Wednesday 27th of April 1521

Explorer Ferdinand Magellan is struck by a bamboo spear and later surrounded and finished off with other weapons during the Battle of Mactan at the age of 41 in Lapu-Lapu, Cebu, Philippines.

Wednesday 27th of April 1605

232nd Pope Leo XI aka Papa Lampo dies as a result of fatigue and cold in the ceremony of taking possession of the Arcibasilica Papale di San Giovanni in Laterano at the age of 330 in Vatican City, Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Leo XI's pontificate is one of the briefest in history having lasted under a month.

Wednesday 27th of April 1667

The blind and impoverished 59-year-old Poet, polemicist, man of letters and civil servant John Milton known for Paradise Lost sells the copyright of his epic poem for ten Pounds in London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Monday 27th of April 1733

Highwayman William Gordon is executed by hanging in Tyburn Tree, London, Tyburn, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Surgeon Dr. Chovot discovered that opening the windpipe would prevent the fatal consequences of being hanged by the neck. The surgeon secretly made an incision in Gordon's windpipe. When Gordon was hanged he was observed to retain life after three thieves executed with him were dead. His body was cut down after hanging three quarters of an hour and carried to a house in Edgware road where Chovot was in attendance, he immediately opened a vein, which bled freely and soon after Gordon opened his mouth and groaned. However, he died.

Wednesday 27th of April 1791

Painter and inventor Samuel Finley Breese Morse known for developing the Morse code is born in 195 Main Street, Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States.

Saturday 27th of April 1822

18th President of the United States Ulysses Hiram S. Grant is born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, United States.

Thursday 27th of April 1865

Over 1800 die in SS Sultana side-wheel steamboat explosion and sinking in The Mississippi River, Memphis, Tennessee, United States.

Three of the Sultana's four boilers exploded.

Monday 27th of April 1891

Composer, pianist and conductor Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev is born in Sontsivka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine.

Friday 27th of April 1894

Murder plotter Samuel Vaughan is executed by hanging at the age of 44 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States.

Thursday 27th of April 1899

Cartoonist, animator and film director Walter Benjamin Lantz known for creating Woody Woodpecker is born in New Rochelle, New York, United States.

Tuesday 27th of April 1915

Pianist and composer Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin dies of septicemia, contracted as a result of a shaving cut or a boil on his lip at the age of 43 in Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia.

Scriabin's last words were "This means the end. What a catastrophe!" He claimed that he was God and eventually acknowledged that he was inspired by Satan. Imitating Christ he was an anti-christ filled with Satan, controlled by Satan and ultimately destroyed by Satan.

Tuesday 27th of April 1926

36-year-old Serial poisoner Antoinette Scieri aka La Goule de Saint-Gilles is sentenced to life-imprisonment in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

Wednesday 27th of April 1927

60-year-old Mary McConnell is raped and strangled by serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson aka The Gorilla Murderer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Wednesday 27th of April 1932

Actress Anouk Aimée is born as Nicole Françoise Florence Dreyfus in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

Tuesday 27th of April 1943

Murderer Elisandro Lopez Macias is executed by the gas chamber at the age of 21 in Arizona State Prison Complex, 1305 E Butte Avenue, Florence, Arizona, United States.

Saturday 27th of April 1974

109 die in Aeroflot Il-18 crash in Pulkovo Airport, Leningrad, Northwestern Federal District, Russia.

Saturday 27th of April 1974

40-year-old Journalist and leader of the Rote Armee Fraktion Ulrike Marie Meinhof is transferred from Stammheim prison for the trial considering her part in the escape of Andreas Baader in 1970 in Königliche Untersuchungsgefängnis, Berlin, Moabit, Berlin, Germany.

Wednesday 27th of April 1977

24-year-old Serial killer David Richard Berkowitz aka Son of Sam shoots Harvey, the dog of his neighbour Sam Carr in 35 Pine Street, Yonkers, New York, United States.

