What Happened in April 1927

Historical Events

Apr 1 1st automatic record changer introduced by His Master's Voice
Apr 3 Interstate Commerce Comm transfers Ohio to Eastern time zone

Johnny Weissmuller

Apr 5 Johnny Weissmuller sets world records in both the 100m and 200m free style swimming events

1st Long Distance TV Transmission

Apr 7 First long distance television transmission: An image of Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover sent from Washington, D.C. to NYC by AT&T

Apr 11 Chilean general Carlos Ibáñez names himself president

Shanghai Massacre

Apr 12 Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek begins a counter revolution by violently suppressing Communist groups

Chinese Military and Political Leader Chiang Kai-shek

Apr 13 Stanley Cup Final, Ottawa Auditorium, Ottawa, ON: Ottawa Senators beat Boston Bruins, 3-1 for a 2-0-2 series win
Apr 14 The first Volvo car premieres in Gothenburg, Sweden
Apr 15 Switzerland & USSR agree to diplomatic relations

Babe Ruth's 60 HR Record

Apr 15 Yankees slugger Babe Ruth hits #1 of MLB record season 60 HRs; tees off on A's Howard Ehmke in 1st inning of New York's 6-3 win over Philadelphia

Apr 17 Japan's Wakarsoeki government falls, Baron Tanaka becomes premier

31st Boston Marathon

Apr 18 31st Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar in 2:40:22.2; his 5th victory in the event

Apr 18 Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek forms an anti-government in China
Apr 19 "Vagabond King" opens in London

Apr 19 Actress Mae West found guilty of “obscenity and corrupting the morals of youth” in a New York stage play entitled "Sex". She is sentenced to 10 days in prison and fined $500, the resulting publicity launches her Hollywood career.

Apr 22 Roger Sessions' 1st Symphony in E premieres with Serge Koussevitzky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Apr 25 Spain routes 20,000 soldiers to Morocco (uprising Rifkabylen)
Apr 27 Carabineros de Chile (Chilean national police force and gendarmery) created
Apr 29 Construction of Spirit of St Louis (the monoplane which Charles Lindburgh was to fly across the Atlantic) is completed

Council of State Seats Princess

Apr 30 Princess Juliana gets seat in Dutch Council of State

Events in 1927

Famous Birthdays

Apr 1 Amos Milburn, American R&B singer and pianist ("One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer"), born in Houston, Texas (d. 1980)
Apr 1 Walter Bahr, American soccer midfielder (19 caps) and coach (Penn State), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2018)
Apr 2 Billy Pierce, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star x 7; World Series 1945; AL wins leader 1957; MLB ERA leader 1955; AL strikeout leader; 1953; Chicago White Sox), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2015)
Apr 2 Carmen Basilio, American boxer (World Welterweight title 1955-56; Middleweight title 1957-58), born in Canastota, New York (d. 2012)
Apr 2 Ferenc Puskás, Hungarian soccer forward (Hungary 85 caps, Spain 4; Real Madrid, Budapest Honvéd) and manager (Panathinaikos), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 2006)
Apr 3 Éva Székely, Hungarian swimmer (Olympic gold 200m breaststroke 1952; silver 1956; first WR 400m individual medley 1953), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 2020)
Apr 3 Pierre D'Archambeau, American concert violinist, born in Yverdon, Switzerland (d. 2014)
Apr 3 Wesley Brown, 1st African American US Naval Academy graduate, born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 2012)
Apr 4 Bob Stump, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona, born in Phoenix, Arizona (d. 2003)
Apr 5 John Gilbert, British politician and Minister (Labour), born in London (d. 2013)
Apr 6 David Ingram, Vice-Chancellor (University of Kent at Canterbury)
Apr 6 Gerry Mulligan, American saxophonist and orchestra leader (Jazz On A Summer Day), born in Queens, New York City (d. 1996)
Apr 7 Babatunde Olatunji, Nigerian percussionist (Drums of Passion), educator, and social activist, born in Ajido, Lagos (d. 2003)
Apr 8 Oliver "Ollie" Mitchell, American musician and bandleader (The Wrecking Crew), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2013)
Apr 10 Marshall Warren Nirenberg, Jewish-American biochemist and geneticist (Nobel 1968), born in New York City (d. 2010)
Apr 10 Wesley A Clark, American computer designer (first personal computer - LINC), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 2016)

Apr 11 Domenico Guaccero, Italian composer, born in Palo de Colle, Italy (d. 1984)
Apr 12 Patrick Meehan, Scottish petty criminal, wrongly convicted of murder and later given a royal pardon, born in Scotland (d. 1994) [1]
Apr 13 Bill Wedderburn, Baron Wedderburn of Charlton, British politician and academic, born in London (d. 2012)
Apr 13 George Washington, American boxing trainer (Riddick Bowe and Mark Breland), born in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 2006)
Apr 13 Joyce Plesters, British conservation scientist, born in Studley, Warwickshire (d. 1996)
Apr 13 Maurice Ronet, French film actor, director, and writer (Frantic, Sphinx, Circle of Love), born in Nice, France (d. 1983)
Apr 14 Dany Robin, French actress (Follow the Boys, Topaz, Jupiter, Julietta), born in Clamart, France (d. 1995)
Apr 15 Abha Gandhi, servant to Gandhi (d. 1995)
Apr 15 Annapurna Devi [Roshanara Khan], Indian classical surbahar (bass sitar) player, and music teacher, born in Maihar, British India (now part of Madhya Pradesh, India) (d. 2018)
Apr 15 Robert Mills, American physicist (quantum field theory), born in Englewood, New Jersey (d. 1999)

