Daily Archives: April 27, 2015

North Vietnamese commandos at the gates of Saigon 40 years ago this morning (Apr 28 1975)


Video: 'Vietnam a Television History Episode 11' (Apr. 28, 1975, at 40:59)

(Monday, April 28, 1975, daybreak; during the 1975 Spring Offensive of the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and Cold War) — At daybreak today, South Vietnamese troops faced North Vietnamese commandos at the Newport Bridge. They were at the gates of Saigon. Continue reading North Vietnamese commandos at the gates of Saigon 40 years ago this morning (Apr 28 1975)

The Beatles film two scenes for ‘Help!’ film 50 years ago today (Apr 27 1965)


Video: 'Help 1965' (Apr. 27, 1965, at 56:13-56:19; 1:08:46-1:09:15)

(Tuesday, April 27, 1965) — The Beatles filmed two scenes today for their second feature film Help! today at Twickenham Film Studios: one in which the group donned disguises in an airport terminal as they waited to fly to the Bahamas and a second on a tank turret, which was used as part of the Salisbury Plain sequence.

Broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow dies 50 years ago this hour (Apr 27 1965)


Video: 'PBS American Masters Edward R Murrow This Reporter 1of2'

(Tuesday, April 27, 1965, shortly before noon EDT) — Edward R. Murrow, whose independence and incisive reporting brought heightened journalistic stature to radio and television, died today at his home in Pawling, New York, at the age of 57. Continue reading Broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow dies 50 years ago this hour (Apr 27 1965)

Eisenhower: U. S. policy in Vietnam still in balance 60 years ago this hour (Apr 27 1955)


Video: 'Vietnam a Television History Episode 2' (Apr. 27, 1955, at 13:07)

(Wednesday, April 27, 1955, 10:31-11:06 a.m. EDT; during the Cold War) — United States policy in South Vietnam’s political crisis is still in the balance, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower indicated today.

He said he could not give “any final answer” to questions about South Vietnam, saying the subject was “still under discussion” with Gen. J. Lawton Collins, U.S. special representative to Saigon.

Nazi concentration sub-camps Landsberg, Kaufering liberated 70 years ago today (Apr 27 1945)


Video: 'A US soldier talks with liberated prisoners at a Nazi concentration camp in Lands...HD Stock Footage'

(Friday, April 27, 1945; part of The Holocaust during World War II) — The remaining 3,000 inmates, including 1,400 women, at the Nazi concentration camp Landsberg, a sub-camp of the Dachau concentration camp located in southwest Bavaria, Germany, about 65 kilometers west of Munich, was liberated today by the 12th Armored Division of the United States Army. Continue reading Nazi concentration sub-camps Landsberg, Kaufering liberated 70 years ago today (Apr 27 1945)

Hundreds of freed Union POWs killed when SS Sultana explodes near Memphis 150 years ago today (Apr 27 1865)


Video: 'Ken Burns The Civil War: Episode 9 The Better Angels of Our Nature (1865) |Ken Burns Docum' (Apr. 27, 1865 at 9:57)

(Thursday, April 27, 1865, 2:00 a.m. local time; during the American Civil War) — SS Sultana, a Mississippi River side-wheel steamboat exploded this morning in the greatest maritime disaster in United States history.

An estimated 1,800 of her 2,427 passengers, including 2,1000 recently liberated Union prisoners of war, died when three of the boat’s four boilers exploded and she burned to the waterline and sank near Memphis.