April 27

### Up to 1900

- 33 BC – Lucius Marcius Philippus, step–brother of future Roman Emperor Augustus, celebrates a triumph for his victories while serving as Governor in one of the Provinces of Hispania.
- 711 – Islamic Conquest of Hispania: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al–Andalus).
- 1296 – First Scottish War of Independence: John Balliol's Scottish army is defeated by an English army commanded by John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey at the Battle of Dunbar.
- 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan is killed in the Philippines.
- 1522 – Combined forces of Spain and the Papal States defeat a French and Venetian army at the Battle of Bicocca.
- 1539 – Re–founding of Bogota, in present–day Colombia.
- 1565 – Cebu is established as the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.
- 1749 – First performance of George Frideric Handel's _Music of the Fireworks_ in Green Park, London.
- 1777 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Ridgefield – A British invasion force engages and defeats Continental Army regulars and militia irregulars at Ridgefield, Connecticut.
- 1810 – Ludwig van Beethoven composes the musical piece Für Elise.
- 1813 – War of 1812: US troops capture the capital city of Upper Canada in the Battle of York (present–day Toronto).
- 1840 – The foundation stone is laid for the new Palace of Westminster.
- 1865 – The SS _Sultana_ steamboat explodes and sinks on the Mississippi River, killing 1,700 people.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1904 – Chris Watson becomes Prime Minister of Australia.
- 1908 – The 1908 Summer Olympics in London begin.
- 1909 – Ottoman Empire Sultan Abdul Hamid II is overthrown by his brother Mehmed V.
- 1914 – Honduras becomes a signatory of the Buenos Aires Convention.
- 1927 – The Carabineros de Chile, the national police and gendarmerie of Chile, is created.
- 1936 – United Auto Workers gains autonomy from the American Federation of Labor.
- 1941 – World War II: German troops enter Athens.
- 1945 – World War II: Benito Mussolini is arrested by Italian partisans.
- 1945 – World War II: German troops are expelled from Finnish Lapland.
- 1950 – Apartheid: in South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed, formally segregating (separating) Black people from White people.
- 1950 – The United Kingdom officially recognizes the state of Israel.
- 1960 – Togo becomes independent from France.
- 1961 – Sierra Leone becomes independent from the UK.
- 1967 – The Expo 67, a trade fair, begins in Montreal, Canada.
- 1974 – 10,000 people march in Washington, DC, calling for the impeachment for Richard Nixon.
- 1977 – 28 people are killed in the Guatemala City air disaster.
- 1981 – Xerox PARC introduces the computer mouse.
- 1987 – The US Department of Justice bars Austrian President Kurt Waldheim from entering the United States over revelations of possible war crimes committed by him during World War II.
- 1992 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is created, consisting of Serbia and Montenegro.
- 1992 – Russia and 12 former Soviet Republics join the International Monetary Fund.
- 1992 – Betty Boothroyd becomes the first female Speaker of the British House of Commons.
- 1993 – Several members of the Zambia national football team are killed in a plane crash near Libreville, Gabon.
- 1994 – South Africa holds its first general elections under free and equal conditions, with Nelson Mandela being elected President.
- 1996 – The 1996 Lebanon war ends.
- 1999 – Abdelaziz Bouteflika becomes President of Algeria.

### From 2001

- 2005 – The Superjumbo aircraft Airbus A380 makes its first flight in France.
- 2006 – Construction begins on the Freedom Tower in New York City.
- 2007 – The Bronze Soldier Soviet war memorial in Tallinn is removed by Estonian authorities, amidst tensions with Russia.
- 2009 – The United Kingdom announces its first cases of the 2009 Swine flu outbreak.
- 2011 – A tornado outbreak kills hundreds of people in the Southeastern United States.
- 2014 – Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II are declared saints.
- 2018 – South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meet for talks.

