http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Mar 27, 1958: Khrushchev becomes Soviet premier
On March 27, 1958, Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev replaces Nicolay Bulganin as Soviet premier, becoming the first leader since Joseph Stalin to simultaneously hold the USSR's two top offices.
Khrushchev, born into a Ukrainian peasant family in 1894, worked as a mine mechanic before joining the Soviet Communist Party in 1918. In 1929, he went to Moscow and steadily rose in the party ranks and in 1938 was made first secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party. He became a close associate of Joseph Stalin, the authoritarian leader of the Soviet Union since 1924. In 1953, Stalin died, and Khrushchev grappled with Stalin's chosen successor, Georgy Malenkov, for the position of first secretary of the Communist Party. Khrushchev won the power struggle, and Malenkov was made premier, a more ceremonial post. In 1955, Malenkov was replaced by Bulganin, Khrushchev's hand-picked nominee.
In 1956, Khrushchev denounced Stalin and his totalitarian policies at the 20th Party Congress, leading to a "thaw" in the USSR that saw the release of millions of political prisoners. Almost immediately, the new atmosphere of freedom led to anti-Soviet uprisings in Poland and Hungary. Khrushchev flew to Poland and negotiated a diplomatic solution, but the Hungarian rebellion was crushed by Warsaw Pact troops and tanks.
Khruschev's program of de-Stalinization was opposed by some hard-liners in the Communist Party, and in June 1957 he was nearly ousted from his position as first secretary. After a brief struggle, he secured the removal of Malenkov and the other top party members who had opposed him and in 1958 prepared to take on the post of premier. On March 27, 1958, the Supreme Soviet--the Soviet legislature--voted unanimously to make First Secretary Khrushchev also Soviet premier, thus formally recognizing him as the undisputed leader of the USSR.
In foreign affairs, Premier Khrushchev's stated policy was one of "peaceful coexistence" with the West. He said, "we offer the capitalist countries peaceful competition" and gave the Soviet Union an early lead in the space race by launching the first Soviet satellites and cosmonauts. A visit to the United States by Khrushchev in 1959 was hailed as a new high in U.S.-Soviet relations, but superpower relations would hit dangerous new lows in the early 1960s.
In 1960, Khrushchev walked out of a long-awaited four-powers summit over the U-2 affair, and in 1961 he authorized construction of the Berlin Wall as a drastic solution to the East German question. Then, in October 1962, the United States and the USSR came close to nuclear war over the USSR's placement of nuclear missiles in Cuba. After 13 tense days, the Cuban Missile Crisis came to an end when Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the offensive weapons in exchange for a secret U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba.
The humiliating resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis, an agricultural crisis at home, and the deterioration of Soviet-Chinese relations over Khrushchev's moderate policies all led to growing opposition to Khrushchev in the party ranks. On October 14, 1964, Leonid Brezhnev, Khrushchev's protege and deputy, organized a successful coup against him, and Khrushchev abruptly stepped down as first secretary and premier. He retired to obscurity outside Moscow and lived there until his death in 1971.
Mar 27, 1918: Bessarabia annexed by Romania
On March 27, 1918, in the wake of Russia's withdrawal from World War I and its acceptance of the humiliating peace terms set by the Central Powers at Brest-Litovsk, the Balkan republic of Romania annexes Bessarabia, a strategically important area of land located on its eastern border and bounded on the south by the Danube River and the mouth of the Black Sea.
Ruled by Ottoman Turks from the 16th century, Bessarabia (which today corresponds to the republic of Moldova and part of Ukraine) was annexed by the Russians in 1812 as a result of the Russo-Turkish War. The collapse of the Russian empire and the triumph of Bolshevism in 1917 inspired new stirrings of nationalism in Bessarabia, particularly among its large populations of Romanians and Ukrainians.
