This Day in History – April 27, 2011

4977 -BC- Johannes Kepler’s date for creation of universe 1773 British Parliament passes the Tea Act (eventually leads to Boston Tea Party on December 16) 1805 US Marines attack shores of Tripoli 1813 Americans under General Pike capture Toronto; Pike is killed 1838 Fire destroys half of Charleston 1861 President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus 1861 West Virginia secedes from Virginia after Virginia secedes from US 1865 1450 of 2000 paroled Union POWs on their way home are killed when river steamer “Sultana” explodes on the Mississippi River 1870 Heinrich Schliemann discovers Troy 1877 President Rutherford Hayes removes Federal troops from Louisiana, Reconstruction ends 1897 Grant’s Tomb (famed of song & legend) dedicated 1937 US Social Security system makes its 1st benefit payment 1940 Himmler orders establishment of Auschwitz Concentration Camp 1946 1st radar installation aboard a commercial ship installed 1947 Babe Ruth Day celebrated at Yankee Stadium & through the US 1953 Wrestler Freddie Blassie coins the term “Pencil neck geek” 1956 Heavyweight champion, Rocky Marciano, retires undefeated from boxing 1961 NFL officially recognizes Hall of Fame in Canton OH 1965 RC Duncan patents “Pampers” disposable diaper 1978 Accident at nuclear reactor Willow Island, Charleston WV, kills 51 1982 Trial of John W Hinckley Jr, attempted assassin of President Ronald Reagan, begins 1983 Nolan Ryan becomes strikeout king (3509), passing Walter Johnson 1984 Over 70 inches of snow falls on Red Lake MT 1987 US Justice Department bars Austrian Chancellor Kurt Waldheim from entering US, due to his aid of Nazi Germany during WWII 1989 Beijing students take over Tiananmen Square in China 1994 President Richard Nixon buried in Nixon Library in California 1995 Coors Field in Colorado opens – Denver Rockies beats Mets 11-9 in 14]]]]> ]]>