April 27 in History

A train crash kills at least 15 people and injures 84 others near Jakarta, Indonesia.

The Panmunjom Declaration is signed between North and South Korea, officially declaring their intentions to end the Korean conflict.

At least four explosions hit the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk with at least 27 people injured.

The 2011 Super Outbreak devastates parts of the Southeastern United States, especially the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee. Two hundred five tornadoes touched down on April 27 alone, killing more than 300 and injuring hundreds more.

Estonian authorities remove the Bronze Soldier, a Soviet Red Army war memorial in Tallinn, amid political controversy with Russia.

Israeli archaeologists discover the tomb of Herod the Great south of Jerusalem.

Construction begins on the Freedom Tower (later renamed One World Trade Center) in New York City.

Airbus A380 aircraft has its maiden test flight.

South African general election: The first democratic general election in South Africa, in which black citizens could vote. The Interim Constitution comes into force.This marked the end of Apartheid.

Most 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.

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, comprising Serbia and Montenegro, is proclaimed.

Betty Boothroyd becomes the first woman to be elected Speaker of the British House of Commons in its 700-year history.

The Russian Federation and 12 other former Soviet republics become members of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The April 27 demonstrations, student-led protests responding to the April 26 Editorial, during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

The U.S. Department of Justice bars Austrian President Kurt Waldheim (and his wife, Elisabeth, who had also been a Nazi) from entering the US, charging that he had aided in the deportations and executions of thousands of Jews and others as a German Army officer during World War II.

The city of Pripyat and surrounding areas are evacuated due to the Chernobyl disaster.

John Ehrlichman, a former aide to U.S. President Richard Nixon, is released from the Federal Correctional Institution, Safford, Arizona, after serving 18 months for Watergate-related crimes.

The Saur Revolution begins in Afghanistan, ending the following morning with the murder of Afghan President Mohammed Daoud Khan and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

Willow Island disaster: In the deadliest construction accident in United States history, 51 construction workers are killed when a cooling tower under construction collapses at the Pleasants Power Station in Willow Island, West Virginia.

Thirty-seven people are killed when American Airlines Flight 625 crashes at Cyril E. King Airport in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

One hundred nine people are killed in a plane crash near Pulkovo Airport.

Expo 67 officially opens in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with a large opening ceremony broadcast around the world. It opens to the public the next day.

Operation Moolah offers $50,000 to any pilot who defects with a fully mission-capable Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 to South Korea. The first pilot was to receive $100,000.

World War II: The last German formations withdraw from Finland to Norway. The Lapland War and thus, World War II in Finland, comes to an end and the Raising the Flag on the Three-Country Cairn photograph is taken.

World War II: Benito Mussolini is arrested by Italian partisans in Dongo, while attempting escape disguised as a German soldier.

World War II: German troops enter Athens.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) gains autonomy from the American Federation of Labor.

Carabineros de Chile (Chilean national police force and gendarmerie) are created.

The Second Canton Uprising takes place in Guangzhou, Qing China, but is suppressed.

Sultan of Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II is overthrown, and is succeeded by his brother, Mehmed V.

The State Duma of the Russian Empire meets for the first time.

American President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus.

War of 1812: American troops capture York, the capital of Upper Canada, in the Battle of York.

First Barbary War: United States Marines and Berbers attack the Tripolitan city of Derna (The "shores of Tripoli" in the Marines' Hymn).

Blind and impoverished, John Milton sells Paradise Lost to a printer for £10, so that it could be entered into the Stationers' Register.

The Battle of Carbisdale: A Royalist army from Orkney invades mainland Scotland but is defeated by a Covenanter army.

The relics of Saint Sava are incinerated in Belgrade on the Vračar plateau by Ottoman Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha; the site of the incineration is now the location of the Church of Saint Sava, one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world

Cebu is established becoming the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.

Official founding of the city of Bogotá, New Granada (nowadays Colombia), by Nikolaus Federmann and Sebastián de Belalcázar.