Despite its historical alliance with the Central Powers, especially Austria-Hungary, Romania had entered World War I on the side of the Allies in August 1916 with the hope of winning Transylvania, then part of Hungary, and expanding its strength in the Balkans. Within six months, however, Austro-German and Bulgarian forces had crushed Romania, effectively overrunning most of the country and ending its participation in the war by early 1917. (It signed a treaty with the Central Powers on May 7, 1918.) With the fall of the Russian empire, however, Romania saw its chance to reestablish its claims over Bessarabia.
For its part, Ukraine saw the end of czarist Russia as an opportunity. Immediately following the overthrow of the czar in February 1917, Ukraine set up a provisional government and proclaimed itself a republic within the structure of a federated Russia. In January 1918, it declared its complete independence. The Ukrainian government immediately sought control of Bessarabia, or at least its northernmost and southernmost sections, where the majority of the population was Ukrainian.
In January 1918, Romania sent troops to Bessarabia; on March 27, after Russia formally exited the war in early March at Brest-Litovsk, it annexed the region. Ukraine's national council strongly protested, urging self-determination for the Ukrainian population of Bessarabia. Over the next year, however, turmoil and ultimately civil war in Ukraine made taking any decisive action impossible. On November 10, a day before the armistice ending World War I was signed—and with an Allied victory assured—Romania reentered the war, occupying Transylvania.
At the Versailles peace conference in 1919, the Romanian delegation, headed by Prime Minister Ion Bratianu, included Bessarabia in a long list of territorial demands that also included the former Austro-Hungarian properties of Transylvania and the Bukovina and Banat regions, all of which they claimed were historically and ethnically Romanian. Though the Supreme Council at Versailles—made up of the leaders of Britain, France, the U.S., Italy and Japan—found Romania's demands excessive, they eventually gave in on most counts, including cession of Bessarabia. Thus, in the post-war period, Romania's size and population nearly doubled, making it by far the greatest winner of territory to come out of World War I.
Neither the new Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) nor its member republic, Ukraine—which fell to the Bolsheviks in 1919—accepted Romanian control of Bessarabia. During World War II, Bessarabia was occupied by Soviet troops in June 1940, retaken by Romania a year later, and then reoccupied by the Soviets in 1944. After the war ended, the majority of Bessarabia was joined to the soviet republic of Moldavia; the northernmost area and the coastal strip to the south along the Black Sea became part of Ukraine. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldavia changed its name to Moldova and, along with Ukraine, joined the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), an association of 12 former republics of the USSR.
Mar 27, 1998: FDA approves Viagra
On this day in 1998, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves use of the drug Viagra, an oral medication that treats impotence.
Sildenafil, the chemical name for Viagra, is an artificial compound that was originally synthesized and studied to treat hypertension (high blood pressure) and angina pectoris (a form of cardiovascular disease). Chemists at the Pfizer pharmaceutical company found, however, that while the drug had little effect on angina, it could induce penile erections, typically within 30 to 60 minutes. Seeing the economic opportunity in such a biochemical effect, Pfizer decided to market the drug for impotence. Sildenafil was patented in 1996, and a mere two years later–a stunningly short time compared to other drugs–it was approved by the FDA for use in treating "erectile dysfunction," the new clinical name for impotence. Though unconfirmed, it is believed the drug was invented by Peter Dunn and Albert Wood.
Viagra's massive success was practically instantaneous. In the first year alone, the $8-$10 pills yielded about a billion dollars in sales. Viagra's impact on the pharmaceutical and medical industries, as well as on the public consciousness, was also enormous. Though available by prescription only, Viagra was marketed on television, famously touted by ex-presidential candidate Bob Dole, then in his mid-70s. Such direct-to-consumer marketing was practically unprecedented for prescription drugs (now, sales and marketing account for approximately 30 percent of the pharmaceutical industry's costs, in some cases more than research and development). The drug was also offered over the internet–customers needed only to fill out an "online consultation" to receive samples.
