Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on April 27th?

Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Empire, leading to Turkish dominance in Anatolia.

King John of England marries Isabella of Angoulême.

King Alexander II of Scotland is born.

The Mongols, led by Hulagu Khan, capture and sack Baghdad, effectively ending the Abbasid Caliphate.

Battle of Dunbar: King Edward I of England defeats the Scots under John Balliol during the First War of Scottish Independence.

Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire, is born.

Joan of Arc arrives at the siege of Orléans, boosting French morale and ultimately contributing to lifting the siege.

John Milton sells the copyright of "Paradise Lost" for £10.

The Statute of Anne, the first fully-fledged copyright law, comes into force in Great Britain.

The Molasses Act is passed by the British Parliament, imposing duties on molasses, sugar, and rum imported from non-British territories to the North American colonies.

The Battle of Ridgefield takes place during the American Revolutionary War, with a small American force engaging British troops.

South Africa's first multi-racial general election with full enfranchisement is held. The African National Congress won a 63 percent share of the vote at the election, and Mandela, as leader of the ANC, was inaugurated on 10 May 1994 as the country's first Black President, with the National Party's F.W. de Klerk as his first deputy and Thabo Mbeki as the second in the Government of National Unity. More

The leaders of North and South Korea meet for the first time in more than a decade, pledging to work toward peace and denuclearization.