Today is Sunday, April 27, the 117th day of 2025. There are 248 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On April 27, 2011, a devastating tornado outbreak occurred across the southeastern United States, resulting in 112 tornadoes touching down and causing the deaths of 319 people. It was the deadliest day of tornadoes in the U.S. since 1925.
Also on this date:
In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan met his demise in the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines while attempting to expand Spanish colonization in the region.
In 1813, the Battle of York took place in Upper Canada during the War of 1812, with U.S. forces emerging victorious over the British garrison in present-day Toronto. The battle saw the death of U.S. Brigadier General Zebulon Pike and 37 American soldiers when retreating British forces detonated the ammunition magazine of Fort York.
In 1865, the steamer Sultana, carrying freed Union prisoners of war, exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee, resulting in the deaths of as many as 1,800 individuals in the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history.
In 1994, former President Richard M. Nixon was laid to rest following a funeral service attended by all five of his successors at the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California.
In 2010, former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was extradited from the United States to France, where he was later convicted in a French court of laundering drug money and received a seven-year sentence.
In 2012, the space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a jumbo jet, made its final flight over the New York City skyline before being displayed at the USS Intrepid Museum.
In 2015, riots erupted in Baltimore, with a pharmacy being torched, police cars set ablaze, and bricks thrown at officers following the funeral service of Freddie Gray, a Black man who died from a severe spinal injury sustained in police custody.
In 2018, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made history by crossing into South Korea to meet with President Moon Jae-in, marking the first time a member of the Kim dynasty had stepped foot on southern soil since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
In 2019, a gunman opened fire inside a synagogue near San Diego during a Passover celebration, resulting in the death of a woman and the injury of a rabbi and two others. The perpetrator, John Earnest, a white supremacist, was sentenced to life in prison for the shootings.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Singer Kate Pierson (The B-52’s) celebrates her 77th birthday.
- Guitarist Ace Frehley turns 74 today.
- Senator Jim Justice, R-W.V., also turns 74.
- Basketball Hall of Famer George Gervin is 73 years old.
- Singer Sheena Easton marks her 66th birthday.
- Senator Cory Booker, D-N.J., turns 56.
- Actor Sally Hawkins celebrates her 49th birthday.
- Musician Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy) turns 41.
- Actor William Moseley is 38 years old today.
- Singer Lizzo celebrates her 37th birthday.
- Tennis player Nick Kyrgios turns 30 today.