Benedict XVI (1927-2022)

Apr 16 German Catholic Pope (2005-13), born in Marktl, Bavaria, Germany [1]

Apr 16 Edie Adams [Edith Enke], American businesswoman, singer, actress and comedian (Murial Cigar), born in Kingston, Pennsylvania (d. 2008)
Apr 16 Peter Mark Richman {Marvin Jack Richman], American character actor (Three's Company - "Rev. Snow"; Dynasty - "Andrew"), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2021)
Apr 17 Christopher Whelen, British composer and conductor, born in London, England (d. 1993)
Apr 17 Graziella Sciutti, Italian operatic soprano, teacher, and opera producer, born in Turin, Italy (d. 2001) [1]
Apr 18 Jim De Courcy, Australian cricketer (Australian batsman 1953), born in Newcastle, New South Wales (d. 2000)

Samuel P. Huntington (1927-2008)

Apr 18 American political scientist (The Clash of Civilizations) and presidential adviser, born in New York City

Apr 18 Tadeusz Mazowiecki, 1st Prime Minister of Poland (1989-90), born in Płock, Poland (d. 2013)
Apr 19 Don Barbour, American singer (The Four Freshmen), born in Columbus, Bartholomew County, Indiana (d. 1961)
Apr 20 Karl Alexander Müller, Swiss superconductivity physicist (Nobel 1987), born in Basel. Switzerland (d. 2023)
Apr 20 Phil Hill, American auto racer (F1 world champion 1961; 24 Hours of Le Mans 1958, 61, 62), born in Miami, Florida (d. 2008)
Apr 21 Gerald Flood, British actor (Doctor Who, Patton), born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England (d. 1989)
Apr 21 Robert Brustein, American theater critic, playwright and writer, born in New York City (d. 2023)
Apr 22 (Lorenzo) "Laurel" Aitken, Cuban-Jamaican singer and one of the pioneers of Caribbean pop and ska music, born in Havana, Cuba (d. 2005)
Apr 22 Pascal Bentoiu, Romanian composer, born in Bucharest, Romania (d. 2016)
Apr 23 Russell Smith, American composer, born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama (d. 1998)
Apr 24 "Fatty" George [Pressler], Austrian swing jazz clarinettist, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1982)
Apr 24 Josy Barthel, Luxembourgish 1500m runner (Olympic gold 1952), born in Mamer, Luxembourg (d. 1992)
Apr 24 Pasqualino de Santis, Italian cinematographer, born in Fondi, Latina, Italy (d. 1996)
Apr 24 Seymour Bernstein, American concert pianist, teacher, and composer, born in Newark, New Jersey

Albert Uderzo (1927-2020)

Apr 25 French cartoonist and script writer (Asterix comic books), born in Fismes, Marne, France

Apr 25 Corín Tellado, Spanish romance novelist, sold the most books in Spanish (400 million), born in El Franco, Spain (d. 2009)
Apr 25 Ernst Widmer, Swiss-Brazilian composer, born in Aarau, Switzerland (d. 1990)
Apr 26 Dame Anne McLaren, British biologist and leading researcher on human in vitro fertilisation (IVF), born in London, England (d. 2007)
Apr 26 Jack Douglas, English comedian (My Brother Was an Only Child, Jack Paar Show), born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England (d. 1989)
Apr 26 John Ralston, American College Football Hall of Fame linebacker, coach and executive (Cal, Stanford, Denver Broncos), born in Oakland, California (d. 2019)
Apr 27 Connie Kay, American jazz drummer (Modern Jazz Quartet, 1955-94), born in Tuckahoe, New York (d. 1994)
Apr 27 Coretta Scott King, American activist and wife of Martin Luther King Jr., born in Heiberger, Alabama (d. 2006)
Apr 27 Gerard Cieślik, Polish soccer striker (45 caps, 27 goals; Ruch Chorzów 237 games) and manager (Ruch Chorzów), born in Hajduki, Poland (d. 2013)
Apr 27 Joe Moakley, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts (1973-2001), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2001)

Sheila Scott (1927-1988)

Apr 27 English aviator who completed the 1st round-the-world solo flight by a woman, born in Worcester, Worcestershire

Apr 28 Garry Weston, English businessman (Associated British Foods), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2002)
Apr 29 (Cecil James) "Big Jay" McNeely, American R&B saxophonist, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2018)
Apr 29 Betsy Ancker-Johnson, American physicist and auto company executive, born in St. Louis, Missouri
Apr 29 Dorothy Manley, English 100m sprinter (Olympic silver 1948), born in London, England
Apr 30 Lars Hall, Swedish pentathlete (Olympic gold 1952), born in Karlskrona, Sweden (d. 1991)

Born in 1927

Famous Weddings

Apr 23 Mary Barbara Hamilton (25,)best-selling British romantic author, marries 1st husband Alexander McQorquodale

Famous Divorces

Guglielmo Marconi

Apr 27 Inventor and electrical engineer Guglielmo Marconi (53) divorces Beatrice O'Brien after 22 years of marriage

Famous Deaths

Apr 10 Ivo Bligh, British noble (8th Earl of Darnley) and cricket batsman (4 Tests; first England captain v Australia 1882-83), dies at 68
Apr 10 Young Corbett II (William J. Rothwell), American boxer (world featherweight champion 1901-02), dies at 46
Apr 15 Francesco Gaeta, Italian poet (Di Giacomo), dies at 47
Apr 15 Gaston Leroux, French writer (The Phantom of the Opera), dies at 58
Apr 27 Albert J. Beveridge, American politician and historian (Progressive leader, Senator Indiana 1899-1911), dies at 64

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