Here are 30 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries in April 2027 (listed six months in advance so you have time to write about them)
Historical anniversaries are ideal for ‘On This Day in History’ features, articles, biographies and other anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with newspaper and magazine readers and radio stations, and editors, producers and presenters love them. They’re easy to research too. You can also turn them into movies, documentaries, novels, use them to plan events and exhibitions, and much more.
We’ve randomly selected an anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2027, which lists more than 3,600 anniversaries. The Date-A-Base Book 2028, 2029 and 2030 are also available.
Each edition is available in British and U.S. versions. Both have the same content, but with different date formats, spelling and grammar. If you click on the links above, you should be directed to the correct version, based on your location. We’ve taken the anniversaries below from the British version.
1 Apr 1947 – 80 years ago
The school leaving age in the UK was raised to 15.
2 Apr 1977 – 50 years ago
British race horse Red Rum won the Grand National for a historic third time. It is considered one of the greatest moments in sporting history. The record still stands today.
3 Apr 1987 – 40 years ago
The late Duchess of Windsor’s jewellery was sold at an auction in Geneva, Switzerland for £31 million – six times the expected figure.
4 Apr 1947 – 80 years ago
The International Civil Aviation Organisation was founded.
5 Apr 1827 – 200 years ago
Birth of Joseph Lister, British surgeon and pathologist. Best known as a pioneer of antiseptic surgery, which revolutionised surgery.
6 Apr 1927 – 100 years ago
The first U.S. federal pilot licence (Licence No. 1) was awarded to William P. MacCracken Jr., the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aeronautics.
7 Apr 1947 – 80 years ago
Death of Henry Ford, American industrialist, car manufacturer and inventor. Founder of the Ford Motor Company. He revolutionised factory production by introducing assembly lines, and brought motorised transport to the masses.
8 Apr 1952 – 75 years ago
U.S. President Harry S. Truman nationalised the U.S. steel industry in an attempt to avert a nationwide strike that might endanger the Korean War effort. The steel companies had this decision overturned on 2nd June and a 53-day strike began on that day.
9 Apr 1967 – 60 years ago
The Boeing 737 made its first flight. It entered service in February 1968 and became the world’s best-selling jet airliner. It remains in production.
10 Apr 1877 (or 2 Apr?) – 150 years ago
The world’s first human cannonball act was performed at the Royal Aquarium in London, UK. Fourteen-year-old ‘Zazel’ (Rossa Matilda Richter) was fired from a spring-loaded cannon. (Some sources say she was 17.) She later broke her back when a launch went wrong.
11 Apr 1727 – 300 years ago
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Baroque masterpiece The St. Matthew Passion was performed for the first time, at the St. Thomas Church, in Leipzig, Germany.
12 Apr 1877 – 150 years ago
Britain annexed the Transvaal in South Africa.
This led to the First Boer War (1880–81) – Boer victory.
13 Apr 1852 – 175 years ago
Birth of Frank Winfield Woolworth, American entrepreneur. Founder of the F. W. Woolworth Company. It was one of the most successful low-cost retail chains in the USA and worldwide, but shut down in 1997.
14 Apr 1927 – 100 years ago
The first Volvo car – the ÖV 4 series – rolled off the production line in Gothenburg, Sweden. (Volvo states that the company was officially founded on this date, though it had actually existed since 1915.
15 Apr 1877 – 150 years ago
The first telephone was installed, in Massachusetts, USA. It enabled people to call each other from Boston to Somerville.
16 Apr 1947 – 80 years ago
The term ‘Cold War’ was used for the first time when American financier and presidential advisor Bernard Baruch described the relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union.
17 Apr 1937 – 90 years ago
Daffy Duck made his debut appearance in the Warner Brothers’ cartoon Porky’s Duck Hunt.
18 Apr 2002 – 25 years ago
Death of Thor Heyerdahl, Norwegian explorer and adventurer. Best known for the Kon-Tiki and Ra expeditions, which showed that earlier civilisations could have crossed the oceans.
19 Apr 1877 – 150 years ago
Birth of Ole Evinrude, Norwegian-born American engineer, inventor and entrepreneur. Inventor of the first practical outboard motor.
20 Apr 1977 – 50 years ago
Woody Allen’s film Annie Hall was released in the USA.
21 Apr 1952 – 75 years ago
Death of Sir Stafford Cripps, British politician. Chancellor of the Exchequer (1947–50).
Known for his harsh policies that rescued the country from economic crisis.
22 Apr 1977 – 50 years ago
Fibre optic cables were used to carry live telephone calls for the first time, by General Telephone and Electronics in Long Beach, California, USA.
23 to 24 Apr 1967 – 60 years ago
The Soviet Union launched Soyuz 1, the first manned space flight of the Soyuz programme. Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov orbited the Earth 18 times, but was killed when the parachute on his descent module failed to deploy properly. He was the first person to die during a space flight. This was his second space flight – he also commanded Voskhod 1 in 1964.
24 Apr 1967 – 60 years ago
The Doors’ rock song Light My Fire was released. It reached #1 on the Billboard chart in the USA in July.
25 Apr 2002 – 25 years ago
South African-born British entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth became the first African in space, and the world’s second space tourist. He paid $20 million to spend eight days on the International Space Station. While in space, he helped with research on AIDS and the human genome. (Dennis Tito of the USA was the first space tourist in 2001.)
26 Apr 1937 – 90 years ago
Spanish Civil War: German planes bombed the Basque town of Guernica. The event is regarded as the Nazi’s practice for WWII. The artist Picasso depicted the battle in his famous painting Guernica.
27 Apr 1927 – 100 years ago
Birth of Coretta Scott King, American civil rights activist and writer. Wife of Martin Luther King Jr. She took over the leadership of his campaign for racial equality after his assassination, and successfully campaigned to make his birthday a national holiday. (Died 2006.)
28 Apr 1967 – 60 years ago
American world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army after being drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. He was arrested, his boxing licence was suspended, and he was stripped of his title. He was found guilty at a trial held on 20th June. As he was unable to box, he spent his time giving inspirational speeches at schools and colleges. The Supreme Court overturned the decision in June 1971, but he had lost four years’ boxing time when he would have been at the prime of his career. He became world heavyweight champion again in 1974 and 1978.
29 Apr 1852 – 175 years ago
The first edition of Roget’s Thesaurus was published.
30 Apr 1927 – 100 years ago
Film stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford become the first celebrities to leave their hand prints, footprints and autographs in cement outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, USA. The theatre officially opened on 18th May, by which time Norma Talmadge had also added hers. (Some sources claim that Talmadge was the first to add hers, when she accidentally stepped in wet cement outside the theatre and launched the tradition.)
More anniversaries:
You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2027.
The 2028, 2029 and 2030 editions are also available if you work further ahead.
Each edition is available as a PDF ebook (with a free Excel spreadsheet) or as a printed paperback book, in British or U.S. versions.
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For journalists looking to plan ahead, the Date-A-Base Books offer a goldmine of ideas that are unavailable on the free internet.
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★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Great reference
This is a fantastic and extremely useful book – very well compiled, detailed and organised. Highly recommended for research or if you’re just curious about ‘on this day’ type history. — Mark