April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 248 days remaining until the end of the year.
- 1124 - David I becomes King of Scotland.
- 1296 - Battle of Dunbar: The Scots are defeated by Edward I of England.
- 1509 - Pope Julius II places the Italian state of Venice under interdict.
- 1521 - Battle of Mactan: Explorer Ferdinand Magellan is killed by natives in the Philippines led by chief Lapu-Lapu.
- 1539 - Re-founding of the city of Bogotá, New Granada (nowadays Colombia), by Nikolaus Federmann and Sebastián de Belalcázar.
- 1565 - Cebu is established becoming the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.
- 1578 - Duel of the Mignons claims the lives of two favorites of Henry III of France and two favorites of Henry I, Duke of Guise.
- 1650 - The Battle of Carbisdale: A Royalist army invades mainland Scotland from Orkney Island but is defeated by a Covenanter army.
- 1667 - The blind and impoverished, John Milton sells the copyright of Paradise Lost for £10.
- 1749 - First performance of Handel's Fireworks Music in Green Park, London.
- 1773 - The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.
- 1777 - The Battle of Ridgefield: A British invasion force engaged and defeated Continental Army regulars and militia irregulars at Ridgefield, Connecticut during the American Revolutionary War.
- 1805 - First Barbary War: United States Marines and Berbers attack the Tripolitan city of Derna (The "shores of Tripoli" part of the Marines' hymn).
- 1810 - Beethoven composes his famous piano piece, Für Elise.
- 1813 - War of 1812: United States troops capture the capital of Ontario, York (present day Toronto, Canada).
- 1840 - Foundation stone for new Palace of Westminster, London, laid by wife of Sir Charles Barry.
- 1861 - President of the United States Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus.
- 1865 - The New York State Senate creates Cornell University as the state's land grant institution.
- 1865 - The steamboat Sultana, carrying 2,400 passengers, explodes and sinks in the Mississippi River, killing 1,700, most of whom were Union survivors of the Andersonville and Cahaba Prisons.
- 1904 - The Australian Labor Party becomes the first such party to gain national government, under Chris Watson.
- 1909 - Sultan of Turkey Abdul Hamid II is overthrown, and is succeeded by his brother, Mehmed V.
- 1911 - Following the resignation and death of William P. Frye, a compromise is reached to rotate the office of President pro tempore of the United States Senate.
- 1914 - Honduras becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
- 1927 - Carabineros de Chile (Chilean national police force and gendarmery) are created.
- 1933 - Jessop & Son department store in Nottingham, England, acquired by John Lewis Partnership. The partnership's first shop outside London.
- 1936 - The United Auto Workers (UAW) gains autonomy from the American Federation of Labor.
- 1941 - World War II: German troops enter Athens.
- 1945 - World War II: Last German troops are expelled from Finnish Lapland (the last day of World War II going on in Finland).
- 1945 - World War II: The Völkischer Beobachter, the newspaper of the Nazi Party, ceases publication.
- 1950 - Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed formally segregating races.
- 1959 - The last Canadian missionary leaves the People's Republic of China.
- 1960 - Togo gains independence from French-administered UN trusteeship.
- 1961 - Sierra Leone is granted its independence from the United Kingdom, with Milton Margai as the first Prime Minister.
- 1967 - Expo 67 officially opens in Montreal, Canada with a large opening ceremony broadcast around the world. It opens to the public the next day.
- 1972 - Constructive Vote of No Confidence against German Chancellor Willy Brandt fails under obscure circumstances.
- 1974 - 10,000 march in Washington, D.C., calling for impeachment of US President Richard Nixon
- 1977 - 28 people are killed in the Guatemala City air disaster.
- 1978 - Former United States President Nixon aide John D. Ehrlichman is released from an Arizona prison after serving 18 months for Watergate-related crimes.
- 1981 - Xerox PARC introduces the computer mouse.
- 1987 - The U.S. Justice Department bars the Austrian President Kurt Waldheim from entering the United States, saying he had aided in the deportation and execution of thousands of Jews and others as a German Army officer during World War II.
- 1992 - The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, comprising Serbia and Montenegro, is proclaimed.
- 1992 - Betty Boothroyd becomes the first woman to be elected Speaker of the British House of Commons in its 700-year history.
