THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2014

Today is Thursday, March 27, the 86th day of 2014. There are 279 days left in the year.

1625 ― Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland, ascends to throne

1713 ― Spain losses Menorca and Gibraltar

1790 ― The shoelace invented

1855 ― Abraham Gesner patents kerosene

1914 ― First successful blood transfusion (in Brussels)

1931 ― Charlie Chaplin receives France's distinguished Legion of Honor

1944 ― 1,000 Jews leave Drancy France for Auschwitz Concentration Camp

1958 ― Nikita Khrushchev becomes Soviet premier and first secretary of Communist Party

1973 ― 45th Academy Awards: “Godfather,” Marlon Brando & Liza Minnelli win but Brando turns down Oscar for best actor in support of Indians

1997 ― 39 cult members in California commit mass suicide (Hale-Bopp)