Today in History

June 27

1844 - Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism, is shot dead by a mob in Carthage, Illinois. 1890 - George Dixon becomes the first black to win the world boxing champion title. 1893 - The New York stock market crashes.

1898 - Joshua Slocum becomes the first man to circumnavigate the world solo when he lands in Rhode Island. 1929 - Colour television technology is first demonstrated in New York. 1932 - A constitution is proclaimed in Siam, now Thailand. 1940 - Soviet Union invades Romania during the Second World War. 1954 - The world’s first nuclear power station opens in Obninsk, near Moscow. 1967 - The world’s first automated teller machine (ATM) goes into operation at Barclays Bank in Enfield, UK. 1976 - Portuguese general Antonio Eanes is elected President. 1984 - France is crowned European football champions with a 2-0 victory over Spain. 1988 - A runaway commuter train crashes into another in the Gare de Lyon station, Paris, 59 people die. 1998 - An earthquake rattles Adana in southern Turkey, killing 144 people. 2007 - Gordon Brown replaces Tony Blair as British Prime Minister. 2010 - Kyrgyzstan votes in favour of a new constitution.

2011 - The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Muammar Gaddafi, accusing him of killing civilians. 2014 - Sixteen people are killed when a gas pipeline explodes in East Godavari district in Hyderabad. 2015 - More than 516 people are injured in an explosion at a water park in Taipei, Taiwan.