An estimated 30 million men in the United States suffer from erectile dysfunction and a wave of new Viagra competitors, among them Cialis (tadalafil) and Levitra (vardenafil), has blown open the market. Drug companies are now not just targeting older men like Dole, but men in their 30s and 40s, too. As with many drugs, the long-term effects of Viagra on men's health are still unclear (Viagra does carry warnings for those who suffer from heart trouble), but its popularity shows no signs of slowing. To date, over 20 million Americans have tried it, and that number is sure to increase as the baby boomer population continues to age.
Mar 27, 1965: South Vietnamese forces conduct combat operations in Cambodia
Following several days of consultations with the Cambodian government, South Vietnamese troops, supported by artillery and air strikes, launch their first major military operation into Cambodia. The South Vietnamese encountered a 300-man Viet Cong force in the Kandal province and reported killing 53 communist soldiers. Two teams of U.S. helicopter gunships took part in the action. Three South Vietnamese soldiers were killed and seven wounded.
Mar 27, 1945: Germans launch last of their V-2s
On this day, in a last-ditch effort to deploy their remaining V-2 missiles against the Allies, the Germans launch their long-range rockets from their only remaining launch site, in the Netherlands. Almost 200 civilians in England and Belgium were added to the V-2 casualty toll.
German scientists had been working on the development of a long-range missile since the 1930s. In October 3, 1942, victory was achieved with the successful trial launch of the V-2, a 12-ton rocket capable of carrying a one-ton warhead. The missile, fired from Peenemunde, an island off Germany's Baltic coast, traveled 118 miles in that first test.
The brainchild of rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, the V-2 was unique in several ways. First, it was virtually impossible to intercept. Upon launching, the missile rises six miles vertically; it then proceeds on an arced course, cutting off its own fuel according to the range desired. The missile then tips over and falls on its target at a speed of almost 4,000 mph. It hits with such force that the missile burrows itself into the ground several feet before exploding. The V-2 had the potential of flying a distance of 200 miles, and the launch pads were portable, making them impossible to detect before firing.
The first launches as part of an offensive occurred on September 6, 1944, when two missiles were fired at Paris. On September 8, two more were fired at England, which would be followed by over 1,100 more during the next six months. On March 27, 1945, taking advantage of their one remaining V-2 launch site, near The Hague, the Germans fired their V-2s for the last time. At 7 a.m., London awoke to a blast-one of the bombs had landed on a block of flats at Valance Road, killing 134 people. Twenty-seven Belgian civilians were killed in Antwerp when another of the rockets landed there. And that afternoon, one more V-2 landed in Kent, England, causing the very last British civilian casualty of the war.
By the end of the war, more than 2,700 Brits had died because of the rocket attacks, as well as another 4,483 deaths in Belgium. After the war, both the United States and the Soviet Union captured samples of the rockets for reproduction. Having proved so extraordinarily deadly during the war, the V-2 became the precursor of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) of the postwar era.
Mar 27, 1912: Japanese cherry trees planted along the Potomac
In Washington, D.C., Helen Taft, wife of President William Taft, and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, plant two Yoshina cherry trees on the northern bank of the Potomac River, near the Jefferson Memorial. The event was held in celebration of a gift, by the Japanese government, of 3,020 cherry trees to the U.S. government.
The planting of Japanese cherry trees along the Potomac was first proposed by socialite Eliza Scidmore, who raised money for the endeavor. Helen Taft had lived in Japan while her husband was president of the Philippine Commission, and knowing the beauty of cherry blossoms she embraced Scidmore's idea. After learning of the first lady's interest, the Japanese consul in New York suggested making a gift of the trees to the U.S. government from the city of Tokyo.