A Spanish-Imperial army defeats French-Venetian army in the battle of Bicocca. The battle marks the end of dominance of Swiss mercenaries on the battlefield and is one of the first where firearms play a decisive role.

Battle of Mactan: Explorer Ferdinand Magellan is killed by natives in the Philippines led by chief Lapulapu.

Pope Julius II places the Italian state of Venice under interdict.

First War of Scottish 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.

Islamic conquest of Hispania: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus).

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

Philip the Arab marks the millennium of Rome with a celebration of the ludi saeculares.

Mathys Tel, French footballer

Arch Manning, American football player

Xavier Worthy, American football player

Anthony Elanga, Swedish footballer

Peter Hola, Australian rugby league player

Cristian Romero, Argentine footballer

Jesse Ramien, Australian rugby league player

Nick Kyrgios, Australian tennis player

Corey Seager, American baseball player

Keenan Allen, American football player

Lara Gut, Swiss skier

Austin Dillon, American race car driver

Lars Bender, German footballer

Sven Bender, German footballer

Lizzo, American singer and rapper

Semyon Varlamov, Russian ice hockey player

Taylor Chorney, American ice hockey player

William Moseley, English actor

Wang Feifei, Chinese singer and actress

Jenna Coleman, English actress

Dinara Safina, Russian tennis player

Meselech Melkamu, Ethiopian runner

Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player

Daniel Holdsworth, Australian rugby league player

Patrick Stump, American musician, singer, and songwriter

Ari Graynor, American actress and producer

Sybille Bammer, Austrian tennis player

Christian Lara, Ecuadorian footballer

Vladimir Kozlov, Ukrainian actor and wrestler

Isobel Campbell, Scottish singer-songwriter and cellist

Sally Hawkins, English actress

Walter Pandiani, Uruguayan footballer

Chris Carpenter, American baseball player

Pedro Feliz, Dominican baseball player

Kazuyoshi Funaki, Japanese ski jumper

Frank Catalanotto, American baseball player

Sharlee D'Angelo, Swedish bass player and songwriter

Sébastien Lareau, Canadian tennis player

Nigel Barker, English photographer and author

Cory Booker, African-American lawyer and politician

Darcey Bussell, English ballerina

Dana Milbank, American journalist and author

Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands

Tommy Smith, Scottish saxophonist, composer, and educator

Erik Thomson, Scottish-New Zealand actor

Jason Whitlock, American football player and journalist

Siobhan Finneran, English actress

Peter McIntyre, Australian cricketer

Yoshihiro Togashi, Japanese illustrator

Anna Chancellor, English actress

Russell T Davies, Welsh screenwriter and producer

Ángel Comizzo, Argentinian footballer and manager

Seppo Räty, Finnish javelin thrower and coach

Im Sang-soo, South Korean director and screenwriter

Andrew Selous, English soldier and politician

Andrew Schlafly, American lawyer and activist, founded Conservapedia

Mike Krushelnyski, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Sheena Easton, Scottish-American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer

Marco Pirroni, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Dietmar Keck, Austrian politician

Willie Upshaw, American baseball player and manager

Bryan Harvey, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2006)

Eric Schmidt, American engineer and businessman

Frank Bainimarama, Fijian commander and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Fiji

Herman Edwards, American football player, coach, and sportscaster

Mark Holden, Australian singer, actor, and lawyer

Arielle Dombasle, French-American actress and model

Larry Elder, American lawyer and talk show host

George Gervin, American basketball player

Ari Vatanen, Finnish race car driver and politician

Ace Frehley, American guitarist and songwriter (died 2025)

Jaime Fresnedi, Filipino politician

David W. Duclon, American television writer and producer (died 2025)

Frank Abagnale Jr., American security consultant and criminal

Josef Hickersberger, Austrian footballer, coach, and manager

Kate Pierson, American singer-songwriter and bass player

G. K. Butterfield, African-American soldier, lawyer, and politician

Nick Greiner, Hungarian-Australian politician, 37th Premier of New South Wales

Pete Ham, Welsh singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1975)

