TODAY IN HISTORYTODAY is Thursday, April 27, the 117th day of 2006. There are 248 days left in the year.

ON THIS DATE<$>

In 1509, Pope Julius II excommunicated the Italian state of Venice. (The pope lifted the ban in February 1510.)

In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives in the Philippines.

In 1865, the steamer Sultana <$>exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee, killing more than 1,400 Union prisoners of war.

In 1965, broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow died in Pawling, New York, at age 57.

In 1967, Expo ‘67 was officially opened in Montreal by Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“There is nothing in the universe that I fear but that I shall not know all my duty, or shall fail to do it.” — Mary Lyon, American educator (1797-1849).