- 1185 Battle at Dan-no-ura: Major sea battle in Japan's Genpei War, Minamoto clan led by Minamoto no Yoshitsune defeats the Taira clan
- 1362 Muhammad VI ruler of Granada killed with a lance personally by Peter I of Castile, along with 36 followers and his head sent to Muhammad V (or 27 April)
- 1449 Anti-pope Felix V resigns
- 1507 German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller is the first to use the name America on his world map "Universalis Cosmographia"
- 1541 -26) Liege flooded after heavy down pour
- 1604 Count Maurits' army lands at Cadzand
- 1607 Battle at Gibraltar: Dutch fleet beats Spanish Portuguese fleet
- 1607 Shortly before making landfall in America, Captain Edward Maria Wingfield is named President of the Jamestown governing council
- 1614 Amsterdam Bank of Loan forms
Battle of Dessau Bridge
1626 Battle of Dessau Bridge: Albrecht von Wallenstein at head of Holy Roman Empire forces defeats Danish attempt led by Ernst von Mansfeld's to cross Elbe River (Thirty Years' War)
Convention Parliament Assembles
1660 English Convention Parliament meets and votes to restore Charles II
Robinson Crusoe Published
1719 Daniel Defoe publishes "Robinson Crusoe", regarded as the 1st English novel
Empress Elizabeth of Russia
1742 Elizabeth of Russia crowns herself Empress in the Dormition Cathedral in Moscow
- 1747 Prince Willem V appointed viceroy of Zealand
- 1792 "La Marseillaise", later the national anthem of France, is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg
- 1792 Guillotine first used in France, executes highwayman Nicolas Pelletier
- 1829 Charles Fremantle arrives in HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom
- 1846 Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War
- 1849 The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal's English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.
- 1850 Paul Julius Reuter sets up carrier-pigeon service, using 40 pigeons to carry stock market prices between Aachen and Brussels
- 1858 Fraser River Gold Rush begins in British Columbia as miners arrive from California [1]
- 1859 Ground broken for Suez Canal
- 1861 Battle of Lavaca, fought in Texas, Union victory (US Civil War)
- 1861 The Union Army arrives to reinforce Washington, D.C. (US Civil War)
Capture of New Orleans
1862 After the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, Union forces under Flag Officer David Farragut request the surrender New Orleans, LA, despite being largely defenseless armed mobs reuse
Freud Opens Practice
1886 Sigmund Freud opens his first neurologist practice at Rathausstrasse 7 in Vienna
Event of Interest
1891 US President Benjamin Harrison visits San Francisco
- 1896 Fight in Central Dance Hall starts fire at Cripple Creek, Colorado
- 1896 Sidney Jones & Harry Greenbacks musical "The Geisha" premieres at Daly's Theatre, London; runs for 760 performances
Spain Declares War Against the United States
1898 Spanish–American War: The United States declares state of war on Spain effective from 21st April
- 1901 Erve Beck hits American League's 1st home run
- 1901 In last of 9th, Detroit Tigers, trailing by 13-4, score 10 runs to win one of greatest comebacks in baseball (1st game in Detroit)
- 1901 New York becomes 1st state requiring automobile license plates ($1 fee)
- 1902 Erwin Harvey becomes 1st Cleveland ballplayer (Cleveland Bronchos) to have six hits in one game
- 1905 Latest day of 1st-class cricket in an Aust season (NSW v Qld)
- 1905 Whites win right to vote in South Africa
Wilson Accepts Mediation
1914 US President Woodrow Wilson is persuaded by Argentina, Brazil, and Chile to accept mediation in the conflict with Mexico
Gallipoli: Guts, Glory and Defeat
1915 First landings at Gaba Tepe and Cape Helles on the Gallipoli Peninsula by ANZAC forces during World War I
- 1920 Magda Julin of Sweden beats teammate Svea Norén for the gold medal in women's singles figure skating at the Antwerp Olympics
San Remo Conference
1920 San Remo conference establishes three League of Nations mandates: a French mandate for Syria, and British mandates for Mesopotamia and Palestine with effect to the terms of the Balfour Declaration
Hindenburg Elected President
1925 Paul von Hindenburg is elected the President of Germany
Turandot
1926 Giacomo Puccini's opera "Turandot" premieres in Milan
- 1926 Persian cossack officer Reza Chan crowns himself Shah Palawi
- 1927 Spain routes 20,000 soldiers to Morocco (uprising Rifkabylen)
- 1928 Buddy, a German Shepherd, becomes 1st guide dog for a US citizen Morris Frank
- 1932 Rose Franken's "Another Language" premieres in NYC
- 1933 NY Yankee Russ Van Atta shuts out Washington Senators 16-0