Tuesday 27th of April 1982

112 die in CAAC Hawker Siddeley Trident Flight 3303 crash in Yangshuo, Guangxi, China.

Tuesday 27th of April 1982

40-year-old Jean Clark McPhaul is strangled and hanged from a beam by serial rapist and murderer Mike DeBardeleben aka The Lethal Shadow in Bossier City, Louisiana, United States.

Tuesday 27th of April 1982

Spree killer Woo Bum-kon commits suicide by detonating two grenades at the age of 27 in Kungryu, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea.

Bum-kom killed 56 people and wounded 35 others in two days in several villages in Uiryeong County.

Wednesday 27th of April 1983

22-year-old Rhoda Piazza is abducted, asphyxiated and beaten to death by serial rapist and murderer Mike DeBardeleben aka The Lethal Shadow in The Foxy Lady, Cardinal Drive, Beaumont, Texas, United States.

Monday 27th of April 1992

Composer, organist and ornithologist Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen dies of heart failure at the age of 84 in Clichy, Île-de-France, France.

Wednesday 27th of April 1994

Serial killer Timothy Wilson Spencer is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 32 in Greensville Correctional Center, Jarratt, Virginia, United States.

When warden Ellis Wright asked Spencer if he had last words he said "Yeah, I think."

Thursday 27th of April 1995

Writer Willem Frederik Hermans dies of lung cancer at the age of 74 in Academisch Ziekenhuis, Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands.

Sunday 27th of April 1997

28-year-old Jeffrey Allen Trail is beaten to death by serial killer Andrew Cunanan aka American Gigolo/American Psycho in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.

Monday 27th of April 1998

Mass murderer Ronald L. Taylor commits suicide by throwing himself from an overpass onto the 605 Freeway at the age of 46 in Los Angeles, Artesia, California, United States.

Earlier that day Taylor clubbed to death his 40-year-old wife Ruthie, 24-year-old son Rick, 29-year-old sister-in-law Mylissa Campbell, 6-year-old niece Jolissa Morales and 24-year-old family friend Tomy Kang Jung. Taylor died of his injuries three hours later at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood.

Monday 27th of April 1998

Writer Carlos Castaneda dies of hepatocellular cancer at the age of 73 in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Tuesday 27th of April 1999

Mass murderer Lorenzo Alvarado commits suicide by a shot in the head at the age of 37 in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Alvarado shot dead his 40-year-old father, his 36-year-old stepmother and his 5-year-old stepbrother.

Sunday 27th of April 2003

A concert by Suicide in Hof ter Lo, Noordersingel, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Wednesday 27th of April 2005

The skeleton of 51-year-old Artist Richard Sumner is found handcuffed to a tree in Clocaenog Forest, Clawddnewydd, Wales, United Kingdom.

Sumner had disappeared in March 2002. A detailed search revealed the key to the handcuffs some distance away from the body, well out of reach. Sumner was found by Jennifer Houston who got lost while letting her dogs out.

Friday 27th of April 2007

Double murderer Kosaku Nata is executed by hanging at the age of 56 in Osaka, Kinki, Japan.

Friday 27th of April 2007

Murderer Yoshikatsu Oda is executed by hanging at the age of 59 in Fukuoka Detention Center, Fukuoka, Kyushu, Japan.

Friday 27th of April 2007

Multiple murderer Masahiro Tanaka aka Miyashita is executed by hanging at the age of 42 in Tokyo Detention House, Tokyo, Katsushika, Kantō, Japan.

Monday 27th of April 2009

Model and actress Seung-yeon Woo commits suicide by hanging at the age of 26 in Seoul, Jamsil-dong, Seoul National Capital Area, South Korea.

Prior to her death Woo sent a text message to her sister saying "I'm sorry" and left a note in her diary that read "I love my family. I am so sorry to leave early."

Friday 27th of April 2012

The U-bahn track in Stadtmitte, Friedrichstraße, Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Thursday 27th of April 2017

Performance artist Vito Hannibal Acconci dies of a stroke at the age of 77 in New York, Manhattan, New York, United States.