Events
★
98 -
Trajan becomes
Roman Emperor after the death of
Nerva.
★
672 -
St. Vitalian ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
★
847 -
Sergius II ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
★
1142 - Wrongful execution of noted
Song Dynasty General
Yue Fei.
★
1186 -
Henry VI, the son and heir of the
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, weds
Constance of Sicily.
★
1343 -
Pope Clement VI issues the Bull ''
Unigenitus''.
★
1416 -
Republic of Dubrovnik, as a first state in Europe, outlaw
slavery
★
1593 -
Vatican opens 7 year trial against scholar
Giordano Bruno.
★
1606 -
Gunpowder Plot: The trial of
Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, and ending in their execution on
January 31.
★
1678 - The first
fire engine company in the
United States went into service.
★
1695 -
Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman
sultan in
Istanbul on the death of
Ahmed II. Mustafa rules until his death in
1703.
★
1785 - The
University of Georgia is founded, the first public university in the United States.
★
1825 -
U.S. Congress approves
Indian Territory (in what is present-day
Oklahoma), clearing the way for forced relocation of the
Eastern Indians on the "
Trail of Tears."
★
1870 - The first college
sorority,
Kappa Alpha Theta, is formed at
DePauw University.
★
1880 -
Thomas Edison files a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.
★
1888 - In
Washington, D.C., the
National Geographic Society is founded.
★
1909 - The
Young Left is founded in
Norway.
★
1915 -
United States Marines occupy
Haiti.
★
1918 - The first hostilities occurred in the
Finnish Civil War, beginning the war.
★
1926 -
John Logie Baird makes the first
television broadcast.
★ 1939 - First flight of the
Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
★
1941 -
World War II: Fighting at Derna, Libya, begins. Following the capture of
Tobruk, two brigades of the
6th Australian Division under
Major General Iven Mackay pursue the
Italians westwards and encounters an
Italian rear guard at
Derna.
★
1943 - World War II: Fifty bombers mount the first entirely
American air raid against
Germany, targeting
Wilhelmshaven.
★
1944 - World War II: The two-year
Siege of Leningrad is lifted.
★
1945 - World War II: The
Red Army arrives at the
Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in
Poland.
★ 1945 - World War II: Lt.Col. Mucci comades Army Rangers to liberate the prisoners of the Cabanatuan POW camp.
★
1951 -
Nuclear testing at the
Nevada Test Site begins with a one-kiloton bomb dropped on
Frenchman Flats.
★
1967 -
Apollo program:
Apollo 1 -
Astronauts
Gus Grissom,
Edward White and
Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of the spacecraft at the
Kennedy Space Center.
★ 1967 - More than sixty nations sign the
Outer Space Treaty banning
nuclear weapons in space.
★
1973 -
Paris Peace Accords officially end the
Vietnam War, Colonel
William Nolde falls, becoming the conflict's last recorded American combat casualty.
★
1977 - Record company
EMI sacks the controversial
United Kingdom punk rock group the
Sex Pistols.
★
1983 - Pilot shaft of
World's longest subaqueous tunnel (53.85 km) between the Japanese islands of
Honshū and
Hokkaidō breaks through.
★
1984 -
Carl Lewis beats his own indoor world
long jump record by 9¼ inches (23.5 centimeters) with a 28-foot, 10¼-inch (8.795-meter) jump.
★
1996 - Colonel
Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara deposes the first democratically elected president of
Niger,
Mahamane Ousmane, in a military coup.
★ 1996 -
Germany first observes
International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
★
1997 - It is revealed that
French museums have nearly 2,000 pieces of art that were stolen by
Nazis.
★
1998 -
First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton appears on ''
The Today Show'', calling the attacks against her husband part of a
vast right-wing conspiracy.
★
2001 - Ten members of the
Oklahoma State University men's basketball team and support staff die in a plane crash in
Colorado.
★
2002 - Several explosions at a military dump in
Lagos,
Nigeria kill more than 1,000.
★
2007 - Approximately 100,000 protesters converge on the Mall in
Washington, D.C. for the
January 27, 2007 anti-war protest sponsored by
United for Peace and Justice.
Births
★
1443 -
Albert, Duke of Saxony (d.
