Today in history: Sunday, April 27, the 117th day of 2014

Today is Sunday, April 27, the 117th day of 2014. There are 248 days left in the year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

1509: Pope Julius II places the Republic of Venice under an interdict following its refusal to give up lands claimed by the Papal States. (The pope lifted the sanction in February 1510.)

1777: The only land battle in Connecticut during the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Ridgefield, takes place, resulting in a limited British victory.

1813: The Battle of York takes place in Upper Canada during the War of 1812 as a U.S. force defeats the British garrison in present-day Toronto before withdrawing.

1822: The 18th president of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, is born in Point Pleasant, Ohio.

1865: The steamer Sultana explodes on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tenn., killing more than 1,400 people, mostly freed Union prisoners of war.

1938: King Zog I of the Albanians marries Countess Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi.

1941: German forces occupy Athens during World War II.

1967: Expo ’67 is officially opened in Montreal by Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.

1973: Acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray resigns after it is revealed that he’d destroyed files removed from the safe of Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt.

1982: The trial of John W. Hinckley Jr., who had shot four people, including President Ronald Reagan, begins in Washington. (The trial ended with Hinckley’s acquittal by reason of insanity.)

1994: Former President Richard M. Nixon is remembered at an outdoor funeral service attended by all five of his successors at the Nixon presidential library in Yorba Linda, Calif.

2004: Iraqi police move into the streets of the besieged city of Fallujah following hours of pounding of Sunni insurgents by U.S. warplanes and artillery.

A ruptured pipeline begins spilling some 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel into Suisun Bay, east of San Francisco.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., beats back a tough primary threat, barely defeating conservative congressman Pat Toomey.

2009: A 23-month-old Mexico City toddler dies at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, becoming the first swine-flu death on U.S. soil.

A strong earthquake strikes central Mexico, rattling nerves among residents already tense from a swine-flu outbreak.

One of President Barack Obama’s Air Force One jets, a Boeing 747, and an F-16 fighter jet panic New Yorkers as they circle over lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty for what turns out to be a photo op.

General Motors Corp. announces plans to cut 21,000 jobs and to scrap the Pontiac brand.

2013: North Korea announces that Kenneth Bae, an American missionary detained for nearly six months, is being tried in the Supreme Court on charges of plotting to overthrow the government (Bae was later sentenced to 15 years of hard labor).

VINDICATOR FILES

1989: Mayor Patrick J. Ungaro charges during a televised debate that the Democratic Party takes a “different approach” toward law enforcement, an approach that does not suppress gambling and prostitution.

Fourteen employees of Harbison-Walker Refractories in Windham are on their way to Harrisburg, claiming to hold a winning ticket in the record $110 million Pennsylvania lottery.

Millionaire columnist Percy Ross appears at Horace Mann Elementary School in Warren, giving the school $1,000.

1974: General Motors blames inflation and a slump in car sales in the wake of the energy crisis for its worst first-quarter earnings since the Korean War. Profits totaled $120 million for the period, an 85 percent drop from a year earlier.

The Youngstown Park and Recreation Commission directs the filling of Lake Milton to summer-pool level and asks city council for authority to sell some public land to provide funds for repairs and recreational development.

Joe Bova, 16, of Lowellville dies of skull fractures received when his go-cart ran under the wheels of a Lowellville school bus, which had started up after discharging riders in the road near the boy’s driveway.

1964: A crowd of 6,829 fans watches late model auto racers in action on opening day of ARCA racing at Canfield Speedway.

Trumbull County Auditor William Trimbur is besieged with complaints from irate property owners whose taxes are increasing due to recent reappraisal of 180,000 parcels by J.M. Cleminshaw Co. of Cleveland.

1939: There is no sign of activity at 12 numbers places in Youngstown as Police Chief Carl Olson continues a crackdown ordered by Mayor Lionel Evans, and all three major lottery outfits are closed.

Youngstown’s traffic division motorcycles are recommissioned for the spring, summer and fall seasons, and seven motorists are cited for traffic violations the first day.

Electric time clocks are being installed at the Mahoning County Courthouse to encourage workers to arrive on time as the courthouse shifts to its summer hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, a half-hour shorter than fall and winter hours.