Today in History: April 27, deadly tornadoes strike the Southeast
Today in history:
On April 27, 2011, during the four-day 2011 Super Outbreak, 112 tornadoes touched down across the southeastern United States, killing 319 in the deadliest day of tornadoes in the U.S. since 1925.
Also on this date:
In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed in the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines as he attempted to expand Spanish colonization in the region.
In 1813, the Battle of York took place in Upper Canada during the War of 1812 as U.S. forces defeated the British garrison in present-day Toronto; U.S. Brigadier General Zebulon Pike and 37 other American soldiers were killed near the end of the battle when retreating British forces exploded the ammunition magazine of Fort York as the Americans approached.
In 1865, the steamer Sultana, carrying freed Union prisoners of war, exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee; as many as 1,800 were killed in the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history.
In 1994, former President Richard M. Nixon was interred following a funeral service attended by all five of his successors, at the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California.
In 2010, former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega arrived in France after being extradited from the United States; he was later convicted in a French court of laundering drug money and received a seven-year sentence.
In 2012, the space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a jumbo jet, sailed over the New York City skyline on its final flight before going on display as part of the USS Intrepid Museum.
In 2015, rioters plunged part of Baltimore into chaos, torching a pharmacy, setting police cars ablaze and throwing bricks at officers hours after thousands attended a funeral service for Freddie Gray, a Black man who died from a severe spinal injury he'd suffered in police custody.
In 2018, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made history by crossing over to South Korea to meet with President Moon Jae-in; it was the first time a member of the Kim dynasty had set foot on southern soil since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
In 2019, a gunman opened fire inside a synagogue near San Diego as worshippers celebrated the last day of Passover, killing a woman and wounding a rabbi and two others. (John Earnest, a white supremacist, was sentenced to both federal and state life prison terms for the shootings.)
Today's Birthdays: Singer Kate Pierson (The B-52's) is 77. Guitarist Ace Frehley is 74. Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.V., is 74. Basketball Hall of Famer George Gervin is 73. Singer Sheena Easton is 66. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is 56. Actor Sally Hawkins is 49. Musician Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy) is 41. Actor William Moseley is 38. Singer Lizzo is 37. Tennis player Nick Kyrgios is 30.
Originally Published: April 27, 2025 at 4:00 AM CDT
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