- 1933 Philadelphia Phillies' Dick Bartell is 1st MLB player to get 4 consecutive doubles in 9 innings
Operation Mercury
1941 Operation Mercury: Adolf Hitler orders the conquest of the island of Crete, the first mainly airborne invasion in military history
- 1942 Beginning of a 3 night bombing blitz on Bath by German Luftwaffe - 417 killed
- 1943 The Demyansk Shield for German troops in commemoration of Demyansk Pocket instituted
- 1944 United Negro College Fund incorporates
- 1945 "Elbe Day" - US and Soviet forces meet at Torgau, Germany on the Elbe River during the invasion of Germany in World War II
- 1945 45 countries convene UN Conference on Intl Organization in San Francisco
- 1945 Allied air raid on Surabaja, Java
- 1945 British troops reach the Grebbe Line, a forward defensive line in the Netherlands
- 1945 Clandestine Radio 1212, used to hoax Nazi Germany's final transmission
- 1945 Last Boeing B-17 attack against Nazi Germany
Raising a Flag over the Reichstag
1945 Soviet forces complete their encirclement of Berlin, cutting off all access points west of the German capital
- 1946 "Exposition Flyer" rammed at Napierville Illinois, killing 48
- 1946 Christopher Fry's "Phoenix too Frequent" premieres in London
- 1947 Trial against WW II mayor of Amsterdam Edward Voete begins
- 1949 Friedrich Durrenmatt's "Romulus der Grosse" premieres in Basel
- 1950 Chuck Cooper becomes the 1st African American to be drafted into the NBA (for Boston Celtics)
- 1950 Republik Maluku Selatan (also known as the Republic of the South Moluccas) declared on Ambon
- 1952 American Bowling Congress approves use of an automatic pinsetter
- 1952 German state of Bathe-Wurttemberg forms
Structure of DNA Published
1953 Francis Crick and James Watson's discovery of the double helix structure of DNA is published in "Nature" magazine
First Solar Battery
1954 Bell labs announces the first solar battery made from silicon. It has about 6% efficiency.
- 1954 British raid Nairobi, Kenya (25,000 Mau Mau suspects arrested)
- 1954 US performs atmospheric nuclear test above Bikini Island
- 1954 WDEF TV channel 12 in Chattanooga, TN (CBS) begins broadcasting
In the Wee Small Hours
1955 Captiol Records releases "In the Wee Small Hours", the ninth studio album by American vocalist Frank Sinatra; collection of melancholy ballads with arrangements by Nelson Riddle was an early example of a concept album and helped popularize the 12-inch format for non-classical recordings
South Sea Bubble
1956 Noël Coward's musical "South Sea Bubble" premieres in London
- 1957 1st experimental sodium nuclear reactor operated
- 1957 Ibrahim Hashim forms Jordanian government
- 1957 WUHY TV channel 35 in Philadelphia, PA (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1959 St Lawrence Seaway linking Atlantic and the Great Lakes opens to shipping
- 1960 1st submerged circumnavigation of Earth completed by USS submarine Triton in 60 days, 21 hours
Belgium History
1961 Belgium government of Gaston Eyskens falls over the Unitary Law
- 1961 France performs nuclear test at Reggane Proving Grounds Algeria
- 1961 Mercury/Atlas rocket lifted off with an electronic mannequin
- 1961 Premier Moise Tsjombe of Katanga arrested in Congo
- 1961 Robert Noyce patents integrated circuit
- 1961 Unmanned Mercury test explodes on launch pad
- 1962 Cleve sends Harry Chiti to Mets for a player to be named later, on June 15 the Mets send Chiti back to Cleveland
- 1962 Lion & Tiger Veldt at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is dedicated (Cleveland, Ohio)
- 1962 US Ranger spacecraft crash lands on Moon
- 1962 US resumes above ground nuclear testing, at Christmas Island
Television Finale
1964 "New Phil Silvers Show" last airs on CBS-TV
- 1964 11th National Film Awards (India): "Shehar Aur Sapna" wins the Golden Lotus
- 1964 Stanley Cup Final, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON: 3-peat for the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 4-0 Game 7 win over Detroit Red Wings for a 4-3 series victory
- 1966 Drunk driver kills 10 children in Asse, Belgium
- 1966 Rare daylight meteor observed from New Jersey, US to Quebec, Canada in the early evening
- 1967 Abortion legalized in Colorado
- 1967 Britain grants internal self-government to Swaziland
- 1967 Jules Feiffer's "Little Murders" premieres in NYC
- 1969 5,400th & last episode of BBC Radio serial "The Dales" (formerly "Mrs Dale's Diary")
- 1970 Buddha Records releases Melanie's breakthrough single "Lay Down"
- 1970 Holland-Dozier-Holland's Invictus Records releases Freda Payne's signature single "Band of Gold"
- 1971 About 200,000 anti-Vietnam War protesters march on Washington, D.C.
