On This Day in History

April 27

Historical Events

1565 First Spanish settlement in the Philippines founded at Cebu City.

1865 Steamboat "SS Sultana" explodes in the Mississippi River, killing up to 1,800 of the 2,427 passengers in the greatest maritime disaster in United States history. Most were paroled Union POWs on their way home.

Australia's first Labor ministry, the first in the world

1904 The Australian Labor Party under Prime Minister Chris Watson becomes the first Labor government in the world

1945 Italian partisans capture Benito Mussolini at Dongo (Lake Como)

2005 The superjumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380 makes its first flight from Toulouse, France

Famous Birthdays

Mary Wollstonecraft 1759 - 1797 Samuel Morse 1791 - 1872

Ulysses S. Grant 1822 - 1885 Rogers Hornsby 1896 - 1963

Also Draža Mihailović, Casey Kasem and Lizzo (36).

More Famous Birthdays

Famous Deaths

Ferdinand Magellan 1480 - 1521 Edward R. Murrow 1908 - 1965

Also Antonio Gramsci, Kwame Nkrumah and Jerry Springer.

More Famous Deaths

Record-Breaking Sheila, the High-Flying Aviator

The Sky's was the limit for Sheila Scott who made three solo flights around the world and was the first pilot, male or female, to fly over the North Pole.

Aviator Sheila Scott