In January 1910, 2,000 Japanese cherry trees arrived in Washington from Japan but had fallen prey to disease during the journey. In response, a private Japanese citizen donated the funds to transport a new batch of trees, and 3,020 specimens were taken from the famous collection on the bank of the Arakawa River in Adachi Ward, a suburb of Tokyo. In March 1912, the trees arrived in Washington, and on March 27 the first two trees were planted along the Potomac River's Tidal Basin in a formal ceremony. The rest of the trees were then planted along the basin, in East Potomac Park, and on the White House grounds.
The blossoming trees proved immediately popular with visitors to Washington's Mall area, and in 1934 city commissioners sponsored a three-day celebration of the late March blossoming of the trees, which grew into the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. After World War II, cuttings from Washington's cherry trees were sent back to Japan to restore the Tokyo collection that was decimated by American bombing attacks during the war.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt.
1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates Venice and all its
population.
1329 - Pope John XXII issues his 'In Agro Dominico'
condemning some writings of Meister Eckhart as heretical.
1513 - Spaniard Juan Ponce de Leon discovers Florida
1599 - Robert Devereux becomes lt-general of Ireland
1613 - The first English child born in Canada at Cuper's
Cove, Newfoundland to Nicholas Guy.
1625 - Charles I, King Of England, Scotland & Ireland,
ascends English throne
1642 - The sixth Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Joseph
takes office.
1668 - English king Charles II gives Bombay to East India
Company
1708 - English pretender to the throne James III flees to
Dunkerk
1709 - Dike at Hardinxveld breaks (Alblasserwaard flooded)
1713 - Spain losses Menorca & Gibraltar
1721 - France & Spain sign Treaty of Madrid
1758 - Battle at Emmerich: British army floats around France
the Rhine
1782 - Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham
becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1790 - The modern shoestring (string and shoe holes)
invented in England
1794 - The United States Government establishes a permanent
navy and authorizes the building of six frigates.
1794 - Denmark and Sweden form a neutrality compact.
1802 - Treaty of Amiens-French Revolutionary War ends
King Charles IIKing Charles II 1808 - Joseph Haydns oratorio
"Die Schopfung" premieres in Vienna
1814 - Battle at Horseshoe Bend: General Andrew Jackson
defeats the Red Sticks, part of the Creek Indian tribe near Dadeville, Alabama
1836 - 1st Mormon temple dedicated (Kirtland Ohio)
1841 - 1st US steam fire engine tested, NYC
1848 - John Parker Paynard originates medicated adhesive
plaster
1849 - Joseph Couch patents steam-powered percussion rock
drill
1855 - Abraham Gesner patents kerosene
1860 - M L Byrn patents "covered gimlet screw with a
'T' handle" (corkscrew)
1863 - President Davis calls for this to be a day of fasting
& prayer
1865 - Siege of Spanish Fort, AL-captured by Federals
1866 - Andrew Rankin patents the urinal
1866 - President Johnson vetoes civil rights bill; it later
becomes 14th amendment
1868 - The Lake Ontario Shore Railroad Company is organized
in Oswego, New York.
1871 - 1st international rugby game-Scotland 1, England 0
1879 - Longest championship fight (136 rounds)
US President & General Andrew JacksonUS President &
General Andrew Jackson 1881 - Rioting takes place in Basingstoke in protest
against the daily vociferous promotion of rigid Temperance by the Salvation
Army.
1884 - 1st long-distance telephone call, Boston-NY
1890 - A tornado strikes Louisville, Kentucky, killing 76
and injuring 200.
1906 - Founding of the Alpine Club of Canada in Winnipeg,
Manitoba
1910 - Fire during a barn-dance in Ököritófülpös, Hungary,
killed 312
1912 - 1st Japanese cherry blossom trees planted in Wash DC
1914 - 1st successful blood transfusion (in Brussels)
1918 - Moldova and Bessarabia join Romania.