- 1992 - Russia and 12 other former Soviet republics win entry into the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
- 1993 - All members of the Zambia national football team lose their lives in a plane crash off Libreville, Gabon in route to Dakar, Senegal to play a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Senegal.
- 1994 - South African general election, 1994: The first democratic general election in South Africa, in which black citizens could vote.
- 1996 - The Israeli military operation in Lebanon, Operation Grapes of Wrath, ends after 16 days of heavy bombing.
- 2002 - The last successful telemetry from the NASA space probe Pioneer 10.
- 2005 - The Superjumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380 makes its first flight from Toulouse, France.
- 2006 - Construction begins on the Freedom Tower for the new World Trade Center in New York City.
- 2007 - Estonian authorities remove the Bronze Soldier, a Soviet Red Army war memorial in Tallinn, amid political controversy with Russia.
- 1495 - Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1566)
- 1623 - Johann Adam Reinken, German organist (d. 1722)
- 1650 - Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), queen of Denmark and Norway (d. 1714)
- 1701 - King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (d. 1773)
- 1718 - Thomas Lewis, Irish-born Virginia settler (d. 1790)
- 1724 - Col. Thomas Gardner, a heroic political figure and soldier (d. 1775)
- 1737 - Edward Gibbon, English historian (d. 1794)
- 1748 - Adamantios Korais, Greek humanist scholar (d. 1833)
- 1755 - Marc-Antoine Parseval, French mathematician (d. 1836)
- 1759 - Mary Wollstonecraft, English author (d. 1797)
- 1791 - Samuel F. B. Morse, American inventor (d. 1872)
- 1806 - Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies, queen of Spain (d. 1878)
- 1812 - Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (d. 1883)
- 1812 - William W. Snow, American politician (d. 1886)
- 1820 - Herbert Spencer, English philosopher (d. 1903)
- 1822 - Ulysses S. Grant, Civil War general and 18th President of the United States (d. 1885)
- 1840 - Edward Whymper, English mountain climber (d. 1911)
- 1848 - King Otto I of Bavaria (d. 1916)
- 1850 - Hans Hartwig von Beseler, German general (d. 1921)
- 1853 - Jules Lemaître, French critic and dramatist (d. 1914)
- 1878 - Frank Alvin Gotch, American professional wrestler (d. 1917)
- 1888 - Florence La Badie, Canadian actress (d. 1917)
- 1891 - Sergei Prokofiev, Soviet composer (d. 1953)
- 1893 - Dragoljub Mihailović, commandant of the Yugoslav Royal Army in the Fatherland (d. 1946)
- 1893 - Allen Sothoron, American baseball player (d. 1939)
- 1894 - George Petty, WWII Pin-Up Artist (d. 1975)
- 1894 - Nicolas Slonimsky, Russian-born musicologist and composer (d. 1995)
- 1896 - Rogers Hornsby, American baseball player (d. 1963)
- 1899 - Walter Lantz, American cartoonist (d. 1994)
- 1903 - Horace Stoneham, American Major league baseball owner (d. 1990)
- 1904 - Cecil Day-Lewis, Irish poet and writer (d. 1972)
- 1906 - Yórgos Theotokás, Greek novelist (d. 1966)
- 1913 - Philip Hauge Abelson, American physicist (d. 2004)
- 1916 - Enos Slaughter, American baseball player (d. 2002)
- 1918 - Sten Rudholm, Swedish jurist, member of the Swedish Academy
- 1920 - Guido Cantelli, Italian conductor (d. 1956)
- 1920 - Edwin Morgan, Scottish poet
- 1920 - Mark Krasnosel'skii, Russian-Ukrainian mathematician (d. 1997)
- 1921 - John Stott, British theologian and clergyman
- 1922 - Martin Gray, Polish-born American writer, holocaust survivor
- 1922 - Jack Klugman, American actor
- 1927 - Coretta Scott King, American civil rights activist and wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. (d. 2006)
