Today in History, April 27th
On April 27, 1865, the overloaded steamboat Sultana exploded near Memphis. Plus Magellan's death, Marciano's exit and South Africa's 1994 vote.
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April 27 is best known for 1865, when the overloaded steamboat Sultana blew up on the Mississippi River above Memphis, the deadliest disaster on the water in U.S. history. The same date saw Ferdinand Magellan killed in the Philippines in 1521 and South Africa hold its first all-race national election in 1994.
The big story: The Sultana explodes on the Mississippi (1865)
The Civil War was over, and thousands of Union soldiers just wanted to go home. Many had survived Confederate prison camps. At Vicksburg, Mississippi, they crowded onto the Sultana, a 260-foot steamboat built to carry 376 people. By the time it pulled away, roughly 2,100 troops and 200 civilians were aboard, more than six times its limit. Money explains a lot of it: the government paid $5 for each enlisted man and $10 for each officer delivered north. A boiler had already been patched rather than properly repaired, and the river was in flood. On April 27, 1865, above Memphis, the boilers burst. Steam and debris killed hundreds outright, and many more drowned in the cold, fast water. About 1,700 people died, and only around 600 survived. A board of inquiry blamed low water in the boiler. For all that, it remains one of the least remembered disasters in American history.
More events on April 27
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1521 | Ferdinand Magellan was killed in a fight on Mactan Island in the Philippines. One of his ships, the Victoria, later made it back to Spain, completing the first voyage around the world. |
| 1805 | U.S. Marines and hired fighters led by William Eaton captured the port of Derna in North Africa after a march of about 500 miles from Egypt. It was the Marines’ first battle and the first time the U.S. flag was raised on foreign soil. |
| 1810 | Beethoven wrote the piano piece known as Für Elise. It was not published until 1867, decades after his death. |
| 1813 | Explorer Zebulon Pike, namesake of Pikes Peak, was killed while leading an American attack on the British at York (now Toronto) during the War of 1812. |
| 1861 | President Abraham Lincoln authorized General Winfield Scott to suspend the writ of habeas corpus where needed to keep the military routes through Maryland open, setting up a clash with Chief Justice Roger Taney. |
| 1956 | Rocky Marciano retired as heavyweight champion of the world at age 32, with a perfect record of 49 wins and no losses. |
| 1960 | Togo, formerly French-run Togoland, became independent. The country marks April 27 as its Independence Day. |
| 1978 | Afghan President Mohammed Daoud was overthrown and killed in a pro-communist coup, starting the upheaval that led to the Soviet invasion less than two years later. |
| 1994 | South Africa held its first multiracial national election. More than 22 million people voted, and Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress won a majority. |
| 2009 | General Motors announced it would phase out its Pontiac brand as part of a reorganization. GM filed for bankruptcy about five weeks later. |
| 2014 | Pope John Paul II was declared a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. |
Born on April 27
- 1759: Mary Wollstonecraft, English writer of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, born in London.
- 1791: Samuel F. B. Morse, painter and inventor of the electric telegraph and Morse code, born in Charlestown, Massachusetts.
- 1822: Ulysses S. Grant, Union commander in the Civil War and the 18th U.S. president, born in Point Pleasant, Ohio.
- 1927: Coretta Scott King, civil rights activist, born in Marion, Alabama.
- 1945: August Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Fences and The Piano Lesson, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Sources
- Union soldiers die in steamship explosion, History.com
- This Day in History: April 27, History.com
- On This Day: April 27, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Magellan killed in the Philippines, History.com
- To the shores of Tripoli, History.com
- Beethoven composes Für Elise, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- South Africa holds first multiracial elections, History.com
- Saint John Paul II, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Ulysses S. Grant, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- August Wilson, Encyclopaedia Britannica
Also on this day in 1417, a chicken was burned at the stake in Basel, Switzerland, for violating the laws of nature by laying a brightly colored egg. According to a friend in the Netherlands, the chicken was put on trial first. No one has told me what its defense was. Normally, you would just be tortured until you confessed, but this probably presented special challenges.
Ah, 1417…those were the years!