1920 - Hermann Muller becomes German chancellor (SPD)
1924 - Canada recognizes USSR
1924 - New French government of Poincaré begins
1928 - KGB-AM in San Diego CA begins radio transmissions
1928 - US Ladies Figure Skating championship won by Maribel
Vinson
1928 - US Mens Figure Skating championship won by Roger
Turner
1929 - US Ladies Figure Skating championship won by Maribel
Vinson
1929 - US Mens Figure Skating championship won by Roger
Turner
1930 - 1st US radio broadcast from a ship at sea
Comedian/Actor/Filmaker Charlie ChaplinComedian/Actor/Filmaker
Charlie Chaplin 1931 - Charlie Chaplin receives France's distinguished Legion
of Honor
1931 - John McGraw says night baseball will not catch on
1932 - De Bataven soccer team forms in Gendt
1933 - Farm Credit Administration (US) authorized
1933 - Japan leaves League of Nations
1933 - Polythene discovered by Reginald Gibson & Eric
William Fawcett
1936 - WOS-AM in Jefferson City Missouri goes off the air
1937 - Feyenoord-stadium official opens in Rotterdam
1938 - The Battle of Taierzhuang takes place.
1939 - 1st NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: U of Oregon
beats OH State 46-33
1940 - Himmler orders building of Auschwitz concentration
camp, at Katowice
1941 - Britain leases defense bases in Trinidad to US for 99
years
1941 - Hitler signs Directive 27 (assault on Yugoslavia)
1941 - Yugoslavian coup gets rid of pro-German Prince Paul
1942 - -28] Allies raid German submarine base in St Nazaire
Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf HitlerDictator of Nazi
Germany Adolf Hitler 1942 - Japan forces Java to use "Tokyo time" 1½
hour forward
1942 - Joe Louis KOs Abe Simon in 6 to retain heavyweight
boxing title (NYC)
1943 - Assassination attempt on Van de Peat at Amsterdams
census bureau
1943 - Blue Ribbon Town (with Groucho Marx) 1st heard on CBS
Radio
1943 - US begins assault on Fondouk-pass, Tunisia
1944 - 1,000 Jews leave Drancy France for Auschwitz
Concentration Camp
1944 - 2,000 Jews are murdered in Kaunas Lithuania
1944 - 40 Jewish policemen in Riga Latvia ghetto are shot by
the gestapo
1944 - Children's Aktion-Nazis collect all the Jewish
children of Lovno
1945 - 7th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Oklahoma
State beats NYU 49-44
1945 - British premier Churchill sails to eastern banks of
Rhine
1945 - DePaul beats Bowling Green for NIT title
1945 - Ella Fitzgerald & Delta Rhythm Boys record
"It's Only a Paper Moon"
1945 - Gen Eisenhower declares German defenses on Western
Front broken
1945 - Iwo Jima occupied, after 22,000 Japanese & 6,000
US killed
Jazz Musician Ella FitzgeraldJazz Musician Ella Fitzgerald
1945 - US 20th Army corps captures Wiesbaden
1945 - World War II: Operation Starvation, the aerial mining
of Japan's ports and waterways begins.
1948 - The Second Congress of the Workers Party of North
Korea is convened.