Keith Magnuson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (died 2003)

Ann Peebles, American soul singer-songwriter

Franz Roth, German footballer

Martin Chivers, English footballer and manager (died 2026)

Terry Willesee, Australian journalist and television host

August Wilson, American author and playwright (died 2005)

Michael Fish, English meteorologist and journalist

Cuba Gooding Sr., American singer (died 2017)

Herb Pedersen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Helmut Marko, Austrian race car driver and manager

Ruth Glick, American author

Jim Keltner, American drummer

Fethullah Gülen, Turkish preacher and theologian (died 2024)

Dilip Kumar Chakrabarti, Indian archaeologist

Lee Roy Jordan, American football player

Judy Carne, English actress and comedian (died 2015)

Stanisław Dziwisz, Polish cardinal

Earl Anthony, American bowler and sportscaster (died 2001)

Alain Caron, Canadian ice hockey player (died 1986)

Sandy Dennis, American actress (died 1992)

Robin Eames, Irish Anglican archbishop

Richard Perham, English biologist and academic (died 2015)

Geoffrey Shovelton, English singer and illustrator (died 2016)

Theodoros Angelopoulos, Greek director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2012)

Ron Morris, American pole vaulter and coach (died 2024)

Peter Imbert, Baron Imbert, English police officer and politician, Lord Lieutenant for Greater London (died 2017)

Anouk Aimée, French actress (died 2024)

Pik Botha, South African lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 8th South African Ambassador to the United States (died 2018)

Casey Kasem, American disc jockey, radio celebrity, and voice actor; co-created American Top 40 (died 2014)

Chuck Knox, American football coach (died 2018)

Derek Minter, English motorcycle racer (died 2015)

Gian-Carlo Rota, Italian-American mathematician and philosopher (died 1999)

Igor Oistrakh, Ukrainian violinist and educator (died 2021)

Nina Ponomaryova, Russian discus thrower and coach (died 2016)

Coretta Scott King, African-American activist and author (died 2006)

Joe Moakley, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (died 2001)

Tim LaHaye, American minister, activist, and author (died 2016)

Basil A. Paterson, American lawyer and politician, 59th Secretary of State of New York (died 2014)

Alan Reynolds, English painter and educator (died 2014)

Derek Chinnery, English broadcaster (died 2015)

Vernon B. Romney, American lawyer and politician, 14th Attorney General of Utah (died 2013)

Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, Seminole chief (died 2011)

Jack Klugman, American actor (died 2012)

Sheila Scott, English nurse and pilot (died 1988)

Robert Dhéry, French actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2004)

Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (died 1956)

Mark Krasnosel'skii, Ukrainian mathematician and academic (died 1997)

James Robert Mann, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (died 2010)

Edwin Morgan, Scottish poet and translator (died 2010)

Sten Rudholm, Swedish lawyer and jurist (died 2008)

Roman Matsov, Estonian violinist, pianist, and conductor (died 2001)

Robert Hugh McWilliams, Jr., American sergeant, lawyer, and judge (died 2013)

Enos Slaughter, American baseball player and manager (died 2002)

Philip Abelson, American physicist and author (died 2004)

Irving Adler, American mathematician, author, and academic (died 2012)

Luz Long, German long jumper and soldier (died 1943)

Jacques de Bourbon-Busset, French author and politician (died 2001)

Zohra Sehgal, Indian actress, dancer, and choreographer (died 2014)

Bruno Beger, German anthropologist and ethnologist (died 2009)

Chris Berger, Dutch sprinter and footballer (died 1965)

Chiang Ching-kuo, Chinese politician, 3rd President of the Republic of China (died 1988)

Lim Bo Seng, Chinese businessman, resistance fighter of Force 136 and war hero of Singapore (died 1944)

Yiorgos Theotokas, Greek author and playwright (died 1966)

John Kuck, American javelin thrower and shot putter (died 1986)

Cecil Day-Lewis, Anglo-Irish poet and author (died 1972)

Nikos Zachariadis, Greek politician (died 1973)