- 1927 - Joe Moakley, American politician (d. 2001)
- 1927 - Karl Alexander Müller, Swiss physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1927 - Sheila Scott, English aviatrix (d. 1988)
- 1931 - Igor Oistrakh, Ukrainian violinist
- 1932 - Anouk Aimée, French actress
- 1932 - Pik Botha, South African politician
- 1932 - Casey Kasem, American disc jockey
- 1932 - Gian-Carlo Rota, Italian-born mathematician and philosopher (d. 1999)
- 1936 - Geoffrey Shovelton, English opera singer
- 1937 - Sandy Dennis, American actress (d. 1992)
- 1937 - Robin Eames, Northern Irish clergyman
- 1938 - Earl Anthony, American bowler (d. 2001)
- 1938 - Alain Caron, Quebec ice hockey player (d. 1986)
- 1939 - Judy Carne, British actress and comedian
- 1939 - Stanislaw Dziwisz, Polish Cardinal
- 1941 - Jennings Michael Burch, American author
- 1941 - Lee Roy Jordan, American football player
- 1941 - Pat Choate, American economist
- 1942 - Jim Keltner, American drummer
- 1943 - Helmut Marko, Austrian racing driver
- 1944 - Michael Fish, British former weather forecaster
- 1944 - Cuba Gooding, Sr., American musician (The Main Ingredient)
- 1945 - August Wilson, American playwright (d. 2005)
- 1947 - Ann Peebles, American singer
- 1947 - George Kenneth Butterfield, American politician
- 1947 - Peter Ham, Welsh singer and songwriter (Badfinger) (d. 1975)
- 1947 - Keith Magnuson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2003)
- 1948 - Frank William Abagnale, Jr., con artist turned security consultant.
- 1948 - Kate Pierson, American singer (The B-52's)
- 1948 - Amrit Bohra, Nepalese politician
- 1951 - Ace Frehley, American musician (Kiss)
- 1952 - George Gervin, American basketball player
- 1952 - Ari Vatanen, Finnish rally driver
- 1952 - Larry Elder, American political commentator
- 1953 - Arielle Dombasle, French singer and actress
- 1956 - Douglas P., English musician (Death in June, Crisis)
- 1956 - Bryan Harvey, American musician
- 1957 - Eric Bristow, English darts player
- 1957 - Rosanna Scotto, American news anchor
- 1957 - Michel Barrette, Canadian actor and stand-up comedian
- 1959 - Sheena Easton, Scottish singer
- 1959 - Louis Lortie, French Canadian concert pianist
- 1962 - Ángel Comizzo, Argentine footballer
- 1962 - James LeGros, American actor
- 1963 - Cali Timmins, Canadian actress
- 1963 - Russell T Davies, Welsh television writer and executive producer of Doctor Who
- 1964 - Michael Mahonen, Canadian actor, director and screenwriter
- 1964 - Lisa Wilcox, American actress
- 1967 - Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
- 1967 - Aki Avni, Israeli entertainer
- 1967 - Tommy Smith, Scottish jazz musician
- 1967 - Erik Thomson, Australian actor
- 1967 - Jason Whitlock, American sportswriter
- 1969 - Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, New Jersey
- 1969 - Darcey Bussell, British ballerina
- 1969 - Grahame Cheney, Australian boxer
- 1969 - Mica Paris, British singer and presenter
- 1970 - Kylie Travis, English actress and model
- 1971 - Tess Daly, British television presenter
- 1972 - David Lascher, American actor
- 1973 - Sébastien Lareau, French Canadian professional tennis player
- 1974 - Johnny Devine, Canadian professional wrestler
- 1974 - Richard Johnson, Australian footballer
- 1975 - Rabih Abdullah, former National Football League player
- 1975 - Chris Carpenter, American baseball player
- 1975 - Pedro Feliz, Dominican baseball player
- 1976 - Isobel Campbell, Scottish singer and composer
- 1976 - Sally Hawkins, English film actress
- 1976 - Walter Pandiani, Uruguayan footballer
- 1976 - Olaf Tufte, Norwegian rower
- 1977 - Khalid Zoubaa, French runner
- 1977 - Jerry Trainor, American actor
- 1978 - Adamantia Kontogiorgi, Greek actress
