Unix Timestamp: 1051401600
Sunday, April 27. 2003, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Standard Poor's downgradesGreece's sovereign credit rating to junk four days after the activation of a €45-billion EU–IMF bailout, triggering the decline of stock markets worldwide and of the euro's value,ref name=BBC and furthering a European sovereign debt crisis.

Standard Poor's downgrades Greece's sovereign credit rating to junk, four days after the country's government requests the activation of a €45-billion EU–IMF bailout. //www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-27/greek-banks-face-mounting-pressure-as-s-p-cuts-ratings-to-junk.html ("Business Week")

A police officer suffers a mental breakdown and kills 3 people in Moscow, Russia. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8020184.stm (BBC) //www.rte.ie/news/2009/0427/moscow.html (RTÉ)

Dignitaries including the President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai take cover as automatic gunfire breaks out at a ceremony in Kabul. //ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h-N2UJemsXGBN65TeEMamZ_dZIqwD90A0VAG0 (AP via Google News)

71 die in a train crash in Shandong, China.

India sets a world record by sending 10 satellites into orbit in a single launch.

The Taliban attempts to assassinate Afghan President Hamid Karzai in a military parade in Kabul.

The Superjumbo jet aircraftAirbus A380 makes its first flight from Toulouse.

The Laughlin, NevadaRiver Run Riot kills 3.

Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), CWC treaty enters into force.

Two trains crash at Hunan, China 126 are killed.

Andrew Cunanan murders Jeffrey Trail, beginning a murder spree that lasts until July and ends with the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace.

South Africa holds its first fully multiracial elections, marking the final end of apartheid.

Betty Boothroyd becomes the first woman elected Speaker of the British House of Commons.

The United States Department of Justice declares incumbent Austrian president Kurt Waldheim an undesirable alien.

Captain Midnight interrupts the HBO satellite feed.

The Dominican embassy siege ends with all hostages released and the guerrillas flying to Cuba.

Afghanistan President Daoud Khan is killed during a military coup Nur Mohammed Taraki succeeds him.

The Guatemala City air disaster kills 28 people.

A no-confidence vote against German ChancellorWilly Brandt fails under obscure circumstances.

In Houston, Texas, boxer Muhammad Ali refuses military service.

Expo 67 opens to the public, with over 310,000 people attending. Al Carter from Chicago is the first visitor as noted by Expo officials.

The U.S. aerospace manufacturerMcDonnell Douglas is formed through a merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft. (becomes part of The Boeing Company three decades later)

Montreal, Quebec, Expo 67, a World\'s Fair to coincide with the Canadian Confederation centennial, officially opens with Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson igniting the Expo Flame in the Place des Nations.

Montreal, Quebec, Expo 67, a World's Fair to coincide with the Canadian Confederation centennial, officially opens with Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson igniting the Expo Flame in the Place des Nations.

Pope Paul VI and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko meet in the Vatican (the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Soviet Union).

The Fantasticks, the world's longest-running musical, opens at New York City's Sullivan Street Playhouse where it will play for 42 years.

Several Soviet surface-to-air missiles shoot down an American Lockheed U-2 spy plane. Its pilot, Francis Gary Powers, of the Central Intelligence Agency is captured.

Togo gains independence from France, with the French-administered United Nations Trust Territory being terminated.

European Free Trade Association (EFTA) established.

A.J. Liebling promulgates Liebling's Law in The New Yorkermagazine: Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.

In India, May 1 is declared as 'Maharashtra Divas', i.e., Maharashtra Day (also celebrated as 'Kaamgaar Divas', i.e., Workers Day).

West German refugee minister Theodor Oberländer is fired because of his past with Nazi Germany.

Import tariffs are lifted in the United Kingdom.

National People\\'s Congress elects Liu Shaoqi as Chairman of the People's Republic of China, as a successor of Mao Zedong.

National People's Congress elects Liu Shaoqi as Chairman of the People's Republic of China, as a successor of Mao Zedong.

The first Ten Tors event is held in Dartmoor.

Heavyweight boxing chion Rocky Marciano retires without losing a professional boxing match.

Former Philippine First LadyAurora Quezon, 61, is assassinated while en route to dedicate a hospital in memory of her late husband her daughter and 10 others are also killed.

India issues the London Declaration, enabling it (and, thereafter, any other nation) to remain in the British Commonwealth despite becoming a republic, creating the position of 'Head of the Commonwealth', and renaming the organisation as the 'Commonwealth of Nations'.

British Commonwealth of Nations renamed The Commonwealth.

FA Cup: Derby County beat Charlton Athletic in the first FA Cup final since the end of the war

The U.S. Federal Writers' Project is shuttered.

The Jewish Star of David is required wearing for all Jews in the Netherlands and Belgium. Other Jews in Nazi countries have been wearing it for longer.

WWII: A national plebiscite is held in Canada on the issue of conscription.

Orson Welles' film "Citizen Kane" premieres in New York City.

The first Defense Bonds and Defense Savings Sts go on sale in the United States, to help fund the greatly increased production of military equipment.

WWII: German troops enter Athens.

The breakfast cereal "Cheerios" is introduced as "CheeriOats" by General Mills.

Ely Racecourse in Cardiff closes.

