This day in history: 27 Mar

1625: Charles I became King of England, Scotland and Ireland on the death of his father, James VI and I.

1814: US forces under General Andrew Jackson defeated the Creeks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.

1836: Antonio López de Santa Anna ordered the Mexican army to kill about 400 Texans at Goliad, Texas.

1917: The Canadian Cavalry Brigade made a mounted attack at Guyencourt, France. Lt F M W Harvey, of Lord Strathcona's Horse, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroism.

1964: A magnitude 9.2 earthquake struck south central Alaska, killing 125 people and inflicting massive damage to the city of Anchorage.

1969: Mariner 7 was launched from Cape Kennedy.




2004: HMS Scylla (F71), a decommissioned Leander-class frigate, was sunk as an artificial reef off Cornwall - the first of its kind in Europe.






In addition to James I (1566-1625), Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968), M C Escher (1898–1972), Milton Berle (1908-2002) and Dudley Moore CBE (1935-2002) died on this date.




And happy birthday to Nathaniel Currier (1813-1888), Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845-1923), Sir Henry Royce Bt (1863-1933), Carl Barks (1901–2000), Mstislav Rostropovich (1927-TBD), David Janssen (1931–1980) and Annemarie Moser-Pröll (1953-TBD).