1500)
★
1546 -
Joachim Friedrich, Elector of
Brandenburg (d.
1608)
★
1585 -
Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (d.
1634)
★
1603 -
Harbottle Grimston, English politician (d.
1685)
★
1621 -
Thomas Willis, English physician (d.
1675)
★
1662 -
Richard Bentley, English classical scholar (d.
1742)
★
1687 -
Balthasar Neumann, German architect (d.
1753)
★
1701 -
Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim, German historian (d.
1790)
★
1720 -
Samuel Foote, English dramatist (d.
1777)
★
1741 -
Hester Thrale, Welsh diarist (d.
1821)
★
1756 -
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer (d.
1791)
★
1805 -
Samuel Palmer, English artist (d.
1881)
★
1806 -
Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Spanish composer (d.
1826)
★
1814 -
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect (d.
1879)
★
1823 -
Edouard Lalo, French composer (d.
1892)
★
1826 -
Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian writer (d.
1889)
★ 1826 -
Richard Taylor, American Confederate general (d.
1879)
★
1832 -
Lewis Carroll, English author (d.
1898)
★
1836 -
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian writer (d.
1895)
★
1841 -
Arkhip Kuindzhi, Russian painter (d.
1910)
★
1848 -
Togo Heihachiro, Japanese admiral (d.
1934)
★
1850 -
Samuel Gompers, American labor leader (d.
1924)
★ 1850 -
Edward J. Smith, English captain of the
Titanic (d.
1912)
★
1859 - Emperor
Wilhelm II of Germany (d.
1941)
★
1885 -
Jerome Kern, American composer (d.
1945)
★ 1885 -
Eduard Künneke, German composer (d.
1953)
★ 1885 -
Maeda Seison, Japanese painter (d.
1977)
★
1891 -
Ilya Ehrenburg, Russian writer (d.
1967)
★
1893 -
Soong Ching-ling, Chinese wife of
Sun Yat-sen (d.
1981)
★
1895 -
Harry Ruby, American composer (d.
1974)
★
1900 -
Hyman Rickover, American admiral (d.
1986)
★
1901 -
Art Rooney, American football team owner (d.
1988)
★ 1901 -
Willy Fritsch, German actor (d.
1973)
★
1903 -
John Carew Eccles, Australian neuropsychologist,
Nobel Laureate (d.
1997)
★
1905 -
Howard McNear, American actor (d.
1969)
★
1908 -
Oran Page, American musician (d.
1954)
★ 1908 -
William Randolph Hearst, Jr., American newspaper magnate (d.
1993)
★
1912 -
Arne Næss, Norwegian philosopher
★
1918 -
Skitch Henderson, English bandleader (d.
2005)
★ 1918 -
Elmore James, American blues musician (d.
1963)
★ 1918 -
William Seawell, United States Army Brigadier General (d.
2005)
★
1919 -
Ross Bagdasarian, American musician (d.
1972)
★
1920 -
Helmut Zacharias, German violinist (d.
2002)
★ 1920 -
John Box, British film production designer and art director (d.
2005)
★
1921 -
Donna Reed, American actress (d.
1986)
★
1924 -
Sabu Dastagir, Indian actor (d.
1963)
★ 1924 -
Rauf Denktaş, founder of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
★
1926 -
Fritz Spiegl, Austrian journalist (d.
2003)
★ 1926 -
Ingrid Thulin, Swedish actress (d.
2004)
★
1928 -
Michael Craig, British actor
★
1929 -
Gastón Suárez, Bolivian novelist (d.
1984)
★
1930 -
Bobby Blue Bland, American singer
★
1931 -
Mordecai Richler, Canadian author (d.
2001)
★
1932 -
Boris Shakhlin, Soviet gymnast
★
1936 -
Troy Donahue, American actor (d.
2001)
★ 1936 -
Samuel C. C. Ting, American physicist,
Nobel Laureate
★
1937 -
John Ogdon, English pianist (d.
1989)
★
1940 -
James Cromwell, American actor
★ 1940 -
Terry Harper, Canadian ice hockey player
★
1944 -
Mairéad Corrigan, Irish activist,
Nobel Prize Laureate
★ 1944 -
Nick Mason, English musician (
Pink Floyd)
★
1945 -
Harold Cardinal, Cree political leader (d.
