The English capture the town of Dunbar in Scotland on April 27, 1296 during the Second War of Scottish Independence, after the English forces under John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, crushed King John Balliol's Scottish army, capturing the castle's the next day and beginning English occupation.
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On This Day in History: April 27
Explore the historical events that shaped our world on April 27th. From major milestones to cultural achievements, see what happened on this day in history. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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The Philippines formally becomes a Spanish colony on April 27, 1565 as Miguel López de Legazpi arrives in Cebu, Philippines, from Mexico and establishes the first permanent Spanish settlement, Villa San Miguel. Ferdinand Magellan arrived decades earlier. but did not make any attempts of colonization.
John Milton, blind and impoverished sells the copyright of his epic over 10,000 line poem, "Paradise Lost", on April 27, 1667, to publisher Samuel Simmons for an initial £5, with an additional £5 to be paid upon the sale of 1,300 copies of each of the first three editions. (Roughly £16,000 today). Milton's work went on to become one of the most significant one in English literature.
Paradise Lost is an epic poem by John Milton that retells the biblical story of the Fall of Man, focusing on Satan's rebellion, his temptation of Adam and Eve, and their subsequent expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Written in blank verse, (“ a literary term that refers to poetry written in unrhymed but metered lines), it explores themes of free will, obedience, tyranny, and redemption, famously aiming to "justify the ways of God to men". The poem is renowned for its complex characters. Milton's epic poem, containing over 10,000 lines of blank verse and it is commonly published in 12 books.
The Battle of Ridgefield takes place on April 27, 1777 in Connecticut during the American Revolutionary War. Where a small American force engaging British troops.with American forces, led by Benedict Arnold and David Wooster, attempted to stop British regulars retreating after raiding Patriot supply depots in Danbury. The British won the battle and escaped to their ships but the engagement successfully harassed the retreating troops and boosted colonial morale
The Battle of Derna, a key event in the First Barbary War takes place on April 27, 1805. It involved U.S. Marines, under the command of Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon, and other forces, ultimately capturing the city of Derna, then part of Tripolitania, now Libya. It was the first land battle of the United States on foreign soil after the American Revolutionary War. More
Zebulon Pike, U.S. army officer and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado was named, is killed during the war of 1812. More
The sidewheel steamboat SS Sultana, explodes and sinks on April 27, 1865, near Memphis, Tennessee, killing over 1,100 people. The Sultana had a legal capacity of 376, but was carrying over 2,200 passengers mostly paroled Union soldiers on their way home.
The explosion, which is believed to have been caused by a boiler failure, resulted in one of the deadliest maritime disasters in US history. The event was not widely covered in the news at the time, overshadowed by the end of the war and the assassination of President Lincoln. More
Sierra Leone achieves its independence from Britain after years as a British colony and protectorate. It is a member of the British Commonwealth.
South Africa's first multi-racial general election with full enfranchisement was held on April 27, 1994. The African National Congress won a 63 percent share of the vote at the election, and Mandela, as leader of the ANC, was inaugurated on May 10, 1994 as the country's first Black President, with the National Party's F.W. de Klerk as his first deputy and Thabo Mbeki as the second in the Government of National Unity. More
The leaders of North and South Korea meet for the first time in more than a decade, on April 27, 2018, pledging to work toward peace and denuclearization.