1. On March 27, 1878, the state of Alabama passed a law making it illegal to carry concealed weapons in certain public places. The law was intended to help reduce violence in cities and towns throughout the state.

2. On March 27, 1901, the Alabama Constitutional Convention convened in Montgomery to rewrite the state constitution. The resulting document, which was ratified by voters later that year, established a system of white supremacy and segregation that lasted until the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

3. On March 27, 1933, the USS Alabama battleship was commissioned by the United States Navy. The ship would go on to serve in both World War II and the Korean War, earning nine battle stars and several other honors.

4. On March 27, 1974, the city of Birmingham announced that it would settle a lawsuit brought by the NAACP over the city's hiring practices. The settlement included the creation of a human relations commission to monitor hiring and other practices in city government.

5. On March 27, 2001, Alabama executed Robert Lee Tarver Jr. for the murder of a police officer. Tarver was the first person executed in the state in over two years, and the 16th since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1976.