2005)
★
1946 -
Nedra Talley, American singer (
Ronettes)
★
1948 -
Jean-Philippe Collard, French pianist
★
1949 -
Ethan Mordden, American author
★
1950 -
Amos Grunebaum, Israeli-born physician
★ 1950 -
Derek Acorah, English spirit medium
★
1951 -
Brian Downey, Irish musician ''(
Thin Lizzy)''
★
1952 -
Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, American football player
★
1954 -
Peter Laird, American comic-book artist
★ 1954 -
Joko Ninomiya, Japanese martial artist
★
1955 -
John Roberts, 17th
Chief Justice of the United States
★ 1955 -
Alexander Stuart, British author
★ 1955 -
Brian Engblom, Canadian ice hockey player
★
1956 -
Mimi Rogers, American actress
★
1957 -
Janick Gers, British guitarist (
Iron Maiden)
★ 1957 -
Frank Miller, American author
★
1958 -
Kadri Mälk, Estonian artist and jewelry designer
★
1959 -
Keith Olbermann, American news presenter
★ 1959 -
Göran Hägglund, Swedish politician
★ 1959 -
Cris Collinsworth, American football player
★
1961 -
Margo Timmins, Canadian singer (
Cowboy Junkies)
★ 1961 -
Gillian Gilbert, British musician (
New Order)
★
1964 -
Bridget Fonda, American actress
★
1965 -
Alan Cumming, Scottish actor
★
1967 -
Bobby Deol, Indian actor
★ 1967 -
Byron Mann, Hong Kong actor
★ 1967 -
Dave Manson, Canadian ice hockey player
★
1968 -
Mike Patton, American singer (
Faith No More)
★ 1968 -
Tricky, English rapper
★
1969 -
Cornelius, Japanese musician (
Flipper's Guitar)
★ 1969 -
Michael Kulas, Canadian singer/songwriter (
James)
★
1969 -
Patton Oswalt, American actor and writer
★
1970 -
Jon Douglas Rainey, American TV personality
★ 1970 -
Emmanuel Pahud, French-Swiss flautist
★
1971 -
Fann Wong, Singapore entertainer (
Shanghai Knights)
★ 1971 -
Lil Jon, American rapper and producer
★ 1971 -
Patrice Brisebois, Canadian ice hockey player
★
1972 -
Guillermo, Mexican-born American TV personality
★ 1972 -
Keith Wood, Irish rugby player
★ 1972 -
Mark Owen, English pop singer
★ 1972 -
Janine Ilitch, Australian netballer
★
1974 -
Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lankan cricketer
★ 1974 -
Andrei Pavel, Romanian tennis player
★
1976 -
Clint Ford, American voice actor
★ 1976 -
Ahn Jung-Hwan, Korean football player
★ 1976 -
Ruby Lin, Taiwanese actress and singer
★
1978 -
Pete Laforest, Canadian baseball player
★
1979 -
Daniel Vettori, New Zealand cricketer
★ 1979 -
Rosamund Pike, British actress
★ 1979 -
Mario Fatafehi, American-born
Canadian Football League player
★
1980 -
Marat Safin, Russian tennis player
★
1981 -
Alicia Molik, Australian tennis player
★
1983 -
Carlo Colaiacovo, Canadian ice hockey player
★ 1983 -
Gavin Floyd, American baseball player
★ 1983 -
Mike Zagurski, American baseball player
★
1987 -
Lily Donaldson, British model
★ 1987 -
Katy Rose, American pop singer
★
1988 -
Kerlon Moura Souza, Brazilian footballer
Deaths
★
98 -
Nerva,
Roman Emperor (b.
35)
★
1490 -
Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shogun (b.
1435)
★
1629 -
Hieronymus Praetorius, German composer (b.
1560)
★
1638 -
Gonzalo de Céspedes y Meneses, Spanish novelist
★
1688 -
Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, grandmother of the
Kangxi Emperor in
Qing Dynasty China
★
1731 -
Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian maker of musical instruments (b.
1655)
★
1740 -
Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon, Prime Minister of France (b.
