June 27, 2000 - Islamic ideologue Hassan Turabi formed his own party, a day after he was replaced as head of Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party. Thousands of Turabi supporters gathered outside his Khartoum house to celebrate the founding of his Popular National Congress Party. Two ministers close to Turabi resigned from the Cabinet to show their support. Turabi told the crowd his opponents “should not force us to open the door of confrontation, because we are ready to confront whoever stands in our way.” President Omar Al Bashir has in recent months systematically stripped power from Turabi, a hardline Islamist and anti-Westerner who was once Sudan’s kingmaker. The president has sought to end Sudan’s political isolation, reaching out to his neighbours.
June 27
1844 - Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism, is shot dead by a mob in Carthage, Illinois.
1898 - Joshua Slocum becomes the first man to circumnavigate the world solo when he lands in Rhode Island.
1923 - American airmen Lowell Smith and John Richard perform the first ever aerial refuelling of a plane.
1929 - Colour television technology is first demonstrated in New York.
1940 - Soviet Union invades Romania during Second World War.
1943 - US bombers attack German-occupied Athens in Second World War.
1954 - The world’s first nuclear power station opens in Obninsk, near Moscow.
1957 - More than 500 people are killed as Hurricane Audrey hits Louisiana and Texas.
1977 - French Somaliland becomes Africa’s 49th independent state, Djibouti.
1982 - US space shuttle Columbia carries its first commercial and military payloads.
1984 - France is crowned European football champion with a 2-0 victory over Spain in the final.
1995 - Qatar’s Crown Prince Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani takes over control from his father.
2007 - Gordon Brown replaces Tony Blair as Britain’s Prime Minister.
2009 - Nato and Russia agree to resume military ties in their first high-level meeting since Russia’s war with Georgia disrupted their relations 10 months ago.
2012 - The UAE pledges $1 million anti-piracy fund to help Somalia at the 2nd International Counter-Piracy Conference in Dubai.
2014 - Sixteen people are killed after a gas pipeline of state owned Gas Authority of India Limited in East Godavari district in Hyderabad explodes.
