It's Arbor Day...plant a tree today! Today is Friday, April 27, 2018, the 117th day of the year with 248 days remaining.
- Sunrise: 10:46am
- Sunset: 11:10pm
...giving us 13 hours and 38 minutes of daylight. 88% of the waxing moon will be visible, rising at 5:46pm.
Tides at the Golden Gate
- High: 10:36am
- Low: 11:10pm
Special international celebrations today…
- Freedom Day - South Africa
- Horse Day - Turkmenistan
- Independence Day - Sierra Leone, Togo
- Day of Resistance - Slovenia
It’s also…
- Arbor Day
- Babe Ruth Day
- Day of Dialogue
- LGBT National Day of Silence
- Mantanzas Mule Day
- Morse Code Day
- National Day of Silence
- National Devil Dog Cakes Day
- National Little Pampered Dog Day
- National Hairball Awareness Day
- National Prime Rib Day
On this day in…
1296 - The Scots were defeated by Edward I at the Battle of Dunbar.
1509 - Pope Julius II excommunicated the Italian state of Venice.
1521 - Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives in the Philippines.
1565 - The first Spanish settlement in Philippines was established in Cebu City.
1805 - A force led byU.S. Marines captured the city of Derna, on the shores of Tripoli.
1813 - Americans under Gen. Pike capture York (present day Toronto) the seat of government in Ontario.
1861 - West Virginia seceded from Virginia after Virginia seceded from the Union during the American Civil War.
1861 -U.S. President Lincoln issued an order to General Winfield Scott that authorized him to suspend the writ of habeas corpus between Philadelphia and Washington at or near any military line.
1863 - The Army of the Potomac began marching on Chancellorsville.
1865 - In theU.S. the Sultana exploded while carrying 2,300 Union POWs. Between 1,400 - 2,000 were killed.
1880 - Francis Clarke and M.G. Foster patented the electrical hearing aid.
1897 - Grant's Tomb was dedicated.
1899 - The Western Golf Association was founded in Chicago,IL.
1903 - Jamaica Race Track opened in Long Island,NY.
1909 - The sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hamid II, was overthrown.
1938 - Geraldine Apponyi married King Zog of Albania. She was the first American woman to become a queen.
1938 - A colored baseball was used for the first time in any baseball game. The ball was yellow and was used between Columbia and Fordham Universities in New York City.
1945 - The Second Republic was founded in Austria.
1946 - The SS African Star was placed in service. It was the first commercial ship to be equipped with radar.
1947 - "Babe Ruth Day" was celebrated at Yankee Stadium.
1950 - South Africa passed the Group Areas Act, which formally segregated races.
1953 - TheU.S. offered $50,000 and political asylum to any Communist pilot that delivered a MIG jet.
1953 - Five people were killed and 60 injured when Mt. Aso erupted on the island of Kyushu.
1960 - The submarine Tullibee was launched from Groton,CT. It was the first sub to be equipped with closed-circuit television.
1961 - The United Kingdom granted Sierra Leone independence.
1965 - "Pampers" were patented by R.C. Duncan.
1967 - In Montreal, Prime Minister Lester Pearson lighted a flame to open Expo 67.
1975 - Saigon was encircled by North Vietnamese troops.
1978 - Pro-Soviet Marxists seized control of Afghanistan.
1982 - The trial of John W. Hinckley Jr. began in Washington. Hinckley was later acquitted by reason of insanity for the shooting ofU.S. President Reagan and three others.
1982 - China proposed a new constitution that would radically alter the structure of the national government.
1983 - Nolan Ryan (Houston Astros) broke a 55-year-oldmajor league baseball record when he struck out his 3,509th batter of his career.
1984 - In London, Libyan gunmen left the Libyan Embassy 11 days after killing a policewoman and wounding 10 others.
1986 - Captain Midnight (John R. MacDougall) interrupted HBO.
1989 - Student protestors took over Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
1987 - TheU.S. Justice Department barred Austrian President Kurt Waldheim from entering theU.S. He claimed that 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 was proclaimed in Belgrade by the Republic of Serbia and its ally Montenegro.
1992 - Russia and 12 other former Soviet republics won entry into the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
2005 - The A380, the world's largest jetliner, completed its maiden flight. The passenger capability was 840.
2005 - Russian President Vladimir Putin became the first Kremlin leader to visit Israel.
2006 - In New York, NY, construction began on the 1,776-foot One World Trade Center on the site of former World Trade Center.
Today’s birthday celebrants include (or included)...
- Edward Gibbon 1737 - Historian, author
- Andreas Jacob Romberg 1767 - Composer
- Samuel F.B. (Finley Breese) Morse 1791 - Inventor (electromagnetic telegraph)
- Ulysses S. Grant 1822 - 18th U.S. President, Lt. General in command of all Union armies during the U.S. Civil War
- Edward Whymper 1840 - Climber, explorer, illlustrator
- Wallace Hume 1896- Chemist, inventor, credited with invention of nylon
- Sergei Prokofiev 1891 - composer
- Rogers "Rajah" Hornsby 1896 - Baseball player
- Walter Lantz 1900 - Animator, creator of Woody Woodpecker
- Enos (Bradsher) "Country" Slaughter 1916 - Baseball player
- Jack Klugman 1922 - Actor ("The Odd Couple", "Quincy, M.E.")
- Coretta Scott King 1927 - Wife of Dr. Martin Luther King
- Chuck Knox 1932 - Football coach
- Casey Kasem (Kemal Amin Kasem) 1932 - Radio announcer, DJ, host ("American Top 40), character voice of Shaggy from Scooby Doo, actor ("Hawaii Five-O")
- Maxine Brown 1932 - Musician (The Browns)
- Calvin Newborn 1933 - Jazz/blues guitarist, brother of pianist Phineas Newborn Jr.
- Anouk Aimee (Françoise Sorya Dreyfus) 1934 - Actress ("La Dolce Vita", "Dr. Bethune")
- Phil Jones 1937 - Newsman
- Sandy Dennis 1937 - Actress ("Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff [1966]", "Splendor in the Grass")
- Judy Carne 1939 - Actress, comedienne
- Judith Blegen 1941 - Opera singer
- Lee Roy Jordan 1941 - Football player
- Bob Foster 1942 - Boxer
- Cuba Gooding 1944 - Singer
- Doug Buffone 1944 - Football player
- Ann Peebles 1947 - Singer
- Mack Alston 1947 - Football player
- Keith Magnuson 1947 - Hockey player
- Pete Ham 1947 - Musician (Badfinger)
- Dave Peel 1947 - Musician (The Lower East Side)
- Kate Pierson 1948 - Musician (B-52's),B-52s Merchandise
- Herbie Murrell 1949 - Singer (The Stylistics)
- Douglas Sheehan 1949 - Actor
- Clive Taylor 1949 - Musician (Amen Corner)
- Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley 1951 - Musician (KISS,Frehley's Comet)
- Gary Huff 1951 - Football player
- George Gervin 1952 - Basketball player
- Sheena Easton 1959 - Singer
- Marco Pirroni 1959 - Musician (Siouxsie & the Banshees,Adam & the Ants)
- James Le Gros 1962 - Actor
- Rob Squires 1965 - Musician (Big Head Todd & the Monsters)
- Mica Paris 1969 - Singer
- Chris Carpenter 1975 - Baseball player
- Travis Meeks 1979 - Musician (Days of the New)
- Patrick Stump 1984 - Musician (Fall out Boy)
