By The Associated Press
                        - Today is Saturday, March 27, the 86th day of 1999. There are 279
                          days left in the year.

                        - On March 27, 1977, 582 people were killed when a KLM Boeing 747,
                          attempting to take off, crashed into a Pan Am 747 on the Canary
                          Island of Tenerife.
                        - In 1512, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sighted Florida.
                        - In 1794, President Washington and Congress authorized creation of
                          the U.S. Navy.
                        - In 1836, the first Mormon temple was dedicated, in Kirtland, Ohio.
                        - In 1884, the first long-distance telephone call was made, between
                          Boston and New York.
                        - In 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans became the first U.S. team to win
                          the Stanley Cup as they defeated the Montreal Canadiens.
                        - In 1945, during World War II, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower told
                          reporters in Paris that German defenses on the Western Front had
                          been broken.
                        - In 1958, Nikita Khrushchev became Soviet premier in addition to
                          First Secretary of the Communist Party.
                        - In 1964, Alaska was rocked by a powerful earthquake that killed 114
                          people.
                        - In 1968, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man to orbit the
                          earth, died in a plane crash.
                        - Ten years ago: Boris N. Yeltsin and other anti-establishment
                          candidates claimed victory in parliamentary elections for the new
                          Congress of People's Deputies.
                        - Five years ago: More than 40 people were killed as violent
                          thunderstorms tore across the Southeast. Italians went to the polls
                          in general elections that resulted in big gains for a right-wing
                          coalition. Ukraine held its first parliamentary elections since the
                          collapse of the Soviet Union.
                        - One year ago: The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug
                          Viagra, made by Pfizer, saying it helped about two-thirds of
                          impotent men improve their sexual function. Ferdinand Porsche Jr.,
                          who founded the sports car firm that bears his name, died at age 88
                          in Zell am See, Austria.

                        *Happy Birthday*
                        ----------------
                        - Lord Callaghan, former British prime minister, is 87.
                        - Former Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance is 82.
                        - Dancer-singer Harold Nicholas is 75.
                        - Newspaper columnist Anthony Lewis is 72.
                        - Dance company director Arthur Mitchell is 65.
                        - Actor Julian Glover is 64.
                        - Actor Jerry Lacy is 63.
                        - Actor Austin Pendleton is 59.
                        - Actor Michael York is 57.
                        - Rock musician Tony Banks (Genesis) is 49.
                        - Actress Maria Schneider ("Last Tango in Paris") is 47.
                        - Rock musician Andrew Farriss (INXS) is 40.
                        - Movie director Quentin Tarantino is 36.
                        - Rock musician Derrick McKenzie (Jamiroquai) is 35.
                        - Singer Mariah Carey is 29.
                        - Rock musician Brendan Hill (Blues Traveler) is 29.