FA Cup Sheffield Wednesday beat West Bromwich Albion 4–2 at Wembley

A group of Alawites kill some Christian nuns in Syria French troops march against them.

WWI ndash Battle of Hulluch: The 47th Brigade, 16th Irish Division is decimated in one of the most heavily concentrated German gas attacks of the war.

Sultan of the Ottoman EmpireAbdul Hamid II is overthrown and succeeded by his brother, Mehmed V. He is sent to the Ottoman port city of Thessaloniki (Selanik) the next day.

The Australian Labor Party becomes the first such party to gain national government, under Chris Watson.

Grant's Tomb is dedicated in New York.

Grant's Tomb is dedicated in New York.

Antonio Guzmán Blanco begins his first term as President of Venezuela.

West Virginia secedes from Virginia.

American Civil War:

President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus in the United States.

The Mississippi River levee at Sauvé's Crevasse breaks, flooding much of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Giuseppe Garibaldi enters Rome to defend it from the French troops of General Oudinot.

The May Uprising in Dresden (the last of the German revolutions of 1848) begins.

May ndash The Second Carlist War ends in Spain.

The Mississippi River levee at Sauvé's Crevasse breaks, flooding much of New Orleans, Louisiana.

War of 1812 ndash Battle of York: United States troops raid, destroy, but do not hold the capital of Ontario, York (present day Toronto, Ontario).

Beethoven composes his famous piano piece, "Für Elise".

French forces capture Danzig after a 6-week siege.

United States Marines and Berbers attack the Tripolitan city of Derna (The Shores of Tripoli).

War of the First Coalition ndash Battle of Lodi: General Napoleon Bonaparte defeats Austrian rearguard in forcing a crossing of the bridge over the River Adda in Italy. The Austrians lose some 2,000 men, 14 guns, and 30 ammunition wagons.

Case of the Lyons Mail: During the night of April 27, 5 highwaymen attack the mail between Paris and Lyon, kill the postmen, and steal the funds sent to the armies in Italy.

Persian Expedition of 1796: Russian troops storm Derbent.

r May 10 ndash The British Parliament passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.

The first official performance of George Frideric Handel's "Music for the Royal Fireworks" finishes early due to the outbreak of fire.

The blind, impoverished, 58-year-old John Milton sells the copyright of his epic poem "Paradise Lost" to London publisher Samuel Simmons for an initial payment of £5.Equivalent to approximately £7,400 income in 2008.

May ndash The New Model Army is decimated at the Siege of Clonmel.

Battle of Carbisdale: A Royalist army invades mainland Scotland from the Orkney Islands but is defeated by a Covenanter army.

King Charles I flees from Oxford.

Johannes Kepler marries Barbara Muhleck.

June ndash Tycho Brahe is not allowed to make observations from The Watermill Tower, and he is not allowed to perform chemical experiments at his house in Farvergade.

The Duel of the Mignons claims the lives of two favorites of Henry III of France and two favourites of Henry I, Duke of Guise.

Cebu City (originally named San Miguel) is established by López de Legazpi, becoming the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.

Battle of Bicocca: French and Swiss forces under Odet de Lautrec are defeated by the Spanish in their attempt to retake Milan, and are forced to withdraw into Venetian territory.

May ndash War breaks out between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Francis I, the King of France.

Magellan is killed in the Philippines, in the Battle of Mactan.

Pope Julius II places Venice under interdict and excommunication for refusing to cede part of Romagna to papal control.

21/22 May ndash Byzantine-Ottoman Wars ndash The Ottoman governor of Thessaly, Turakhan Beg, breaks through the Hexamilion wall and ravages the Peloponnese peninsula.

Hussite Wars ndash Battle of Horic: The Taborites decisively beat the Utraquists.

Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji dies and Ala-Ud-Din-Khilji comes to the throne of the Delhi Sultanate in Hindustan.

Battle of Dunbar: The Scots are defeated by Edward I of England.

The Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan spends a year at the court of the Khmer King Indravarman III at Angkor and pens a journal setting forth his observations.

Fall of Tripoli: Mamluk sultan Qalawun captures the County of Tripoli (in present-day Lebanon) after a month-long siege, thus extinguishing the crusader state.

Prince Subaru of Japan conquers the province of Saitama.

Battle of Sajo: The Mongols defeat Bela IV of Hungary.

Early summer ndash A succession crises or other priorities results in the Mongols withdrawing behind their river barrier into the Ukraine and the Russia's, leaving Central Asian and far Eastern Europe peoples tributary to the Khanates, but leaving Poland and Hungary to begin recovery and reorganization.

David I succeeds Alexander I to become King of Scotland.

Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, goes into exile after a dispute with Henry I of England.

Japanese Emperor Temmu holds divination for the purpose of proceeding to the Abstinence-palace.

The Goths, led by Alaric I, invade and devastate Thrace and Macedonia, impose a tribute on Athens, and then turn their sights on the West. Arcadius unable to defeat them, gives Alaric control of the Balkans, and grant him the position of "magister militum" in Illyricum.

Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. His 3-year-old half-sister, Galla Placidia, is send to Rome where she spent her childhood in the household of Stilicho and his wife Serena.

Alaric, Visigothic leader of the "foederati", renounces Roman fealty and is declared king, waging war against both parts of the Roman Empire, and ending a 16-year period of peace.