Today in History: August 27, catastrophic eruption of Krakatoa

Today is Thursday, Aug. 27, the 239th day of 2026. There are 126 days left in the year.Today in history:On Aug. 27, 1883, the island volcano Krakatoa erupted with a series of cataclysmic explosions. The explosions (which could be heard 3,000 miles away) and resulting tsunamis in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait claimed some 36,000 lives in Java and Sumatra.Also on this date:In 1894, Congress passed the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, which contained a provision for a graduated income tax that was later struck down by the Supreme Court.In 1964, the film “Mary Poppins” had its world premiere in Los Angeles, California.In 1979, British war hero Lord Louis Mountbatten and three other people, including his 14-year-old grandson Nicholas, were killed off the coast of Ireland in a boat explosion claimed by the