27 March 1956

At the 94th Academy Awards, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock onstage resulting in Smith being expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and banned from its events for ten years.

North Macedonia became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Himeji Castle, the largest and most visited Japanese castle, re-opened after five years of restoration work.

A failure of the dam holding Situ Gintung, an artificial lake in Tangerang, Indonesia, caused floods that killed at least 100 people.

Second Intifada: A suicide bomber killed around 30 Israeli civilians and injured about 140 others in Netanya, triggering Operation Defensive Shield, a large-scale counter-terrorist military incursion into the West Bank.

NATO bombing of Yugoslavia: A U.S. Air Force F-117 stealth aircraft was shot down by a Yugoslav Army unit.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug sildenafil (chemical structure pictured), better known by the trade name Viagra, as the first treatment approved in the United States for erectile dysfunction.

Jiang Zemin succeeded Yang Shangkun to become President of the People's Republic of China.

The Solidarity movement in Poland staged a warning strike, the largest in the history of the Eastern Bloc, in which at least 12 million Poles walked off their jobs for four hours.

Brothers Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt failed in their attempt to corner the world silver market, causing panic in commodity and futures exchanges.

The Washington Metro (rolling stock pictured), the second-busiest rapid transit system in the U.S., opened to commuters.

Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, assumed the office of premier.

World War II: The United States Army Air Forces began Operation Starvation, laying naval mines in many of Japan's vital water routes and ports to disrupt enemy shipping.

World War II: A group of Serbian-nationalist officers of the Royal Yugoslav Air Force carried out a coup d'état after Yugoslavia joined the Axis powers.

Philippine–American War: American forces defeated troops commanded by Philippine president Emilio Aguinaldo at the Battle of Marilao River.

San Diego, the first European settlement in present-day California, was incorporated as a city.

At least 425 Texian prisoners of war were executed in the Goliad massacre, under orders from Mexican president Antonio López de Santa Anna.

Charles I became King of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Seven people, including the perpetrator, are killed in a mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee.

North Macedonia becomes the 30th member of NATO.

A suicide blast in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, Lahore claims over 70 lives and leaves almost 300 others injured. The target of the bombing are Christians celebrating Easter.

Al-Shabab militants attack and temporarily occupy a Mogadishu hotel leaving at least 20 people dead.

Philippines signs a peace accord with the largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, ending decades of conflict.

The dam forming Situ Gintung, an artificial lake in Indonesia, fails, killing at least 99 people.