Tiemoko Garan Kouyaté, Malian educator and activist (died 1942)

August Koern, Estonian politician and diplomat, Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs in exile (died 1989)

Walter Lantz, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and actor (died 1994)

Ludwig Bemelmans, Italian-American author and illustrator (died 1962)

Rogers Hornsby, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 1963)

William Hudson, New Zealand-Australian engineer (died 1978)

Wallace Carothers, American chemist and inventor of nylon (died 1937)

George Petty, American painter and illustrator (died 1975)

Nicolas Slonimsky, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1995)

Draža Mihailović, Serbian general (died 1946)

Allen Sothoron, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 1939)

Sergei Prokofiev, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1953)

Florence La Badie, Canadian actress (died 1917)

Warren Wood, American golfer (died 1926)

Jessie Redmon Fauset, American author and poet (died 1961)

Mihkel Lüdig, Estonian organist, composer, and conductor (died 1958)

Frederick Fane, Irish-born, English cricketer (died 1960)

Maurice Raoul-Duval, French polo player (died 1916)

William Arms Fisher, American composer and music historian (died 1948)

Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian painter and illustrator (died 1914)

Jules Lemaître, French playwright and critic (died 1914)

Hans Hartwig von Beseler, German general and politician (died 1921)

Otto, King of Bavaria (died 1916)

Edward Whymper, English-French mountaineer, explorer, author, and illustrator (died 1911)

Ulysses S. Grant, American general and politician, 18th President of the United States (died 1885)

Herbert Spencer, English biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and philosopher (died 1903)

William W. Snow, American lawyer and politician (died 1886)

Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (died 1883)

Samuel Morse, American painter and inventor, co-invented the Morse code (died 1872)

Charles Robert Cockerell, English architect, archaeologist, and writer (died 1863)

Mary Wollstonecraft, English philosopher, historian, and novelist (died 1797)

Marc-Antoine Parseval, French mathematician and theorist (died 1836)

Adamantios Korais, Greek-French philosopher and scholar (died 1833)

Thomas Lewis, Irish-born American surveyor and lawyer (died 1790)

Charles Emmanuel III, King of Sardinia (died 1773)

Charles Blount, English deist and philosopher (died 1693)

Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel, Queen Consort of Denmark (1670–1699) (died 1714)

Mumtaz Mahal, Mughal empress buried at the Taj Mahal (died 1631)

Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland (died 1632)

François Béroalde de Verville, French writer (died 1626)

Frederick Jagiellon, Primate of Poland (died 1503)

Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, Roman politician and general (died 43 BC)

Jiggly Caliente, Filipino-American drag performer, singer and actress (born 1980)

C. J. Sansom, British author (born 1952)

Jerry Springer, American politician and actor (born 1944)

Liao Guoxun, Chinese politician (born 1963)

Manoj Das, Indian writer (born 1934)

Vinod Khanna, Indian actor, producer and politician (born 1946)

Sadanoyama Shinmatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler (born 1938)

Gene Fullmer, American boxer (born 1931)

Verne Gagne, American football player, wrestler, and trainer (born 1926)

Alexander Rich, American biologist, biophysicist, and academic (born 1924)

Yigal Arnon, Israeli lawyer (born 1929)

Vujadin Boškov, Serbian footballer, coach, and manager (born 1931)

Daniel Colchico, American football player and coach (born 1935)

Harry Firth, Australian race car driver and manager (born 1918)

Aída Bortnik, Argentinian screenwriter (born 1938)

Lorraine Copeland, Scottish archaeologist (born 1921)

Antonio Díaz Jurado, Spanish footballer (born 1969)

Jérôme Louis Heldring, Dutch journalist and author (born 1917)

Aloysius Jin Luxian, Chinese bishop (born 1916)

Mutula Kilonzo, Kenyan lawyer and politician, Kenyan Minister of Justice (born 1948)

Daniel E. Boatwright, American soldier and politician (born 1930)

Bill Skowron, American baseball player (born 1930)

