This Day in History

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Today is April 27.

1521 – Battle of Mactan: Explorer Ferdinand Magellan is killed by natives in the Philippines led by chief Lapu-Lapu.

1667 – John Milton, blind and impoverished, sells the copyright of Paradise Lost for £10.

1805 – First Barbary War: United States Marines and Berbers attack the Tripolitan city of Derna (The "shores of Tripoli" part of the Marines' Hymn).

1861 – American President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus.

1936 – The United Auto Workers (UAW) gains autonomy from the American Federation of Labor.

1981 – Xerox PARC introduces the computer mouse.

1986 – The city of Pripyat as well as the surrounding areas are evacuated due to Chernobyl disaster.

2011 – The 2011 Super Outbreak devastates parts of the Southeastern United States, especially the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee, killing 348 and injuring hundreds more. The outbreak spawned 362 confirmed tornadoes. 218 tornadoes touch down on this day. This event was the costliest tornado outbreak, and one of the costliest natural disasters, in United States history (even after adjustments for inflation), with total damages of approximately $11 billion (2011 USD).



1791 – Samuel Morse, 1822 – Ulysses S. Grant (18th POTUS), 1896 – Rogers Hornsby, 1899 – Walter Lantz, 1922 – Jack Klugman (Odd Couple, Quincy M.E.), 1926 – Tim LaHaye, 1927 – Coretta Scott King, 1932 – Casey Kasem, 1938 – Earl Anthony, 1944 – Cuba Gooding Sr., 1947 – Pete Ham♪ ♫(Badfinger), 1951 – Ace Frehley(KISS, Frehley's Comet), 1955 – Eric Schmidt (Executive Chairman of Alphabet, Inc), 1959 – Sheena Easton♪ ♫



1521 – Ferdinand Magellan, 1813 – Zebulon Pike (namesake of Pike's Peak), 1882 – Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1932 – Hart Crane, 1965 – Edward R. Murrow, 1988 – Fred Bear(American bow hunter), 1996 – William Colby, 1999 – Al Hirt♪ ♫, 2002 – Ruth Handler (created the Barbie doll), 2015 – Verne Gagne