Some Events that Took Place on March 27

1998 Viagra is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Pfizer’s pill was the first drug against male impotence to be approved in the United States. In 2012, the company made 2 billion U.S. Dollars from Viagra alone.

1994 Silvio Berlusconi rises to power in Italy

In his 20 years in Italian politics, Berlusconi arguably made more headlines for his numerous affairs and scandals than for his policies. In 2013, he was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment for tax fraud.

1988, in New York City’s so-called “Preppie Killer” case, Robert Chambers Jr. pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the death of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin. (Chambers received 5 to 15 years in prison; he was released in 2003 after serving the full sentence.)

1991, “Dances with Wolves” won seven Oscars

including best picture in a category that also included “Goodfellas,” at the 63rd annual Academy Awards; Kathy Bates won best actress for “Misery” while Jeremy Irons received best actor for “Reversal of Fortune.”

1980 The oil rig Alexander L. Kjelland collapses in high winds in the North Sea

Only 89 of 212 crew survived the Norwegian platform’s capsizing, which was caused by a fatigue crack in one of the legs.

1977 The worst air crash in history occurs in Tenerife, Spain 

1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led 25,000 people to the Alabama state capitol in Montgomery

After a five-day march from Selma to protest the denial of voting rights to blacks. Later that day, civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo, a white Detroit homemaker, was shot and killed by Ku Klux Klansmen.

583 people died when 2 Boeing 747 aircraft collided on the runway.

1871 England and Scotland compete in the first international rugby match

Like association football, rugby is a British invention. Today, it is a popular sport mainly in large parts of the British Commonwealth.

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