It happened today – this day in history – April 27
- It happened today – this day in history – April 27 - 27/04/2024
- Woman dies following collision in Billericay - 26/04/2024
- Will Young up close and personal at Palace Theatre - 26/04/2024
1124: David I becomes king of Scots.
1296: The Scots are defeated by Edward I of England at The Battle of Dunbar.
1521: Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan is killed by Filipino natives.
1646: Charles I flees Oxford.
1667: Blind and impoverished poet John Milton sells the copyright to “Paradise Lost” for £10.
1749: First performance of Handel’s Music For Fireworks in Green Park, London.
1810: Ludwig van Beethoven composes his piano piece “Für Elise”.
1828: The Zoological Gardens at Regent’s Park open.
1840: The foundation stone for the new Palace of Westminster is laid by Sarah Barry, wife of architect Charles Barry.
1861: US President Abraham Lincoln suspends writ of habeas corpus. On the same day, West Virginia splits from Virginia after Virginia secedes from the Union.
1891: Birth of composer Sergei Prokofiev in the Ukraine.
1904: Birth of Irish poet Cecil Day-Lewis.
1908: The Olympic Games open in London.
1940: Heinrich Himmler orders the creation of Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
1941: German troops occupy Athens.
1943: Polish Resistance fighter Witold Pilecki escapes from Auschwitz after having voluntarily been imprisoned there to gain information about the Holocaust.
1945: Russian and American troops join hands at the River Elbe in Germany, bringing the end of the war a step closer. On the same day, Italian partisans capture Benito Mussolini.
1956: World heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano retires undefeated.
1959: Mao Zedong resigns as chairman of the PRC after the disastrous failure of the Great Leap Forward.
1960: Togo declares independence from French administration. On the same day, President Syngman Rhee of South Korea resigns after 12 years in power.
1961: Sierra Leone becomes independent after more than 150 years of British colonial rule. On the same day, NASA launches Explorer 11 into Earth orbit to study gamma rays.
1962: Arnold Wesker’s “Chips with Everything” premieres in London.
1963: Cuban leader Fidel Castro arrives in Moscow.
1966: Working at EMI Studios in Abbey Road, The Beatles begin recording a new John Lennon song I’m Only Sleeping for the Revolver album featuring the first ever backwards guitar solo.
1967: Singles Chart:
- Puppet On A String – Sandie Shaw
- Somethin’ Stupid – Frank and Nancy Sinatra
- A Little Bit Me A Little Bit You – The Monkees
- Ha Ha Said The Clown – Manfred Mann
- Purple Haze – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
- I’m Gonna Get Me A Gun – Cat Stevens
- I Can Hear The Grass Grow – The Move
- Release Me – Engelbert Humprdinck
- Dedicated To The One I Love – The Mamas and Papas
- Beernadette – The Four Tops
1969: Album Chart:
- Best Of – The Seekers
- Songs From A Room – Leonard Cohen
- On The Threshold Of A Dream – The Moody Blues
- Elvis (NBC TV Special) – Elvis Presley
- Goodbye – Cream
- Hair – London Cast
- Live At The Talk Of The Town – The Sseekers
- Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin
- Gentle On My Mind – Dean Martin
- Oliver! – Original Soundtrack
1974: A back-heel from Manchester City’s Denis Law condemns his former club, Manchester United to relegation. Law is immediately substituted and never plays league football again.
1976: Customs officers on a train at the Russian/Polish Border detain David Bowie after Nazi books and mementos are found in his luggage.
1981: Ringo Starr marries actress Barbara Bach.
1982: The trial of John Hinckley begins for the attempted assassination of US President Ronald Reagan.
1984: The siege of the Libyan Embassy in London ends 11 days after the shooting of WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the St James’s Square building.
1986: Soviet authorities order the evacuation of the city of Pripyat (pop. 50,000) one day after the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
1987: The US Justice Department bars Austrian Chancellor and former UN General Secretary Kurt Waldheim from entering the country, due to his aid of Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
1989: Students take over Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China.
1992: The House of Commons elects a woman to the post of Speaker for the first time in its 700-year history. Labour MP Betty Boothroyd wins by a decisive majority. On the same day, The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, comprising Serbia and Montenegro, is proclaimed.
1996: Actor Sean Penn marries actress Robin Wright.
On TV (Saturday)
2005: The super jumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380 makes its first flight from Toulouse, France.
2018: North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in of South Korea agree to officially end the Korean war and rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons.
2019: Pope Francis donates $500,000 for migrants stranded in Mexico trying to reach the US.
2020: Global confirmed cases of COVID-19 pass 3 million with the death toll at 205,000.
2021: Brazil’s Senate orders an official inquiry into President Jair Bolsonaro and government officials’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2022: Space X launches its Crew Dragon capsule with four astronauts. On the same day, folk singer Judy Henske dies aged 85.
2023: Former Vice Presidnt Mike Pence appears before the federal grand jury investigating Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the result of the 2020 US election. On the same day, talk show hot Jerry Springer dies aged 79 from pancreatic cacer.
BIRTHDAYS: Jim Keltner, drummer, 82; Ann Peebles, singer-songwriter, 77; Kate Pierson, singer (The B52s) 76; Ace (Paul) Frehley, guitarist (Kiss) 73; Kevin McNally, actor, 68; Sheena Easton, singer, 65; Marco Pirroni, guitarist/songwriter (Adam and the Ants) 65; Russell T Davies, TV writer, 61; Anna Chancellor, actrss, 59; Mica Paris, singer/broadcaster, 55; Dame Darcey Bushell, ballerina, 55; Tess Daly, TV presenter, 53; Sally Hawkins, actress, 48; Jenna Coleman, actress, 38; Lizzo (Melissa Jefferson), singer-songwriter/flautist, 36; Nick Kyrgios, tennis star, 29.
