History of 27 April
1903 – Jamaica Race Track opened in Long Island, NY.
1909 – The sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hamid II, was overthrown.
1938 – Geraldine Apponyi married King Zog of Albania. She was the first American woman to become a queen.
1938 – A colored baseball was used for the first time in any baseball game. The ball was yellow and was used between Columbia and Fordham Universities in New York City.
1945 – The Second Republic was founded in Austria.
1946 – The SS African Star was placed in service. It was the first commercial ship to be equipped with radar.
1947 – “Babe Ruth Day” was celebrated at Yankee Stadium.
1950 – South Africa passed the Group Areas Act, which formally segregated races.
1953 – The U.S. offered $50,000 and political asylum to any Communist pilot that delivered a MIG jet.
1953 – Five people were killed and 60 injured when Mt. Aso erupted on the island of Kyushu.
1960 – The submarine Tullibee was launched from Groton, CT. It was the first sub to be equipped with closed-circuit television.
1961 – The United Kingdom granted Sierra Leone independence.
1965 – “Pampers” were patented by R.C. Duncan.
1967 – In Montreal, Prime Minister Lester Pearson lighted a flame to open Expo 67.
1975 – Saigon was encircled by North Vietnamese troops.
1978 – Pro-Soviet Marxists seized control of Afghanistan.
1982 – The trial of John W. Hinckley Jr. began in Washington. Hinckley was later acquitted by reason of insanity for the shooting of U.S. President Reagan and three others.
1982 – China proposed a new constitution that would radically alter the structure of the national government.
1983 – Nolan Ryan (Houston Astros) broke a 55-year-old major league baseball record when he struck out the 3,509th batter of his career.
1984 – In London, Libyan gunmen left the Libyan Embassy 11 days after killing a policewoman and wounding 10 others.
1986 – Captain Midnight (John R. MacDougall) interrupted HBO.
1989 – Student protestors took over Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
1987 – The U.S. Justice Department barred Austrian President Kurt Waldheim from entering the U.S. He claimed that 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 was proclaimed in Belgrade by the Republic of Serbia and its ally Montenegro.
1992 – Russia and 12 other former Soviet republics won entry into the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
2005 – The A380, the world’s largest jetliner, completed its maiden flight. The passenger capability was 840.
2005 – Russian President Vladimir Putin became the first Kremlin leader to visit Israel.
2006 – In New York, NY, construction began on the 1,776-foot One World Trade Center on the site of former World Trade Center.
2007 – Estonian authorities remove the Bronze Soldier, a Soviet Red Army war memorial in Tallinn, amid political controversy with Russia.
2007 – Israeli archaeologists discover the tomb of Herod the Great south of Jerusalem.
2011 – The 2011 Super 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.
2012 – At least four explosions hit the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk with at least 27 people injured.
2018 – The Panmunjom Declaration is signed by the two Koreas, officially declaring their intentions to end of the Korean conflict.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Joey Gathright, American baseball player
- 1981 – Patrik Gerrbrand, Swedish footballer
- 1982 – François Parisien, Canadian cyclist
- 1982 – Alexander Widiker, German rugby player
- 1983 – Ari Graynor, American actress and producer
- 1983 – Martin Viiask, Estonian basketball player
- 1984 – Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Daniel Holdsworth, Australian rugby league player
- 1984 – Patrick Stump, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1985 – José António de Miranda da Silva Júnior, Brazilian footballer
- 1985 – Meselech Melkamu, Ethiopian runner
- 1986 – Jenna Coleman, English actress
- 1986 – Dinara Safina, a Russian tennis player
- 1987 – Taylor Chorney, American ice hockey player
- 1987 – Elliott Shriane, Australian speed skater
- 1987 – William Moseley, English actor
- 1987 – Wang Feifei, Chinese singer and actress
- 1988 – Joeri Dequevy, Belgian footballer
- 1988 – Kris Thackray, English footballer
- 1988 – Semyon Varlamov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1989 – Lars Bender, German footballer
- 1989 – Sven Bender, German footballer
- 1989 – Tim Glasby, Australian rugby league player
- 1989 – Dmytro Kozban, Ukrainian footballer
- 1990 – Trude Raad, Norwegian deaf track and field athlete
- 1991 – Isaac Cuenca, Spanish footballer
- 1991 – Eric Fukusaki, Peruvian singer
- 1991 – Lara Gut, Swiss skier
- 1992 – Keenan Allen, American football player
- 1994 – Corey Seager, American baseball player
- 1995 – Nick Kyrgios, an Australian tennis player