### Up to 1900

- 85 BC – Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, Roman politician and general (d. 43 BC)
- 1623 – Johann Adam Reinken, German organist and composer (d. 1722)
- 1650 – Charlotte-Amalie of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1714)
- 1676 – King Frederick I of Sweden (d. 1751)
- 1701 – Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (d. 1773)
- 1724 – Thomas Gardner, American politician and soldier (d. 1755)
- 1755 – Marc-Antoine Parseval, French mathematician (d. 1836)
- 1759 – Mary Wollstonecraft, English writer and feminist (d. 1797)
- 1770 – Edward Codrington, English admiral (d. 1851)
- 1788 – Charles Robert Cockerell, English architect, archaeologist and writer (d. 1863)
- 1791 – Samuel Morse, American inventor (d. 1872)
- 1802 – Louis Niedermeyer, French–Swiss composer and teacher (d. 1861)
- 1806 – Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies (d. 1878)
- 1820 – Herbert Spencer, English philosopher (d. 1908)
- 1822 – Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States (d. 1885)
- 1840 – Edward Whymper, English mountaineer (d. 1911)
- 1848 – Otto I of Bavaria (d. 1916)
- 1853 – Jules Lemaitre, French critic and dramatist (d. 1914)
- 1856 – Tongzhi Emperor of China (d. 1875)
- 1857 – Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian artist (d. 1914)
- 1860 – Frank Winkelmeier, Austrian, tallest man at the time of his death (d. 1887)
- 1862 – Rudolph Schildkraut, Turkish–American actor (d. 1930)
- 1866 – Marcel Raoul-Duval, French polo player (d. 1916)
- 1875 – Maurice de Broglie, French physicist (d. 1960)
- 1878 – John Rimmer, British athlete (d. 1962)
- 1878 – Frank Gotch, American wrestler (d. 1917)
- 1880 – Mihkel Lüdig, Estonian organist, composer and conductor (d. 1958)
- 1882 – Jessie Redmon Fauset, American writer and poet (d. 1961)
- 1887 – Warren Wood, American golfer (d. 1926)
- 1888 – Florence La Badie, Canadian actress (d. 1917)
- 1892 – Albert Rudomine, French photographer (d. 1975)
- 1893 – Allen Sothoron, American baseball player, coach and manager (d. 1939)
- 1893 – Prince Paul of Yugoslavia (d. 1976)
- 1894 – Nicolas Slonimsky, Russian composer, conductor, musician, critic and writer (d. 1995)
- 1894 – George Petty, American artist (d. 1975)
- 1896 – William Hudson, Australian engineer (d. 1978)
- 1896 – Wallace Carothers, American chemist (d. 1937)
- 1898 – Ludwig Bemelmans, Italian–American writer and illustrator (d. 1962)
- 1899 – Walter Lantz, American cartoonist (d. 1994)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1902 – Tiemoko Garan Kouyaté, Malian educator and activist (d. 1942)
- 1903 – Horace Stoneham, American businessman (d. 1990)
- 1904 – Cecil Day-Lewis, Irish poet and writer (d. 1972)
- 1904 – Nikos Zachariadis, Greek politician (d. 1973)
- 1905 – John Huck, American javelin thrower and shot putter (d. 1986)
- 1909 – Guillermo León Valencia, President of Colombia (d. 1971)
- 1910 – Chiang Ching-kuo, Chinese–Taiwanese politician (d. 1988)
- 1911 – Chris Berger, Dutch sprinter (d. 1965)
- 1912 – Zohra Sehgal, Indian actress, dancer and choreographer (d. 2014)
- 1912 – Jacques de Bourbon Busset, French novelist, essayist and politician (d. 2001)
- 1913 – Luz Long, German long jumper (d. 1943)
- 1918 – Sten Rudholm, Swedish jurist (d. 2008)
- 1920 – Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (d. 1956)
- 1920 – Edwin Morgan, Scottish poet (d. 2010)
- 1921 – Robert Dhéry, French actor, director and screenwriter (d. 2004)
- 1922 – Martin Gray, Polish Holocaust survivor and writer (d. 2016)
- 1922 – Jack Klugman, American actor (d. 2012)
- 1926 – Tim LaHaye, American minister, writer and speaker (d. 2016)
- 1927 – Coretta Scott King, American Civil Rights activist (d. 2006)
- 1927 – Sheila Scott, English aviator (d. 1988)
- 1929 – Nina Ponomaryova, Russian athlete (d. 2016)
- 1931 – Igor Oistrakh, Ukrainian violinist
- 1931 – Krzysztof Komeda, Polish jazz pianist (d. 1969)
- 1932 – Anouk Aimée, French actress
- 1932 – Casey Kasem, American radio show host and voice actor (d. 2014)
- 1932 – Derek Minter, English motorcycle racer (d. 2014)
- 1932 – Pik Botha, South African politician (d. 2018)
- 1932 – Chuck Knox, American football coach (d. 2018)
- 1932 – Gian-Carlo Rota, Italian mathematician and philosopher (d. 1999)
- 1939 – Stanislaw Dziwisz, Polish cardinal
- 1939 – Jerry Mercer, Canadian drummer
- 1939 – Joao Bernardo Vieira, President of Guinea-Bissau (d. 2009)
- 1941 – Fethullah Gülen, Turkish politician and religious leader
- 1942 – Valeri Polyakov, Soviet–Russian cosmonaut
- 1943 – Ryszard Bugajski, Polish film director (d. 2019)
- 1944 – Michael Fish, English weather presenter
- 1944 – Cuba Gooding, Sr., American singer (d. 2017)
- 1944 – Stoker Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire, English academic and politician
- 1947 – Nick Greiner, Hungarian–Australian politician, 37th Premier of New South Wales
- 1947 – Pete Ham, Welsh singer–songwriter and musician (d. 1975)
- 1947 – Ann Peebles, American singer-songwriter
- 1948 – Josef Hickersberger, Austrian footballer and coach
- 1948 – Frank Abagnale, American security consultant and trickster
- 1949 – Jean Asselborn, Luxembourgish politician
- 1950 – Paolo Pulici, Italian footballer

