Independence
day
Sierra Leone
Togo
UN
Day
International
Girls in ICT Day [ITU]
Events
of the day
395 – Emperor Arcadius marries
Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general
Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of the more powerful
Roman empresses of Late Antiquity.
1296 – First War of Scottish Independence: John
Balliol's Scots army is defeated by an English
army commanded by John de Warenne, 6th Earl
of Surrey at the Battle of Dunbar.
1509 – Pope Julius II places the Italian state
of Venice under interdict.
1521 – Battle of Mactan: Explorer Ferdinand
Magellan is killed by natives in the Philippines
led by chief Lapu-Lapu.
1522 – Combined forces of Spain and the Papal
States defeat a French and Venetian army at
the Battle of Bicocca.
1539 – Re-founding of the city of Bogotá, New
Granada (now Colombia), by Nikolaus Federmann
and Sebastián de Belalcázar.
1565 – Cebu is established becoming the first
Spanish settlement in the Philippines.
1578 – Duel of the Mignons claims the lives
of two favourites of Henry III of France and
two favorites of Henry I, Duke of Guise.
1650 – The Battle of Carbisdale: A Royalist
army from Orkney invades mainland Scotland but
is defeated by a Covenanter army.
1667 – The blind and impoverished John Milton
sells the copyright of Paradise Lost for £10.
1749 – First performance of Handel's Music for
the Royal Fireworks in Green Park, London.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle
of Ridgefield: A British invasion force engages
and defeats Continental Army regulars and militia
irregulars at Ridgefield, Connecticut.
1805 – First Barbary War: United States Marines
and Berbers attack the Tripolitan city of Derna
(The "shores of Tripoli" part of the
Marines' hymn).
1810 – Beethoven composes Für Elise.
1813 – War of 1812: United States troops capture
the capital of Upper Canada in the Battle of
York (present day Toronto, Canada).
1840 – Foundation stone for new Palace of Westminster,
London, is laid by wife of Sir Charles Barry.
1861 – President of the United States Abraham
Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus.
1865 – The New York State Senate creates Cornell
University as the state's land grant institution.
1865 – The steamboat SS Sultana, carrying 2,400
passengers, explodes and sinks in the Mississippi
River, killing 1,700, most of whom are Union
survivors of the Andersonville and Cahaba Prisons.
1904 – The Australian Labor Party becomes the
first such party to gain national government,
under Chris Watson.
1909 – Sultan of Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid
II is overthrown, and is succeeded by his brother,
Mehmed V.
1911 – Following the resignation and death of
William P. Frye, a compromise is reached to
rotate the office of President pro tempore of
the United States Senate.
1914 – Honduras becomes a signatory to the Buenos
Aires copyright treaty.
1927 – Carabineros de Chile (Chilean national
police force and gendarmery) are created.
1936 – The United Auto Workers (UAW) gains autonomy
from the American Federation of Labor.
1941 – World War II: German troops enter Athens.
1941 – World War II: The Communist Party of
Slovenia, the Slovene Christian Socialists,
the left-wing Slovene Sokols (also known as
"National Democrats") and a group
of progressive intellectuals establish the Liberation
Front of the Slovenian People.
1945 – World War II: German troops are finally
expelled from Finnish Lapland.
1945 – World War II: Benito Mussolini is arrested
by Italian partisans in Dongo, while attempting
escape disguised as a German soldier.
1950 – Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group
Areas Act is passed formally segregating races.
1953 – Operation Moolah is initiated by General
Mark W. Clark against Communist pilots.
1960 – Togo gains independence from French-administered
UN trusteeship.
1961 – Sierra Leone is granted its independence
from the United Kingdom, with Milton Margai
as the first Prime Minister.
1967 – Expo 67 officially opens in Montreal,
Canada with a large opening ceremony broadcast
around the world. It opens to the public the
next day.
1974 – 10,000 march in Washington, D.C., calling
for the impeachment of US President Richard
Nixon
1977 – 28 people are killed in the Guatemala
City air disaster.
1978 – Former United States President Nixon
aide John D. Ehrlichman is released from an
Arizona prison after serving 18 months for Watergate-related
crimes.
1981 – Xerox PARC introduces the computer mouse.
1987 – The U.S. Department of Justice bars the
Austrian President Kurt Waldheim from entering
the United States, saying he had aided in the
deportation and execution of thousands of Jews
and others as a German Army officer during World
War II.
1992 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, comprising
Serbia and Montenegro, is proclaimed.
1992 – Betty Boothroyd becomes the first woman
to be elected Speaker of the British House of
Commons in its 700-year history.
1992 – Russia and 12 other former Soviet republics
become members of the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank.
1993 – All members of the Zambia national football
team lose their lives in a plane crash off Libreville,
Gabon in route to Dakar, Senegal to play a 1994
FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Senegal.
1994 – South African general election, 1994:
The first democratic general election in South
Africa, in which black citizens could vote.
The Interim Constitution comes into force.
1996 – The 1996 Lebanon war ends.
2002 – The last successful telemetry from the
NASA space probe Pioneer 10.
2005 – The superjumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380
makes its first flight from Toulouse, France.
2006 – Construction begins on the Freedom Tower
for the new World Trade Center in New York City.
2007 – Estonian authorities remove the Bronze
Soldier, a Soviet Red Army war memorial in Tallinn,
amid political controversy with Russia.
2011 – The 2011 Super Outbreak of tornadoes
devastates parts of the southeastern United
States, especially the State of Alabama, killing
nearly 300.
Holidays
and observances
Christian
Feast Day:
Liberalis of Treviso
Virgin of Montserrat
Zita
April 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Day of the Uprising Against the Occupying Forces
(Slovenia)
Freedom Day (South Africa), and its related
observances:
UnFreedom Day (South Africa, unofficial)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence
of Sierra Leone from United Kingdom in 1961.
Independence Day, celebrates the independence
of Togo from France in 1960.
National War Veterans' Day (Finland)
World Tapir Day, raises awareness of threatened
tapir species
For details, contact Datacentre
