1. On April 27, 1836, Colonel Juan Seguín and his Tejano troops became the last to leave the Alamo after the siege and battle that ended on March 6. They departed with the remains of the slaughtered defenders to be buried at San Jacinto.

2. The deadliest tornado outbreak in Texas history occurred on April 27, 1957. Twenty-seven tornadoes killed 19 people and injured hundreds more across the state.

3. On April 27, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Higher Education Act into law at his alma mater, Southwest Texas State College (now Texas State University) in San Marcos. The law provided federal funding for college and university education.

4. Texas-born author and activist Sandra Cisneros was born on April 27, 1954, in Chicago. Her acclaimed debut novel, "The House on Mango Street," is a coming-of-age story set in a Mexican-American neighborhood in Chicago.

5. Longtime Texas Governor Ann Richards was born on April 1, 1933, and passed away on April 27, 2006. She served as governor from 1991 to 1995 and was known for her quick wit and progressive policies, including appointing more women and minorities to government positions.