- 1971 The Northern Ireland census is held
- 1971 US canal rights in Nicaragua & rights to Corn Islands expire
- 1971 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- 1972 Hans-Werner Grosse glides 907.7 miles (1,461 km) in an AS-W-12
- 1973 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Spy Günter Guillaume Exposed
1974 Günter Guillaume, an aide to West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, is exposed as a Stasi spy (East German secret service)
- 1974 Leo Tindemans forms Belgium government
- 1974 NFL moves goal posts & adopts sudden-death playoff
- 1974 Portuguese Prime Minister Marcello Caetano is overthrown in the Carnation revolution, bringing Portugal's authoritarian Estado Novo (New State) government to an end
- 1975 1st Boeing Jetfoil revenue service, Hong Kong to Macao
Free Election in Portugal
1975 Mário Soares' Socialist Party wins Portugal's first free election since 1925 following the Carnation Revolution of 1974
- 1975 USSR performs underground nuclear test
- 1975 West German embassy blown up in Stockholm, Sweden
- 1976 Cub centerfielder Rick Monday rescues US flag from 2 fans trying to set it on fire
- 1976 Elections in Vietnam for a National Assembly to reunite the country
- 1976 India all out for 97 v West Indies
- 1976 Portugal adopts new constitution
- 1977 Cincinnati Reds tie record of 12 runs in 5th inning beating Braves 23-9
- 1977 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- 1978 ABC premiere of crime drama "Vega$"
- 1978 Phillie Phanatic makes 1st appearance
- 1978 Supreme Court rules pension plans can't require women to pay more
- 1979 Peace treaty between Israel & Egypt goes into effect
- 1980 Announcement of US hostage rescue bungle in Iran
- 1980 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Wayne Webb
Baseball History
1980 Oakland Athletics' manager Billy Martin is restrained by umpires from attacking a fan
- 1980 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- 1981 More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Japan
- 1981 Seattle Mariners MLB manager Maury Wills is suspended for 2 games after ordering Kingdome grounds crew to enlarge batter's boxes by one foot
- 1982 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1982 In accordance with Camp David, Israel completes Sinai withdrawal
- 1982 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- 1982 Yanks fire manager Bob Lemon & replaces him with Gene Michael
- 1983 "Nightline" expands from ½ hour to a full hour
- 1983 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- 1983 NASA space probe Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto's orbit
- 1983 Portugal's Mário Soares' Partido Socialista wins parliamentary election
Soviet History
1983 Yuri Andropov invites US schoolgirl Samantha Smith to the Soviet Union
- 1984 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
NHL History
1985 For 2nd time, Wayne Gretzky, scores 7 points in a Cup game (3 goals, 4 assists)
- 1985 West German Parliament rules it is illegal to deny the Holocaust
- 1986 ETA bomb attacks Madrid killing 5
- 1986 Mswati III is crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II
- 1988 American news program "Nightline" goes on location to Jerusalem Israel
- 1988 John Demjanjuk (Ivan the Terrible), Nazi concentration camp guard, sentenced to death in Jerusalem
- 1988 NASA launches space vehicle S-211
- 1989 Penguin Mario Lemuix ties NHL playoff record of 4 goals in 1st period
- 1990 Hong Kong actress Carina Lau is abducted by Triad members
- 1990 Hubble space telescope is placed into orbit by space shuttle Discovery
- 1990 Violeta Chamorro begins a 6-year term as Nicaragua's 1st female president
- 1991 Boston Herald journalist Lisa Olson brings suit against NFL New England Patriots for sexual harassment while covering team; an out-of-court settlement was reached, the league fines the team, and she transfers to a position in Sydney, Australia