1950 - Jazz pianist, Erroll Garner's solo concert (Cleve OH)
1950 - Netherlands recognizes People's Republic of China
1950 - WHAS TV channel 11 in Louisville, KY (CBS) begins
broadcasting
1951 - 13th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Kentucky
beats Kansas 68-58
1951 - Frank Sinatra recorded "I'm a Fool to Want
You"
1952 - Failed assassination attempt of German Chancellor
Adenauer
1952 - Sun Records of Memphis begins releasing records
1953 - 21 die in a train crash in Conneaut Ohio
1955 - 9th Tony Awards: Desperate Hours & Pajama Game
win
1955 - Steve McQueen makes his network TV debut (Goodyear
Playhouse)
1955 - WPRI TV channel 12 in Providence, RI (ABC) begins
broadcasting
1956 - French commandos land in Algeria
Singer/Actor Frank SinatraSinger/Actor Frank Sinatra 1956 -
US seizes US communist newspaper "Daily Worker"
1957 - 29th Academy Awards - "Around World in 80
Days," Bergman, Brynner win
1958 - CBS Labs announce new stereophonic records
1958 - Havana Hilton opens
1958 - Nikita Khrushchev becomes Soviet Premier as well as
First Secretary of the Communist Party
1960 - Wiffi Smith wins LPGA Royal Crown Golf Open
1961 - Black demonstrators in Charleston staged ride-ins on
street cars
1961 - Belgium government of Eyskens resigns
1961 - Failed assassination attempt on King Saif al-Islam
Achmad of Yemen
1962 - Ann Jellicoe's "Knack," premieres in London
1962 - Archbishop Rummel ends race segregation in New Orlean
Catholic school
1962 - Jacques Plante ties record winning 6th NHL Vezina
trophy
1963 - Beeching axe: Dr. Richard Beeching issues a report
calling for huge cuts to the United Kingdom's rail network.
1964 - 1st true Pirate Radio station, Radio Caroline
(England)
1964 - Earthquake strikes Alaska, 8.4 on Richter scale, 118
die
First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Nikita KhrushchevFirst Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Nikita Khrushchev 1964 - Great Train Robbers sentenced to a total of 307 years
behind bars
1964 - UN troops arrive on Cyprus
1966 - Anit Vietnam war demonstrations in US, Europe &
Australia
1966 - Marilynn Smith wins LPGA Louise Suggs Delray Beach
Golf Invitational
1968 - Japanese Trade & Cultural Center (Japan Center)
dedicated in SF
1968 - Suharto succeeds Sukarno as president of Indonesia
1969 - Black Academy of Arts & Letters forms in Boston
1969 - Launch of Mariner 7, flies 2,190-mi above southern
Mars
1970 - Ringo releases his 1st solo album "Sentimental
Journey"
1970 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern
Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1971 - 33rd NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats
Villanova 68-62 UCLA wins their 5th consecutive NCAA basketball title
1972 - Adolph Rupp retires after 42 years of coaching U of
Kentucky
1972 - Venera 8 launched to Venus
1973 - Dennis Amiss out for 99 v Pakistan, 3rd 99 in Test
Cricket
1973 - Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead) stopped for speeding
& LSD possession
Actor Marlon BrandoActor Marlon Brando 1973 - 45th Academy
Awards - "Godfather," Marlon Brando & Liza Minnelli win Marlon
Brando turns down Oscar for best actor in support of Indians
1976 - Delta States beat Immaculata, 69-64, for AIWA
basketball title
1976 - Washington DC underground Metro opens
1977 - 583 die in aviation's worst disaster KLM-Pan Am 747
crash on Tenerife
1977 - Sandra Palmer wins LPGA Kathryn Crosby/Honda Civic
Golf Classic
1978 - 40th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Kentucky
beats Duke 94-88
1978 - Bob Fosse's "Dancin'" opens at Broadhurst
Theater NYC for 1,774 perfs
1978 - Rutles "All You Need is Cash" is shown on
British TV
1979 - Supreme Court rules, 8-1, cops can't randomly stop
cars
1980 - "Happy New Year" opens at Morosco Theater
NYC for 17 performances
1980 - "Reggae" opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for
21 performances
1980 - Elevator in Vaal Reef S Afr gold mine crash 1900m
down (23 die)
1980 - Mount St Helens becomes active after 123 years
1980 - The Norwegian oil platform Alexander Kielland
collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212.