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Ace Frehley, American musician
- 1951 – Viviane Reding, Luxembourgish journalist and politician
- 1952 – Ari Vatanen, Finnish rally driver
- 1953 – Arielle Dombasle, French–American actress and singer
- 1954 – Frank Bainimarama, Fijian politician
- 1954 – Herman Edwards, American football manager
- 1954 – John Cygan, American actor (d. 2017)
- 1955 – Eric Schmidt, American entrepreneur, former CEO of Google
- 1956 – Bridget Kendall, English journalist
- 1957 – Adrian Utley, English musician
- 1959 – Andrew Fire, American Nobel Prize–winning biologist
- 1959 – Sheena Easton, Scottish singer
- 1959 – Jim Duffy, Scottish footballer and coach
- 1961 – Moana Pozzi, Italian pornographic actress, television personality, model, politician and writer (d. 1994)
- 1961 – Andrew Schlafly, American conservative lawyer and activist
- 1962 – Edvard Moser, Norwegian neurologist, 2014 Nobel Prize winner
- 1963 – Russell T Davies, Welsh television writer
- 1965 – Anna Chancellor, English actress
- 1966 – Yoshihiro Togashi, Japanese manga artist
- 1967 – King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
- 1967 – Tommy Smith, Scottish saxophonist, composer and educator
- 1968 – Cristian Mungiu, Romanian filmmaker
- 1969 – Darcey Bussell, English ballerina
- 1969 – Mica Paris, English singer
- 1969 – Tess Daly, English television presenter
- 1969 – Cory Booker, American politician
- 1971 – Olari Elts, Estonian conductor

### From 1976

- 1976 – Sally Hawkins, English actress
- 1976 – Isobel Campbell, Scottish singer-songwriter and cellist
- 1976 – Walter Pandiani, Uruguayan footballer
- 1976 – Faisal Saif, Indian director, screenwriter and critic
- 1976 – Olaf Tufte, Norwegian rower
- 1978 – Jim James, American singer, songwriter and guitarist (My Morning Jacket)
- 1980 – Christian Lara, Ecuadorean footballer
- 1981 – Patrik Gerrbrand, Swedish footballer
- 1981 – Fabrizio Faniello, Maltese singer-songwriter
- 1982 – Nicole Hosp, Austrian politician
- 1983 – Ari Gaynor, American actress
- 1984 – Patrick Stump, American musician
- 1984 – Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Hannes Thór Halldórsson, Icelandic footballer and filmmaker
- 1986 – Jenna Coleman, British actress
- 1986 – Dinara Safina, Russian tennis player
- 1986 – Elena Risteska, Macedonian singer
- 1987 – William Moseley, English actor
- 1988 – Semyon Varlamov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1989 – Lars Bender, German footballer
- 1989 – Sven Bender, German footballer
- 1989 – Emily Rios, American actress and model
- 1990 – Robin Bengtsson, Swedish singer
- 1990 – Martin Kelly, English footballer
- 1991 – Lara Gut, Swiss skier
- 1992 – Allison Iraheta, American actress
- 1995 – Nick Kyrgios, Australian tennis player

