Today in History

Today is Sunday, March 27, the 86th day of 2022. There are 279 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On March 27, 1977, in aviation's worst disaster, 583 people were killed when a KLM Boeing 747, attempting to take off in heavy fog, crashed into a Pan Am 747 on an airport runway on the Canary Island of Tenerife.

On this date:

In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sighted present-day Florida.

In 1625, Charles I acceded to the English throne upon the death of James I.

In 1794, Congress approved "An Act to provide a Naval Armament" of six armed ships.

In 1912, first lady Helen Herron Taft and the wife of Japan's ambassador to the United States, Viscountess Chinda, planted the first two of 3,000 cherry trees given to the U.S. as a gift by the mayor of Tokyo.

In 1945, during World War II, General Dwight D. Eisenhower told reporters in Paris that German defenses on the Western Front had been broken.

In 1964, Alaska was hit by a magnitude 9.2 earthquake (the strongest on record in North America) and tsunamis that together claimed about 130 lives.

In 1968, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man to orbit the Earth in 1961, died when his MiG-15 jet crashed during a routine training flight near Moscow; he was 34.

In 1973, "The Godfather" won the Academy Award for best picture of 1972, but its star, Marlon Brando, refused to accept his Oscar for best actor. Liza Minnelli won best actress for "Cabaret."

In 1975, construction began on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, which was completed two years later.

In 1980, 123 workers died when a North Sea floating oil field platform, the Alexander Kielland, capsized during a storm.

In 2019, Facebook said it was extending its ban on hate speech to prohibit the promotion and support of white nationalism and white separatism.

In 2020, the House approved a $2.2 trillion coronavirus rescue package; it was immediately signed by President Donald Trump. The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, a civil rights leader who helped the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, died at 98.

Ten years ago: A JetBlue Airways captain ran through the cabin of a New York-to-Las Vegas flight yelling about religion and terrorists before he was tackled and restrained by passengers. (Clayton Osbon was charged with interference with a flight crew; he was found not guilty by reason of insanity.) Award-winning poet Adrienne Rich, 82, died in Santa Cruz, California. Art critic Hilton Kramer, 84, died in Harpswell, Maine.

Five years ago: U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions warned so-called "sanctuary cities" they could lose federal money for refusing to cooperate with immigration authorities; city leaders vowed to intensify their fight against the promised crackdown despite the financial risks. NFL owners meeting in Phoenix approved the Oakland Raiders' move to Las Vegas 31-1; Miami was the lone dissenter.

One year ago: On the deadliest day yet in a crackdown on protests against the February coup in Myanmar, local media said security forces killed at least 114 people, including several children under 16; a U.N. human rights expert accused the junta of committing "mass murder." A nine-story apartment building in Cairo, Egypt, collapsed, leaving at least 25 people dead.

Today's Birthdays: Actor Julian Glover is 87. Actor Jerry Lacy is 86. Hall of Fame racer Cale Yarborough is 83. Actor-director Austin Pendleton is 82. Actor Michael York is 80. Rock musician Tony Banks (Genesis) is 72. Rock musician Andrew Farriss (INXS) is 63. Jazz musician Dave Koz is 59. Movie director Quentin Tarantino is 59. Rock musician Derrick McKenzie (Jamiroquai) is 58. Rock musician Johnny April (Staind) is 57. Actor Talisa Soto is 55. Actor Ben Koldyke is 54. Actor Pauley Perrette is 53. Singer Mariah Carey is 52. Rock musician Brendan Hill (Blues Traveler) is 52. Actor Elizabeth Mitchell is 52. Actor Nathan Fillion is 51. Hip-hop singer Fergie is 47. Jazz musician Tia Fuller is 46. Actor Emily Ann Lloyd is 38. MLB catcher Buster Posey is 35. Actor Brenda Song is 34. Pop singer-songwriter Kimbra is 32. Actor Taylor Atelian is 27. Actor/R&B singer Halle Bailey is 22. Classical crossover singer Amira Willighagen (TV: "Holland's Got Talent") is 18.