- 1991 Iraq announces it expects to resume crude oil and product exports by July
- 1992 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Marc McDowell
- 1993 NFL Draft: Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe first pick by New England Patriots
Yeltsin Elected President
1993 Russia elects Boris Yeltsin President of the Russian Federation
- 1994 14" of snow in Southern California
- 1994 Bomb attack on taxi stand in Johannesburg, South Africa kills 10
- 1994 Fishing boat with school children capsize at Lanaka Syria, 46 killed
- 1994 King Azlan Shah of Malaysia resigns
- 1994 Mexican businessman and billionaire Angel Losada kidnapped
- 1994 Tsutomu Hata elected premier of Japan
- 1996 "Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk" opens at Ambassador Theater NYC
Baseball Record
1997 Seattle Mariner Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 250th HR
- 2005 107 die in Amagasaki rail crash in Japan
- 2005 Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union
- 2005 Final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937
We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
2006 Columbia Records releases Bruce Springsteen's 14th studio album "We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions", a tribute to folk music pioneer Pete Seeger
- 2007 Boris Yeltsin's funeral, the first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Tsar Alexander III in 1894
NFL Draft
2009 NFL Draft: Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford first pick by Detroit Lions
- 2011 At least 300 people killed in deadliest tornado outbreak in the Southern United States since the 1974 Super Outbreak.
- 2012 The United Kingdom dips back into recession after the economy shrank 0.2% in the first quarter of 2012
- 2013 38 people are killed in a psychiatric hospital fire in Ramensky, Russia
- 2013 NFL Draft: Central Michigan offensive tackle Eric Fisher first pick by Kansas City Chiefs
- 2013 The United Kingdom reopens its embassy in Somalia after 22 years
- 2015 100 year anniversary of the Gallipoli Peninsula landings in Turkey by ANZAC forces during WWI
- 2015 7.8-magnitude earthquake near Kathmandu in Nepal, killing 8000, leaving over 100,000 homeless, destroying many historic sites
- 2018 Danish inventor Peter Madsen found guilty of killing and desecrating body of journalist Kim Wall aboard submarine, sentenced to life imprisonment
- 2018 Indian religious leader Asaram Bapu is sentenced to life for raping a 16-year old girl
- 2019 Cyclone Kenneth strikes Mozambique with winds of 220km/h (140mph) killing at least38 people and damaging nearly 35,000 homes
- 2019 Microsoft becomes the third US firm to be listed with a market worth of 1 trillion, after Apple and Amazon
- 2019 More than 1,600 civilians were killed in US-led coalition air and land strikes on Raqqa in 2017, according to Amnesty International and monitoring group Airwars
- 2019 NFL Draft: Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray #1 pick by Arizona Cardinals
- 2019 Thousands march in Khartoum, Sudan calling for civilian rule
Academy Awards
2021 93rd Academy Awards: "Nomadland" wins best film, director (Chloé Zhao), and lead actress (Frances McDormand); Anthony Hopkins best actor
Brontë’s Million Dollar Book of Ryhmes
2022 Charlotte Brontë’s "A Book of Ryhmes" (10cm x 6cm), written when she was 13, sells at auction in New York for $1.25 million to Friends of the National Libraries for the Brontë Parsonage Museum [1]
- 2022 First airport for electric flying cars and large drones, built by Urban-Air Port, begins operations in Coventry, England [1]
- 2023 Japanese M1 spacecraft crashes on the moon, in its attempt to become the first privately-owned spacecraft to land on the Moon [1]
- 2023 Record April temperatures continue across Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, as Myanmar city of Theinzayet registers record 43C (109.4F) [1]