1981 - John Lennon single "Watching the Wheels"
released posthumously in UK
1982 - "Best Little Whorehouse..." closes at 46th
St NYC after 1577 perfs
1982 - Imran takes 14-116 for cricket match v Sri Lanka at
Lahore
1982 - Randy Holt sets Wash Cap record of 34 penalty minutes
1983 - 13th Easter Seal Telethon
1983 - Larry Holmes beats Lucien Rodriguez in 12 for
heavyweight boxing title
1983 - Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs,"
premieres in NYC
Composer Andrew Lloyd WebberComposer Andrew Lloyd Webber
1984 - Andrew Lloyd Webber/Richard Stilgoe's "Starlight Express,"
premieres
1985 - Billy Dee Williams receives a star on Hollywood Walk
of Fame
1986 - Disney-MGM Studio Tour ground breaking
1987 - President Habre's troops reconquer Faya Largeau Chad
1988 - Ice Dance Championship at Budapest won by
Bestemianova & Bukin (URS)
1988 - Ice Pairs Championship at Budapest won by E Valova
& O Vasiliev (URS)
1988 - Ladies Fig Skating Championship in Budapest won by
Katarina Witt (GDR)
1988 - Men's Figure Skating Champions in Budapest won by
Brian Boitano (USA)
1988 - Ok-Hee Ku wins Standard Register Turquoise Classic
Golf Tournament
1988 - Wrestlemania IV at Trump Plaza, "Macho Man"
Savage pins Ted Dibiase
1989 - 1st half-black soap opera, "Generations,"
premieres on NBC-TV
1989 - Delhi beat Bengal by innings & 210 to win
Cricket's Ranji Trophy
1990 - Bus accidentally touches high voltage wire in
Karagpur India; 21 die
1990 - NSW beat Queensland by 345 runs to win Sheffield
Shield Final
1990 - The United States begins broadcasting TV Martí to
Cuba in an effort to bridge the information blackout imposed by the Castro
regime.
Actor Billy Dee WilliamsActor Billy Dee Williams 1991 - NCAA
bans U of Minn football team from postseason play in 1992
1991 - New Kid Donnie Wahlberg, arrested on arson charges in
Kentucky
1991 - Scotty Bowman & Neil Armstrong elected to NHL
Hall of Fame
1992 - Bruce Springsteen releases "Human Touch"
& "Lucky Town"
1993 - Jiang Zemin is appointed President of the People's
Republic of China.
1994 - 23rd Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by
Donna Andrews
1994 - Church in Piedmont Alabama collapses in tornado, 19
killed
1994 - Ice Dance Championship at Chiba Japan won by
Gritschuk & Platov (RUS)
1994 - Ice Pairs Championship at Chiba won by
Shishkova/Vadim Naumov (RUS)
1994 - Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Chiba won by
Yuka Sato (JPN)
1994 - Men's Figure Skating Championship in Chiba won by
Elvis Stojko (CAN)
1994 - The Eurofighter takes its first flight in Manching,
Germany.
1995 - 67th Academy Awards - "Forest Gump,"
Jessica Lange & Tom Hanks win
1996 - "State Fair," opens at Music Box Theater
NYC for 118 performances
1997 - "Young Man From Atlanta," opens at Longacre
NYC for 85 performances
Actor Tom HanksActor Tom Hanks 1997 - Martin Luther King's
son meets with James Earl Ray
2000 - Phillips explosion of 2000 kills 1 and injures 71 in
Pasadena, Texas.
2002 - Passover Massacre: A suicide bomber kills 29 people
in Netanya, Israel.
2004 - HMS Scylla, a decommissioned Leander frigate, is sunk
as an artificial reef off Cornwall, the first of its kind in Europe.
2006 - The United Nations Commission on Human Rights holds
its final meeting.
2009 - Situ Gintung, an artificial lake in Indonesia, fails
killing at least 99 people.