### Up to 1900

- 630 – Ardashir III of Persia
- 1272 – Zita, Italian saint (b. 1212)
- 1404 – Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1342)
- 1463 – Isidore of Kiev (b. 1385)
- 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese explorer (b. 1480)
- 1605 – Pope Leo XI (b. 1535)
- 1613 – Robert Abercromby, Scottish priest and missionary (b. 1532)
- 1656 – Jan van Goyen, Dutch painter (b. 1596)
- 1694 – John George IV, Elector of Saxony (b. 1668)
- 1794 – James Bruce, Scottish traveller and travel writer (b. 1730)
- 1813 – Zebulon Pike, American general and explorer (b. 1779)
- 1818 – Christopher Greenup, 3rd Governor of Kentucky (b. 1750)
- 1882 – Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist (b. 1803)
- 1896 – Henry Parkes, English statesman and politician (b. 1815)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1915 – Alexander Scriabin, Russian composer (b. 1872)
- 1932 – Hart Crane, American poet (b. 1899)
- 1937 – Antonio Gramsci, Italian Communist writer and politician (b. 1891)
- 1952 – Guido Castelnuovo, Italian mathematician (b. 1865)
- 1962 – A. K. Fazlul, Bengali statesman (b. 1883)
- 1965 – Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (b. 1908)
- 1969 – René Barrientos, President of Bolivia (b. 1919)
- 1972 – Kwame Nkrumah, 1st President of Ghana (b. 1909)
- 1977 – Stanley Adams, American actor (b. 1915)
- 1977 – Scott Bradley, American composer, pianist and conductor (b. 1891)
- 1979 – Celal Atik, Turkish sports wrestler and trainer (b. 1918)
- 1989 – Konosuke Matsushita, Japanese industrialist (b. 1894)
- 1991 – Robert Velter, French comic writer (b. 1909)
- 1992 – Olivier Messiaen, French organist and composer (b. 1908)
- 1996 – Gilles Grangier, French director and screenwriter (b. 1911)
- 1996 – William Colby, American CIA director (b. 1920)
- 1998 – Carlos Castaneda, Peruvian writer (b. 1925)
- 2000 – Vicki Sue Robinson, American actress and singer (b. 1954)

### From 2001

- 2002 – Ruth Handler, American businesswoman and inventor of the Barbie doll (b. 1916)
- 2002 – Baron Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, Dutch–Swiss businessman (b. 1921)
- 2006 – Julia Thorne, American writer (b. 1944)
- 2007 – Mstislav Rostropovich, Russian cellist and conductor (b. 1927)
- 2009 – Feroz Khan, Indian actor (b. 1939)
- 2013 – Aloysius Jin Luxian, Chinese bishop (b. 1916)
- 2014 – Yigal Arnon, Israeli lawyer (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Vujadin Boskov, Serbian footballer, coach and manager (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Harry Firth, Australian racing driver (b. 1918)
- 2014 – Andréa Parisy, French actress (b. 1935)
- 2015 – Andrew Lesnie, Australian cinematographer (b. 1956)
- 2015 – Verne Gagne, American professional wrestler and football player (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Suzanne Crough, American actress (b. 1963)
- 2015 – Gene Fullmer, American boxer (b. 1931)
- 2015 – Guy LeBlanc, Canadian keyboardist (b. 1960)
- 2015 – Marty Napoleon, American jazz pianist (b. 1921)
- 2016 – Toms, Indian cartoonist (b. 1929)
- 2017 – Peter George, Canadian academic (b. 1941)
- 2017 – Vinod Khanna, Indian actor (b. 1946)
- 2017 – Vinu Chakravarthy, Indian actor (b. 1945)
- 2017 – Julius Youngner, American virologist (b. 1920)
- 2018 – Paul Junger Witt, American film and television producer (b. 1941)
- 2018 – Roy Young, English singer and pianist (b. 1937)
- 2018 – Earl Balfour, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1933)
- 2018 – Michael Luscombe, Australian chief executive (b. 1953)
- 2018 – Kristin Nelson, American actress, painter and writer (b. 1945)
- 2019 – Aleksey Lebed, Russian military officer and politician (b. 1955)
- 2019 – Negasso Gidada, President of Ethiopia (b. 1943)
- 2019 – Bart Chilton, American civil servant (b. 1960)

## Observances

- Independence Day in Togo (1960) and Sierra Leone (1961)
- Freedom Day in South Africa
- World Tapir Day
- King's Day in the Netherlands from 2014 (to be observed on April 26 when the 27th is a Sunday, including in 2014 itself)