March 27 in history — What Happened Today in History

The Food and Drug Administration approves Viagra for use as a treatment for erectile dysfunction, the first pill to be approved for this condition in the United States.

Jiang Zemin is appointed President of China.

Italian former minister and Christian Democracy leader Giulio Andreotti is accused of mafia allegiance by the tribunal of Palermo.

The United States begins broadcasting anti-Castro propaganda to Cuba on TV Martí.

A car bomb explodes outside Russell Street Police HQ in Melbourne, Australia, killing one police officer and injuring 21 people.

The Solidarity movement in Poland stages a warning strike, in which at least 12 million Poles walk off their jobs for four hours.

The Norwegian oil platform Alexander L. Kielland collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212.

Tenerife airport disaster: Two Boeing 747 airliners collide on a foggy runway on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 (all 248 on KLM and 335 on Pan Am). Sixty-one survived on the Pan Am flight. This is the deadliest aviation accident in history.

The first section of the Washington Metro opens to the public.

Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System begins.

The Good Friday earthquake, the most powerful earthquake recorded in North American history at a magnitude of 9.2 strikes Southcentral Alaska, killing 125 people and inflicting massive damage to the city of Anchorage.

Nikita Khrushchev becomes Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union.

World War II: Operation Starvation, the aerial mining of Japan's ports and waterways begins. Argentina declares war on the Axis Powers.

World War II: Battle of the Komandorski Islands: In the Aleutian Islands the battle begins when United States Navy forces intercept Japanese attempting to reinforce a garrison at Kiska.

The Holocaust: Nazi Germany and Vichy France begin the deportation of 65,000 Jews from Drancy internment camp to German extermination camps.

World War II: Yugoslav Air Force officers topple the pro-Axis government in a bloodless coup.

Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Taierzhuang begins, resulting several weeks later in the war's first major Chinese victory over Japan.

Japanese invasion of Manchuria: Japan leaves the League of Nations after it approves the Lytton Report that ruled in favour of China.

The National Council of Bessarabia proclaims union with the Kingdom of Romania.

Typhoid Mary, the first healthy carrier of disease ever identified in the United States, is put in quarantine for the second time, where she would remain for the rest of her life.

First Lady Helen Taft and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, plant two Yoshino cherry trees on the northern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., the origin of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

Philippine–American War: Emilio Aguinaldo, leader of the First Philippine Republic, is captured by the Americans.

Emilio Aguinaldo leads Filipino forces for the only time during the Philippine–American War at the Battle of Marilao River.

Geronimo, Apache warrior, surrenders to the U.S. Army, ending the main phase of the Apache Wars.

A mob in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States attacks members of a jury which had returned a verdict of manslaughter in what was seen as a clear case of murder; over the next few days the mob would riot and burn down the courthouse.

The first international rugby football match, when Scotland defeats England in Edinburgh at Raeburn Place.

President of the United States of America Andrew Johnson vetoes the Civil Rights Act of 1866. His veto is overridden by Congress and the bill passes into law on April 9.

Texas Revolution: On the orders of General Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican Army massacres 342 Texian Army POWs at Goliad, Texas.

Erdin Demir, Swedish-Turkish footballer

Ben Hunt, Australian rugby league player

Nicolas Nkoulou, Cameroonian footballer

Luca Zuffi, Swiss footballer

Kimbra, New Zealand musician

Brodha V, Indian rapper and music producer

Matt Harvey, American baseball player

Camilla Lees, New Zealand netball player

Jessie J, English singer-songwriter

Atsuto Uchida, Japanese footballer

Brenda Song, American actress

Mauro Goicoechea, Uruguayan footballer

Holliday Grainger, English actress

Fay Kanin, American screenwriter and producer (born 1917)

Adrienne Rich, American poet, essayist and feminist (born 1929)

Clement Arrindell, Nevisian judge and politician, 1st Governor-General of Saint Kitts and Nevis (born 1931)

Farley Granger, American actor (born 1925)

Dick Giordano, American illustrator (born 1932)

Irving R. Levine, American journalist and author (born 1922)

Jean-Marie Balestre, French businessman (born 1921)

Nancy Adams, New Zealand botanist and illustrator (born 1926)

Paul Lauterbur, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1929)

Dan Curtis, American director and producer (born 1928)

Stanisław Lem, Ukrainian-Polish author (born 1921)

Rudolf Vrba, Czech Holocaust survivor and educator (born 1924)

Neil Williams, English cricketer (born 1962)