On This Day in History: June 27

Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and his brother Hyrum were killed in Carthage, Illinois by a mob of 150-200 men who stormed the Carthage Jail where the Smith brothers were awaiting trial on charges of treason.  Expand +

Colorado Territory Governor, John Evans issues a proclamation on June 27, 1864 commanding all “Friendly” Native Americans of the Cheyenne and Arapaho to go to Fort Lyon to receive supplies and to find safety. However, this was in direct conflict with the standing order at all Forts within the Territory of Colorado that all members of the Military should shoot and kill any Native American that approached a Fort.  Expand +

The first successful aerial refueling takes place when a DH-4B carrying Lts. Virgil Hine and Frank W. Seifert passed gasoline through a hose to another DH-4B flying beneath it carrying Lt's Lowell H. Smith and John P. Richter. More
It is interesting to also note that in 1921, the first successful transfer of fuel albeit, unconventional. between two biplane planes took place a wing walker climbed from one to the other plane with a five-gallon can of gasoline strapped to his back and successfully transferred the fuel. Learn more about this event

British codebreakers at Bletchley Park successfully broke the German Enigma code used on the Eastern Front. This key, codenamed "Vulture," allowed British intelligence to gain insight into German military plans and operations, which ultimately aided the Allied war effort. Winston Churchill, recognizing the value of this intelligence, instructed that the information be shared with Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union. The code breaking remained classified for decades after the war.

President Harry S. Truman orders U.S. air and naval forces to South Korea in support of a U.N. resolution calling for an end to hostilities to aid the democratic nation in repulsing the invasion from North Korea which was supported by China and the Soviet Union On July 8th Douglas MacArthur was appointed commander of United Nations forces in the Korean War. The fighting ended with an armistice on 27 July 1953, formally dividing the country at the 38th parallel into North and South Korea. The Korean War was among the most destructive conflicts of the modern era, with approximately 3 million war fatalities including over 36,000 Americans. More

Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman resigns under pressure from a clandestine CIA operation which had been approved by U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, leading to a military take over led by Colonel Castillo Armas with assistance from CIA trained soldiers. Armas authoritarian government was closely allied with the United States. His authoritarian rule ended with his assassination in 1957. More

Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, gains independence from France. Djibouti is located in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Eritrea to the north, Somalia to the southeast and Ethiopia to the southwest. Djibouti's independence is observed annually on 27 June which is a national holiday.

The iconic Route 66 is decertified, after 59 years of existence, by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and votes to remove all its highway signs. Route 66 stretched 2,200 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica in California More

Activist Bree Newsome scales a thirty-foot flagpole and removes the Confederate battle flag from  the South Carolina Statehouse grounds. She and a collaborator, James Tyson were arrested and the flag went back up. Following the controversy resulting from her action, a vote on the presence of the flag on the Statehouse grounds took place among South Carolina's House of Representatives on July 9, which resulted in the final removal of the flag the following Friday. The charges against Newsome and Tyson were later dropped. More