1692)
★
1814 -
Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher (b.
1762)
★
1816 -
Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, British admiral (b.
1724)
★
1851 -
John James Audubon, French-American naturalist, ornithologist, and painter (b.
1789)
★
1857 -
Dorothea Lieven, Russian noblewoman (b.
1785)
★
1860 -
János Bolyai, Hungarian mathematician (b.
1802)
★
1880 -
Edward Middleton Barry, English architect (b.
1830)
★
1901 -
Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer (b.
1813)
★
1910 -
Thomas Crapper, English inventor (b.
1836)
★
1919 -
Endre Ady, Hungarian poet (b.
1877)
★
1921 -
Maurice Vincent Buckley, Australian winner of theVictoria Cross (b.
1891)
★
1940 -
Isaac Babel, Ukrainian writer (b.
1894)
★
1956 -
Erich Kleiber, Argentine conductor (b.
1890)
★
1967 - Crew of
Apollo 1:
★
★
Roger Chaffee (b.
1935)
★
★
Virgil "Gus" Grissom (b.
1926)
★
★
Edward White (b.
1930)
★ 1967 -
Alphonse Juin,
Marshal of France (b.
1888)
★
1970 -
Rita Angus, New Zealand painter (b.
1908)
★
1971 -
Jacobo Arbenz,
President of Guatemala (b.
1913)
★
1972 -
Mahalia Jackson, American singer (b.
1911)
★ 1972 -
Richard Courant, German-American mathematician (b.
1888)
★
1973 -
William Nolde, last American combat casualty of
Vietnam War (b.
1929)
★
1975 -
Bill Walsh, American producer and writer (b.
1913)
★
1979 -
Qalander Ba Ba Auliya, founder of
Azeemia sufi order (b.
1898)
★
1983 -
Louis de Funès, French actor (b.
1914)
★
1986 -
Lilli Palmer, German-born actress (b.
1914)
★
1988 -
Massa Makan Diabaté, Malian author (b.
1938)
★
1989 -
Thomas Sopwith, British aviation pioneer (b.
1888)
★
1993 -
André the Giant, French professional wrestler and actor (b.
1946)
★
1994 -
Claude Akins, American actor (b.
1918)
★
1996 -
Ralph Yarborough, American politician (b.
1903)
★
1997 -
Gerald Marks, American songwriter (
All of Me) (b.
1900)
★
2000 -
Friedrich Gulda, Austrian pianist (b.
1930)
★
2003 -
Henryk Jabłoński,
President of communist People's Republic of Poland (b.
1909)
★ 2003 -
Louis Archambault, Quebec actor (b.
1915)
★
2004 -
Jack Paar, American television show host (b.
1918)
★ 2004 -
Salvador Laurel, 9th Vice President of the Philippines (b.
1928)
★
2006 -
Johannes Rau, 8th
Bundespräsident (President of Germany) (b.
1931)
★ 2006 -
Gene McFadden, American singer and songwriter (b.
1949)
★ 2006 - disappearance of
Jean-Christophe Lafaille, French mountaineer (b.
1965)
★
2007 -
Tige Andrews, American actor (b.
1920)
★ 2007 -
Marcheline Bertrand, actress and mother of Angelina Jolie (b.
1950)
★ 2007 -
Yang Chuan-kwang, Taiwanese athlete (b.
1933)
2007 -
David Seymour,New zealand cool guy and hereworth rugby star
Holidays and observances
★
UN —
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
★
United Kingdom —
Holocaust Memorial Day.
★
Germany — ''Gedenktag für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus'' (Commemoration Day for the Victims of
National Socialism).
★
Poland — ''Dzień Pamięci Ofiar Nazizmu'' (Memorial Day for the Victims of
Nazism).
★
Italy — '' (Memorial Day).
★
Catholicism —
Catholic Schools Week.
★
Serbia —
St. Sava Day.
★
Denmark — ''Auschwitzdag'' (
Auschwitz Day; commemoration day for the victims of the
Holocaust and other genocide).
★
Monaco, day of
Saint Devota, patron saint
★
January 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
External links
★
BBC: On This Day
★
★
On This Day in Canada
----