April 27: On this day in world history …. briefly
Interesting historic snippets and facts taken from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London.
1521: Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan is killed by the inhabitants of the island of Mactan in the Philippines.
1828: The Zoological Society of London opens a zoological gardens in Regent Park almost two years to the day after its founding in 1826. The aim of the society was to advance knowledge of the animal kingdom and introduce ‘new and curious subjects’ to a curious human audience.
1882: American essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson dies aged 78.
1932: Imperial Airways begin an air service from London to Cape Town in South Africa.
1937: The new Golden Gate suspension bridge linking the city of San Francisco with Marin County reached completion after four years. Among its remarkable features are 227m high bridge towers, the tallest in the world, and 1 280m span. Fast-rising tides, frequent storms and fogs and the difficulty of blasting through bedrock 30m below the surface of the water to plant earthquake-proof foundations were among the many problems overcome. Users of the bridge are guaranteed a spectacular view from the six-lane roadway perched 76m above the surface of the Golden Gate strait.
1950: The British government officially recognises the state of Israel.
1968: A new Abortion Act liberalising the law on abortion comes into force in Britain.
1970: American actor Tony Curtis is fined £50 in London for possession of cannabis.
1972: Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanian president who was deposed in 1966 by a military coup while in China, dies in Bucharest, Hungary.
1976: Pop star David Bowie’s special train is halted for several hours on the Polish/Russian border while customs officers search baggage, confiscating Nazi books and mementoes.
1984: The Philadelpha radio station W-WSH has a ‘No Michael Jackson’ weekend in reaction to the pop star’s over-exposure during the past year.
1986: The nightmare of nuclear reactor meltdown finally comes true at Chernobyl. The first sign of trouble is picked up by US spy satellites which detected a fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power station, north of Kiev, Ukraine. Scientists at the Swedish Forsmark nuclear power station next reported a huge rise in radiation levels as fall-out spreads to Scandinavia. No word of warning was issued by Soviet authorities.
1990: The leader of the South African Communist Party, Joe Slovo, arrives in South Africa to take part in peace talks with the administration of President de Klerk. The return of the 64-year old Lithuanian ends a 27-year exile after the SA government ceased its ban on the SACP and ANC.
1994: The first democratic election is held in South Africa. Today, South Africa celebrates Freedom Day to mark the liberation of the country and its people from a long period of colonialism and apartheid.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
For news straight to your phone, add us on BBM 58F3D7A7 or WhatsApp 082 421 6033
