April 27
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Featured Event
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (file no. LC-DIG-pga-02397)
On this day in 1810, Ludwig van Beethoven shared his feelings in a beautiful piano piece called FĂŒr Elise. But it wasnât known to the world until 1867, decades after he died, when a scholar found it. And we still donât know who, exactly, the Elise in Beethovenâs dedication wasâor whether there actually was an Elise. [Read todayâs edition of Today in History > >]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Robin Nelson/ZUMA Press/Newscom
There isnât a day that goes by that I donât think about Martin. He was my source of inspiration.âŠMartin and I were soulmates. When he died, a part of me died.âŠThe nation may have lost a great leader but I lost a husband. My children lost their father. We paid the ultimate price.
Born this day in 1927 was Coretta Scott Kingâcivil rights activist, wife of civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King, Jr., and, after her husbandâs assassination, the founder of a center for nonviolent social change.
Famous Birthdays
More on April 27
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
2014
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
2007
Conductor and musician Mstislav Rostropovich, one of the most acclaimed cellists of the 20th century, died at age 80. [How much do you know about musical instruments?]
Civil Service LocalâCabinet Office/© Crown copyright (Open Government License 3.0)
1992
Betty Boothroyd became the first woman to be elected speaker of the House of Commons. A Labour Party politician representing a West Midlands constituency, she held the post until 2000. [Test your knowledge of some famous firsts for women.]
EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1981
The Xerox Star personal computer debuted, developed by Xerox PARC, and it included the first mouse sold to consumers. (The mouse had been invented by Douglas Engelbart decades earlier, in 1963â64, when he built a device with a carved wood casing and a button to navigate a display screen.) [Try one of our quizzes about computers.]
EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1961
Sierra Leone, which for years had been a British colony and protectorate, achieved independence. Sir Milton Margai served as the countryâs first prime minister. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Africa.]
EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1960
After several years as an autonomous republic in the French Union, the West African country of Togo became independent. [Explore a list of independence dates of countries in Africa.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (reproduction no. LC-USZ62-77201)
1865
The worst maritime disaster in U.S. history occurred when a boiler exploded on the overloaded steamship SS Sultana as it sailed the Mississippi River, killing some 1,800 people, many of whom were former Union POWs returning home from the Civil War. [Read about seven of the worldâs deadliest shipwrecks.]
Dennis Marsico/EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1828
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1822
Ulysses S. Grant, who commanded the Union armies during the American Civil War and served as president of the United States from 1869 to 1877, was born. [Can you identify where each president was born?]
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (reproduction no. LC-USZ62-2188)
1791
Samuel F.B. Morseâa painter, the inventor of an electric telegraph, and the creator of Morse Codeâwas born in Charlestown, Massachusetts. [Test your knowledge of inventors and their inventions quiz.]
Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle/New York Public Library Digital Collections
1759
Author and activist Mary Wollstonecraftâwho, in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), was the first to advocate for British womenâs right to voteâwas born in London. [How much do you know about the âsoldiers in petticoatsâ who fought for womenâs rights?]
© Universal Art Archive/Alamy
1521
Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan was killed during a fight with inhabitants of Mactan Island in the Philippines. [What do you know about human exploration and discovery?]
© Igor Abramovych/Dreamstime.com
1296
King Edward I of England invaded Scotland, which led to the removal the coronation stone of Scone to Westminster Abbey in England. His actions inaugurated 250 years of bitter hatred, savage warfare, and bloody border forays. [Take our kings of England quiz.]