footballer
- 1989 – Sven Bender, German footballer
- 1989 - Emily Rios, American actress and model
- 1990 - Robin Bengtsson, Swedish singer
- 1990 - Martin Kelly, English footballer
- 1991 - Lara Gut, Swiss skier
- 1992 – Allison Iraheta, American actress
- 1995 - Nick Kyrgios, Australian tennis player
Deaths
Up to 1900
- 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)
- 1605 – Pope Leo XI (b. 1535)
- 1613 - Robert Abercromby, Scottish priest and missionary (b. 1532)
- 1656 - Jan van Goyen, Dutch painter (b. 1596)
- 1694 - John George IV, Elector of Saxony (b. 1668)
- 1794 - James Bruce, Scottish traveller and travel writer (b. 1730)
- 1813 - Zebulon Pike, American general and explorer (b. 1779)
- 1818 - Christopher Greenup, 3rd Governor of Kentucky (b. 1750)
- 1882 – Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist (b. 1803)
- 1896 - Henry Parkes, English statesman and politician (b. 1815)
1901 – 2000
- 1915 – Alexander Scriabin, Russian composer (b. 1872)
- 1932 - Hart Crane, American poet (b. 1899)
- 1937 – Antonio Gramsci, Italian Communist writer and politician (b. 1891)
- 1952 – Guido Castelnuovo, Italian mathematician (b. 1865)
- 1962 - A. K. Fazlul, Bengali statesman (b. 1883)
- 1965 - Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (b. 1908)
- 1969 – René Barrientos, President of Bolivia (b. 1919)
- 1972 – Kwame Nkrumah, 1st President of Ghana (b. 1909)
- 1977 - Stanley Adams, American actor (b. 1915)
- 1977 - Scott Bradley, American composer, pianist and conductor (b. 1891)
- 1979 - Celal Atik, Turkish sports wrestler and trainer (b. 1918)
- 1989 - Konosuke Matsushita, Japanese industrialist (b. 1894)
- 1991 – Robert Velter, French comic writer (b. 1909)
- 1992 - Olivier Messiaen, French organist and composer (b. 1908)
- 1996 - Gilles Grangier, French director and screenwriter (b. 1911)
- 1996 – William Colby, American CIA director (b. 1920)
- 1998 – Carlos Castaneda, Peruvian writer (b. 1925)
- 2000 - Vicki Sue Robinson, American actress and singer (b. 1954)
From 2001
- 2002 – Ruth Handler, American businesswoman and inventor of the Barbie doll (b. 1916)
- 2002 - Baron Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, Dutch-Swiss businessman (b. 1921)
- 2006 - Julia Thorne, American writer (b. 1944)
- 2007 – Mstislav Rostropovich, Russian cellist and conductor (b. 1927)
- 2009 - Feroz Khan, Indian actor (b. 1939)
- 2013 - Aloysius Jin Luxian, Chinese bishop (b. 1916)
- 2014 - Yigal Arnon, Israeli lawyer (b. 1929)
- 2014 - Vujadin Boskov, Serbian footballer, coach and manager (b. 1931)
- 2014 - Harry Firth, Australian racing driver (b. 1918)
- 2014 - Andréa Parisy, French actress (b. 1935)
- 2015 - Andrew Lesnie, Australian cinematographer (b. 1956)
- 2015 - Verne Gagne, American professional wrestler and football player (b. 1926)
- 2015 - Suzanne Crough, American actress (b. 1963)
- 2015 - Gene Fullmer, American boxer (b. 1931)
- 2015 - Guy LeBlanc, Canadian keyboardist (b. 1960)
- 2015 - Marty Napoleon, American jazz pianist (b. 1921)
- 2016 - Toms, Indian cartoonist (b. 1929)
- 2017 - Peter George, Canadian academic (b. 1941)
- 2017 - Vinod Khanna, Indian actor (b. 1946)
- 2017 - Vinu Chakravarthy, Indian actor (b. 1945)
- 2017 - Julius Youngner, American virologist (b. 1920)
- 2018 - Paul Junger Witt, American film and television producer (b. 1941)
- 2018 - Roy Young, English singer and pianist (b. 1937)
- 2018 - Earl Balfour, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1933)
- 2018 - Michael Luscombe, Australian chief executive (b. 1953)
- 2018 - Kristin Nelson, American actress, painter and writer (b. 1945)
- 2019 - Aleksey Lebed, Russian military officer and politician (b. 1955)
- 2019 - Negasso Gidada, President of Ethiopia (b. 1943)
- 2019 - Bart Chilton, American civil servant (b. 1960)
Observances
- Independence Day in Togo (1960) and Sierra Leone (1961)
- Freedom Day in South Africa
- World Tapir Day
- King's Day in the Netherlands from 2014 (to be observed on April 26 when the 27th is a Sunday, including in 2014 itself)