Marian Mercer, American actress and singer (born 1935)

Frankie Manning, American dancer and choreographer (born 1914)

Woo Seung-yeon, South Korean model and actress (born 1983)

Feroz Khan (actor), Indian Actor, Film Director & Producer (born 1939)

Mstislav Rostropovich, Russian cellist and conductor (born 1927)

Julia Thorne, American author (born 1944)

Red Horner, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1909)

George Alec Effinger, American author (born 1947)

Ruth Handler, American inventor and businesswoman, created the Barbie doll (born 1916)

Al Hirt, American trumpet player and bandleader (born 1922)

Dale C. Thomson, Canadian historian, author, and academic (born 1923)

Cyril Washbrook, English cricketer (born 1914)

John W. H. Bassett, Canadian journalist and politician (born 1915)

Carlos Castaneda, Peruvian-American anthropologist and author (born 1925)

Anne Desclos, French journalist and author (born 1907)

Browning Ross, American runner and soldier (born 1924)

William Colby, American diplomat, 10th Director of Central Intelligence (born 1920)

Gilles Grangier, French director and screenwriter (born 1911)

Katherine DeMille, Canadian-American actress (born 1911)

Willem Frederik Hermans, Dutch author, poet, and playwright (born 1921)

Olivier Messiaen, French organist and composer (born 1908)

Gerard K. O'Neill, American physicist and astronomer (born 1927)

Konosuke Matsushita, Japanese businessman, founded Panasonic (born 1894)

Fred Bear, American hunter and author (born 1902)

Stanley Adams, American actor and screenwriter (born 1915)

Carlos Menditeguy, Argentinian race car driver and polo player (born 1914)

Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanaian politician, 1st President of Ghana (born 1909)

Arthur Shields, Irish rebel and actor (born 1896)

René Barrientos, Bolivian soldier, pilot, and politician, 55th President of Bolivia (born 1919)

William Douglas Cook, New Zealand farmer, founded the Eastwoodhill Arboretum (born 1884)

Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (born 1908)

Jack Critchley, Australian politician (born 1892)

A. K. Fazlul Huq, Bangladeshi-Pakistani lawyer and politician, Pakistani Minister of the Interior (born 1873)

Roy Del Ruth, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1893)

Guido Castelnuovo, Italian mathematician and statistician (born 1865)

Benjamin Faunce, American druggist and businessman (born 1873)

Edmund Husserl, Czech mathematician and philosopher (born 1859)

Antonio Gramsci, Italian sociologist, linguist, and politician (born 1891)

Karl Pearson, English mathematician and academic (born 1857)

Hart Crane, American poet (born 1899)

John Labatt, Canadian businessman (born 1838)

Alexander Scriabin, Russian pianist and composer (born 1872)

Henry Parkes, English-Australian businessman and politician, 7th Premier of New South Wales (born 1815)

John Ballance, Irish-born New Zealand journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of New Zealand (born 1839)

Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet and philosopher (born 1803)

William Macready, English actor and manager (born 1793)

Zebulon Pike, American general and explorer (born 1779)

William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot, English politician, Lord Steward of the Household (born 1710)

Jean Bart, French admiral (born 1651)

John Trenchard, English politician, Secretary of State for the Northern Department (born 1640)

John George IV, Elector of Saxony (born 1668)

Jan van Goyen, Dutch painter and illustrator (born 1596)

Robert Abercromby, Scottish priest and missionary (born 1532)

Edward Cromwell, 3rd Baron Cromwell, Governor of Lecale (born 1560)

Pope Leo XI (born 1535)

Maeda Toshiie, Japanese general (born 1538)

Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese sailor and explorer (born 1480)

Isidore of Kiev (born 1385)

Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (born 1342)

Maria of Bosnia, Countess of Helfenstein (born 1335)

Simeon of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and Vladimir

Nicolò Albertini, Italian cardinal statesman (born c. 1250)

Zita, Italian saint (born 1212)

Rudolf I, Count of Bregenz (born 1081)

Ardashir III of Persia (born 621)