On This Day for April 27 - Independence for Sierra Leone, Coretta Scott King is featured, and more

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, click here to view. April 27 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Coretta Scott King READ MORE   FEATURED EVENT 1961 Independence for Sierra Leone READ MORE   Advertisement Advertisement   MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2014: Pope John Paul II was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI. [Take our pope quiz.] 2007: Russian conductor and musician Mstislav Rostropovich, one of the most acclaimed cellists of the 20th century, died at age 80. [How much do you know about musical instruments?] 1992: British politician Betty Boothroyd became the first woman to be elected speaker of the House of Commons; she held the post until 2000. [Test your knowledge of some famous firsts for women.] 1981: Xerox PARC debuted the first personal computer mouse. [ Take our quiz about computer parts and operating systems.] 1960: After several years as an autonomous republic in the French Union, the West African country of Togo became independent. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Africa.] 1865: The worst maritime disaster in U.S. history occurred when the overloaded steamship SS Sultana exploded on the Mississippi River, killing some 1,800 people, many of whom were former Union POWs returning home from the Civil War. [ Read about seven of the world's deadliest shipwrecks.] SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1822 Ulysses S. Grant president of United States 1927 Coretta Scott King American civil-rights activist 1759 Mary Wollstonecraft English author 1967 Willem-Alexander, king of the Netherlands king of the Netherlands 1820 Herbert Spencer British philosopher 1922 Jack Klugman American actor SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY   Advertisement   FOLLOW: To unsubscribe from Britannica e-mails, click here. Encyclopædia Britannica 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 United States © 2021 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Privacy Policy • Help