Page One
History
Today
Today is Saturday, April 27, the 117th day of 2002. There are 248 days left in the year.
Highlight in History:
On April 27, 1805, a force led by U.S. Marines captured the city of Derna, on the shores of Tripoli.
On this date:
In 1509, Pope Julius II excommunicated the Italian state of Venice.
In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives in the Philippines.
In 1822, the 18th president of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio.
In 1865, the steamer Sultana exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tenn., killing more than 1,400 Union prisoners of war.
In 1932, American poet Hart Crane drowned after jumping from a steamer while en route to New York; he was 32.
In 1937, the nation’s first Social Security checks were distributed.
In 1973, during the Watergate scandal, Acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray resigned.
In 1978, convicted Watergate defendant John D. Ehrlichman was released from an Arizona prison after serving 18 months.
In 1982, the trial of John W. Hinckley Jr., who had shot four people, including President Reagan, began in Washington. (The trial ended with Hinckley’s acquittal by reason of insanity.)
Ten years ago:
The new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed in Belgrade by the republic of Serbia and its lone ally, Montenegro. Russia and 12 other former Soviet republics won entry into the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Five years ago:
President Clinton, along with former presidents George Bush and Jimmy Carter, helped polish gritty city streets in Philadelphia as they launched the three-day Summit for America’s Future, a gathering on community service also attended by former President Gerald Ford and former first lady Nancy Reagan.
One year ago:
The U.S. Navy resumed military exercises on Vieques island in Puerto Rico, drawing protesters. A Russian court sentenced American Fulbright scholar John Tobin to three years and one month in prison after convicting him of drug possession, purchase and distribution; Tobin, who maintained his innocence, was paroled and released last August.
Today’s Birthdays:
Actor Jack Klugman is 80. Civil rights activist Coretta Scott King is 75. Actress Anouk Aimee is 70. Announcer Casey Kasem is 70. Broadcast journalist Phil Jones is 65. Actress Judy Carne is 63. Opera singer Judith Blegen is 61. Rhythm-and-blues singer Cuba Gooding is 58. Singer Ann Peebles is 55. Rock singer Kate Pierson (The B-52’s) is 54. Rhythm-and-blues singer Herbie Murrell (The Stylistics) is 53. Actor Douglas Sheehan is 53. Rock musician Ace Frehley (KISS) is 51. Pop singer Sheena Easton is 43. Actor James Le Gros is 40. Rock musician Rob Squires (Big Head Todd & the Monsters) is 37. Singer Mica Paris is 33. Rock singer-musician Travis Meeks (Days of the New) is 23.
The Associated Press
