Johannes Kepler Talking with Rudolph II

4977 B.C.

Universe is created, according to Kepler

Born on This Day

Samuel Morse

Samuel F. B. Morse

1791 - 1872

American inventor of the electric telegraph—and the Morse code used to send text messages over distantly separated wires.

Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King's wife, 20th century, United States, New York, Schomburg Center.

Coretta Scott King

1927 - 2006

Wife of Martin Luther King Jr. who continued his legacy of civil rights activism after his assassination in 1968.

2003 Los Angeles Public Library Awards Honoring Playwright August Wilson

August Wilson

1945 - 2005

Pulitzer-winning playwright best known for "Fences," "The Piano Lesson" and other dramas about the 20-century Black experience.

Samuel F. B. Morse

Getty Images

Coretta Scott King

Universal Images Group via Getty

August Wilson

WireImage

1942

APR

27

Sugar becomes the first household staple rationed as part of the US war effort. The government issues ration books with tear-out stamps allowing every American, kids included, to buy 26 pounds of sugar per year.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on April 27th

1521

Navigator Ferdinand Magellan killed in the Philippines

After traveling three-quarters of the way around the globe, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan is killed during a tribal skirmish on Mactan Island in the Philippines. Earlier in the month, his ships had dropped anchor at the Philippine island of Cebu, and Magellan met with the local chief, who after converting to Christianity persuaded the Europeans […]

3:56m read read

1805

U.S. agent William Eaton leads first U.S. Marines battle, on “the shores of Tripoli”

After marching 500 miles from Egypt, U.S. agent William Eaton leads a small force of U.S. Marines and Berber mercenaries against the Tripolitan port city of Derna. The Marines and Berbers were on a mission to depose Yusuf Karamanli, the ruling pasha of Tripoli, who had seized power from his brother, Hamet Karamanli, a pasha […]

1:34m read read

1813

Explorer Zebulon Pike killed in battle

After surviving two dangerous exploratory expeditions into uncharted areas of the West, Zebulon Pike dies during a battle in the War of 1812. By the time he became a general in 1812, Pike had already faced many perilous situations. He joined the army when he was 15, and eventually took various military posts on the […]

1:42m read read

1822

President Ulysses S. Grant is born

Ulysses S. Grant, Civil War leader and 18th president of the United States, is born on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio. The son of a tanner, Grant showed little enthusiasm for joining his father’s business, so the elder Grant enrolled his son at West Point in 1839. Though Grant later admitted in his […]

3:16m read read

1861

President Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus during the Civil War

April 27, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln instructs General Winfield Scott to suspend habeas corpus as necessary to keep vital transport and supply lines clear in Maryland. This action kicks off a legal dispute with the Supreme Court. One month later, on May 25, 1861, John Merryman, a state legislator from Maryland, is arrested for attempting […]

1:46m read read

1865

Sultana steamship explosion kills 1,700

The steamboat Sultana explodes on the Mississippi River near Memphis, killing 1,700 passengers including many discharged Union soldiers. The accident is still considered the largest maritime disaster in U.S. history. The Sultana was launched from Cincinnati in 1863. The boat was 260 feet long and had an authorized capacity of 376 passengers and crew. It […]

1956

Rocky Marciano retires as world heavyweight champion

On April 27, 1956, world heavyweight champ Rocky Marciano retires from boxing at age 31, saying he wants to spend more time with his family. Marciano ended his career as the only heavyweight champion with a perfect record–49 wins in 49 professional bouts, with 43 knockouts. Rocco Francis Marchegiano was born into a working-class family […]

1:36m read read

1978

Afghan president is overthrown and murdered

Afghanistan President Sardar Mohammed Daoud is overthrown and murdered in a coup led by procommunist rebels. The brutal action marked the beginning of political upheaval in Afghanistan that resulted in intervention by Soviet troops less than two years later. Daoud had ruled Afghanistan since coming to power in a coup in 1973. His relations with […]

1:46m read read

1993

D.A. announces negligence caused death of “The Crow” actor Brandon Lee

As a nearly month-long police investigation draws to a close, North Carolina District Attorney Jerry Spivey announces on April 27, 1993 that the death of 28-year-old Brandon Lee on March 31 of that same year during filming of The Crow was due to negligence on the part of the film’s crew, not foul play. Lee […]

2:46m read read

1994

South Africa holds first multiracial elections

More than 22 million South Africans turn out to cast ballots in the country’s first multiracial parliamentary elections. An overwhelming majority chose anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela to head a new coalition government that included his African National Congress Party, former President F.W. de Klerk’s National Party, and Zulu leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s Inkatha Freedom Party. In […]

2:16m read read

1997

Andrew Cunanan begins his killing spree

Andrew Cunanan kills Jeffrey Trail by beating him to death with a claw hammer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Trail’s murder set Cunanan off on a nationwide killing spree that ended in July when he killed himself on a houseboat in Miami Beach. Cunanan spent most of his adult life as the kept companion of wealthy older […]

2:00m read read

2009

GM announces plans to phase out Pontiac

On April 27, 2009, the struggling American auto giant General Motors (GM) says it plans to discontinue production of its more than 80-year-old Pontiac brand. Pontiac’s origins date back to the Oakland Motor Car, which was founded in 1907 in Pontiac, Michigan, by Edward Murphy, a horse-drawn carriage manufacturer. In 1909, Oakland became part of […]

2:04m read read

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