- 1979 - Will Boyd, American musician
- 1979 - Natasha Chokljat, Australian netballer
- 1980 - Christian Lara, Ecuadorian footballer
- 1980 - Ananda Mikola, Indonesian racing driver
- 1980 - Sybille Bammer, Austrian tennis player
- 1980 - Talitha Cummins, Australian journalist
- 1981 - Fabrizio Faniello, Maltese singer
- 1981 - Joey Gathright, American baseball player
- 1981 - Patrik Gerrbrand, Swedish footballer
- 1982 - Katrina Johnson, American actress
- 1983 - Ari Graynor, American actress
- 1984 - Patrick Stump, American musician (Fall Out Boy)
- 1984 - Pierre-Marc Bouchard, hockey player
- 1984 - Daniel Holdsworth, Australian Rugby League player
- 1986 - Elena Risteska, Macedonian singer
- 1987 - William Moseley, British actor
- 1987 - Emma Taylor-Isherwood, Canadian actress
- 1987 - Elliott Shriane, Australian speed skater
- 1989 - Emily Rios, American actress
- 630 - King Ardashir III of Persia
- 1404 - Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1342)
- 1521 - Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese explorer (b. 1480)
- 1530 - Jacopo Sannazaro, Italian poet (b. 1458)
- 1599 - Maeda Toshiie, Japanese general (b. 1538)
- 1605 - Pope Leo XI (b. 1535)
- 1613 - Robert Abercromby, Scottish Jesuit (b. 1532)
- 1625 - Mori Terumoto, Japanese warrior (b. 1553)
- 1656 - Jan van Goyen, Dutch painter (b. 1596)
- 1694 - John George IV, Elector of Saxony (b. 1668)
- 1695 - John Trenchard, English statesman (b. 1640)
- 1702 - Jean Bart, French admiral (b. 1651)
- 1782 - William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot, English politician (b. 1710)
- 1813 - Zebulon Pike, American frontiersman and explorer (b. 1779)
- 1873 - William Charles Macready, English actor (b. 1793)
- 1882 - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist (b. 1803)
- 1896 - Henry Parkes, known as the Father of Federation (b. 1815)
- 1915 - Alexander Scriabin, Russian composer (b. 1872)
- 1921 - Arthur Mold, English cricketer (b. 1863)
- 1932 - Hart Crane, American writer (b. 1899)
- 1936 - Karl Pearson, English statistician (b. 1857)
- 1937 - Antonio Gramsci, Italian Communist writer and politician (b. 1891)
- 1941 - Penelope Delta, Greek author (b. 1874)
- 1952 - Guido Castelnuovo, Italian mathematician (b. 1865)
- 1962 - A. K. Fazlul Huq, Bengali statesman (b. 1873)
- 1965 - Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (b. 1908)
- 1967 - William Douglas Cook, founder of Eastwoodhill Arboretum and Pukeiti, (New Zealand) (b. 1884)
- 1969 - René Barrientos, President of Bolivia (b. 1919)
- 1970 - Arthur Shields, Irish actor (b. 1896)
- 1972 - Kwame Nkrumah, leader of Ghana (b. 1909)
- 1973 - Carlos Menditeguy, Argentine racing driver (b. 1914)
- 1977 - Stanley Adams, American actor (b. 1915)
- 1988 - David Scarboro, British actor (b. 1968)
- 1989 - Konosuke Matsushita, Japanese industrialist (b. 1894)
- 1992 - Olivier Messiaen, French composer (b. 1908)
- 1992 - Gerard K. O'Neill, American physicist (b. 1927)
- 1995 - Willem Frederik Hermans, Dutch writer (b. 1921)
- 1996 - William Colby, American director of the Central Intelligence Agency (b. 1920)
- 1998 - Carlos Castaneda, Peruvian-born writer (b. 1925)
- 1998 - John Bassett, Canadian publisher and media baron (b. 1915)
- 1998 - Dominique Aury, French novelist (b. 1907)
- 1999 - Al Hirt, American trumpeter (b. 1922)
- 2000 - Vicki Sue Robinson, American singer (b. 1954)
- 2002 - George Alec Effinger, American author (b. 1947)
- 2002 - Ruth Handler, American toy manufacturer (b. 1916)
- 2002 - Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, Swiss industrialist and art collector (b. 1921)
- 2006 - Julia Thorne, ex-wife of John Kerry (b. 1944)
- 2007 - Mstislav Rostropovich, Russian cellist and conductor (b. 1927)
