April 27: Independence Day in Togo ( 1960) and Sierra Leone ( 1961), Freedom Day in South Africa.
- 1521 - Filipino natives led by Lapu-Lapu killed Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan.
- 1565 - Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi and 500 armed soldiers arrived at Cebu and established the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.
- 1667 - John Milton (pictured), blind and impoverished, sold the copyright of Paradise Lost for £10.
- 1865 - An explosion destroyed the steamboat Sultana on the Mississippi River, killing 1,700 passengers.
- 1994 - Apartheid in South Africa: The African National Congress had a landslide victory in the first non-racial elections in the history of South Africa.
April 27: Independence Day in Togo ( 1960) and Sierra Leone ( 1961), Freedom Day in South Africa.
- 1521 - Filipino natives led by Lapu-Lapu killed Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan.
- 1565 - Conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi and 500 armed soldiers arrived at Cebu and established the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.
- 1667 - John Milton (pictured), blind and impoverished, sold the copyright of Paradise Lost for £10.
- 1865 - An explosion destroyed the steamboat Sultana on the Mississippi River, killing 1,700 passengers.
- 1994 - Apartheid in South Africa: The African National Congress had a landslide victory in the first non-racial elections in the history of South Africa.