2013 - 12 people are killed in the Philippines after a
mini-tornado causes a boat to capsize
2134 - 32nd recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1794 - The U.S. Congress authorized the creation of the U.S. Navy. 1802 - The Treaty of Amiens was signed ending the French Revolutionary War. 1836 - In Goliad, TX, about 350 Texan prisoners, including their commander James Fannin, were executed under orders from Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna. An estimated 30 Texans escaped execution. 1836 - The first Mormon temple was dedicated in Kirtland, OH. 1841 - The first steam fire engine was tested in New York City. 1860 - The corkscrew was patented by M.L. Byrn. 1866 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson vetoed the civil rights bill, which later became the 14th amendment. 1884 - The first long-distance telephone call was made from Boston to New York. 1899 - The first international radio transmission between England and France was achieved by the Italian inventor G. Marconi. 1900 - The London Parliament passed the War Loan Act that gave 35 million pounds to the Boer War cause in South Africa. 1900 - The Russian army mobilized 250,000 troops for active duty. 1901 - Filipino rebel leader Emilio Aguinaldo was captured by the U.S. 1904 - Mary Jarris "Mother" Jones was ordered by Colorado state authorities to leave the state. She was accused of stirring up striking coal miners. 1907 - French troops occupied Oudja, Morocco, as a punitive action for the murder of French Dr. Muchamp. 1912 - The first cherry blossom trees were planted in Washington, DC. The trees were a gift from Japan. 1917 - The Seattle Metropolitans, of the Pacific Coast League of Canada, defeated the Montreal Canadiens and became the first U.S. hockey team to win the Stanley Cup. 1931 - Actor Charlie Chaplin received France’s Legion of Honor decoration. 1933 - About 55,000 people staged a protest against Hitler in New York City. 1933 - In the U.S., the Farm Credit Administration was authorized. 1941 - Tokeo Yoshikawa arrived in Oahu, HI, and began spying for Japan on the U.S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor. 1942 - The British raided the Nazi submarine base at St. Nazaire, France. 1946 - Four-month long strikes at both General Electric and General Motors ended with a wage increase. 1952 - The U.S. Eighth Army reached the 38th parallel in Korea, the original dividing line between the two Koreas. 1955 - Steve McQueen made his network TV debut on "Goodyear Playhouse." 1958 - Nikita Khrushchev became the chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers in addition to First Secretary of the Communist Party. 1958 - The U.S. announced a plan to explore space near the moon. 1976 - Washington, DC, opened its subway system. 1985 - Billy Dee Williams received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 1988 - The U.S. Senate ratified the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. 1989 - The U.S. anti-missile satellite failed the first test in space. 1993 - In China, Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin was appointed President. 1997 - Russian workers, nearly 2 million, held a nationwide strike to protest unpaid wages. 1997 - In Australia, Governor-General William Deane signed a bill to overturn a 1996 Northern Territory act to legalize assisted suicides. The 1996 act was the first in the world to permit assisted suicides. 1998 - In the U.S., the FDA approved the prescription drug Viagra. It was the first pill for male impotence. 1998 - Top civilian aircraft makers in France, Spain, Germany and Britain agreed to create single European aerospace and defense company. 2004 - NASA successfully launched an unpiloted X-43A jet that hit Mach 7 (about 5,000 mph). 2007 - NFL owners voted to make instant replay a permanent officiating tool.
1794 Congress authorizes the construction of six frigates, including the Constitution (Old Ironsides), for the U.S. Navy. 1866 President Andrew Johnson vetoed a civil rights bill which later became the 14th amendment. 1884 The first long-distance telephone call was made, between Boston and New York. 1917 The Seattle Metropolitans became the first U.S. hockey team to win the Stanley Cup. 1958 Nikita Khrushchev became Soviet premier and first secretary of the Communist Party. 1964 A 9.2 magnitude earthquake hit 80 miles east of Anchorage, Alaska, killing 117 and producing a 50-foot tsunami that traveled over 8,000 miles. 1977 Pan American and KLM Boeing 747s collided on a runway in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands. The 542 people killed is the highest ever for an aviation disaster. 2001 A federal judge ruled that the University of Michigan’s affirmative action policy was invalid, a ruling that later would be reversed in an appeal.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/mar27.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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