DAY IN HISTORY

Monday, April 27, 2020

Today is the 118th day of 2020 and the 40th day of spring. TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1521, explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed in the Philippines.

In 1865, the steamboat Sultana exploded in the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee, killing some 1,700 passengers.

In 2014, John XXIII and John Paul II became the first popes to be canonized as saints since 1954.

In 2018, the leaders of North and South Korea signed the Panmunjom Declaration, officially declaring the end of the Korean conflict.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Samuel Morse (1791-1872), Morse code co-inventor; Ulysses S. Grant (18221885), soldier/18th U.S. president; Rogers Hornsby (1896-1963), baseball player; Enos Slaughter (1916-2002), baseball player; Jack Klugman (1922-2012), actor; Coretta Scott King (1927-2006), activist; Casey Kasem (1932-2014), radio/tv personality; Sandy Dennis (1937-1992), actress; August Wilson (19452005), playwright; Herm Edwards (1954- ), football coach/sportscaster; Ari Graynor (1983- ), actress; Patrick Stump (1984- ), singer-songwriter.

TODAY’S FACT: In 1667, blind and impoverished poet John Milton sold the copyright to his masterpiece, “Paradise Lost,” for 10 pounds (roughly $2,108 in 2020 U.S. currency).

TODAY’S SPORTS:

In 1956, 31-year-old boxer Rocky Marciano retired with a perfect 49-0 record, the only heavyweight champion to do so.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “I ain’t never found no place for me to fit. Seem like all I do is start over. It ain’t nothing to find no starting place in the world. You just start from where you find yourself.” -- August Wilson, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”

TODAY’S NUMBER: 1,776 -- architectural height (in feet) of One World Trade Center in New York City. Construction on the site began on this day in 2006.

TODAY’S MOON: Between new moon (April 22) and first quarter moon (April 30).