January 27

January 27 is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 338 days remaining until the end of the year (339 in leap years).

Events

• 447 – The Walls of Constantinople are severely damaged by an earthquake, destroying large parts of the wall, including 57 towers.
• 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate ends with death of Ali.
• 1142 – Execution, believed wrongful, of noted Song Dynasty General Yue Fei.
• 1186 – Henry VI, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, marries Constance of Sicily.
• 1343 – Pope Clement VI issues the Bull Unigenitus.
• 1593 – The Vatican opens seven year trial of scholar Giordano Bruno.
• 1606 – Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31.
• 1695 – Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan in Istanbul on the death of Ahmed II. Mustafa rules until his abdication in 1703.
• 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Henry Knox's "noble train of artillery" arrives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• 1785 – The University of Georgia is founded, the first public university in the United States.
• 1825 – The 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".
• 1868 – Boshin War: The Battle of Toba-Fushimi between forces of the Tokugawa shogunate and pro-Imperial factions begins, which will end in defeat for the shogunate, and is a pivotal point in the Meiji Restoration.
• 1870 – The Kappa Alpha Theta fraternity is founded at DePauw University.
• 1888 – The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C..
• 1909 – The Young Left is founded in Norway.
• 1927 – Ibn Saud takes the title of King of Nejd.
• 1939 – First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
• 1943 – World War II: The VIII Bomber Command dispatched ninety-one B-17s and B-24s to attack the U-Boat construction yards at Wilhemshafen, Germany. This was the first American bombing attack on Germany of the war.
• 1944 – World War II: The 900-day Siege of Leningrad is lifted.
• 1945 – World War II: The Red Army liberates the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp built by the Nazi Germans on the territory of Poland.
• 1951 – Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site begins with a one-kiloton bomb dropped on Frenchman Flat.
• 1961 – Soviet submarine S-80 sinks with all hands lost.
• 1967 – Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their Apollo 1 spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
• 1967 – The United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union sign the Outer Space Treaty in Washington, D.C., banning deployment of nuclear weapons in space, and limiting use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes.
• 1973 – The Paris Peace Accords officially end the Vietnam War. Colonel William Nolde is killed in action becoming the conflict's last recorded American combat casualty.
• 1974 – The Brisbane River breaches its banks causing the largest flood to affect the city of Brisbane in the 20th century.
• 1980 – Through cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escape hostilities in Iran in the culmination of the Canadian caper.
• 1983 – The pilot shaft of the Seikan Tunnel, the world's longest sub-aqueous tunnel (53.85 km) between the Japanese islands of Honshū and Hokkaidō, breaks through.
• 1984 – Pop singer Michael Jackson suffers second degree burns to his scalp during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in the Shrine Auditorium.
• 1993 – American-born sumo wrestler Akebono Tarō becomes the first foreigner to be promoted to the sport's highest rank of yokozuna.
• 1996 – In a military coup Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara deposes the first democratically elected president of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane.
• 1996 – Germany first observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
• 2002 – An explosion at a military storage facility in Lagos, Nigeria, kills at least 1,100 people and displaces over 20,000 others.
• 2003 – The first selections for the National Recording Registry are announced by the Library of Congress.
• 2006 – Western Union discontinues its Telegram and Commercial Messaging services.
• 2010 – The 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis ends when Porfirio Lobo Sosa becomes the new President of Honduras.

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 – Johann Balthasar Neumann, German architect (d. 1753)
• 1701 – Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim, German historian (d. 1790)
• 1708 – Anna Petrovna of Russia (d. 1728)
• 1720 – Samuel Foote, English dramatist (d. 1777)
• 1741 – Hester Thrale, Welsh diarist (d. 1821)
• 1756 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer (d. 1791)
• 1775 – Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, German philosopher (d. 1854)
• 1805 – Maria Anna of Bavaria, Queen consort of Saxony (d. 1877)
• 1805 – Sophie of Bavaria, Archduchess of Austria (d. 1872)
• 1805 – Samuel Palmer, English artist (d. 1881)
• 1806 – Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Spanish composer (d. 1826)
• 1807 – David Strauss, German theologian and writer (d. 1874)
• 1814 – Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect (d. 1879)
• 1821 – John Chivington, American officer (d. 1892)
• 1823 – Edouard Lalo, French composer (d. 1892)
• 1826 – Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian writer (d. 1889)
• 1826 – Richard Taylor, American confederate general (d. 1879)
• 1827 – Nakahama Manjirō, Japanese translator (d. 1898)
• 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 – John Collier, British writer and painter (d. 1934)
• 1850 – Samuel Gompers, American labor leader (d. 1924)
• 1850 – Edward J. Smith, English captain of the RMS Titanic (d. 1912)
• 1858 – Neel Doff, Dutch author(d. 1942)
• 1859 – Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany (d. 1941)
• 1869 – Will Marion Cook (d. 1944)
• 1875 – Elizabeth Israel, Purported world's oldest person (d. 2003)
• 1885 – Jerome Kern, American composer (d. 1945)
• 1885 – Eduard Künneke, German composer (d. 1953)
• 1885 – Maeda Seison, Japanese painter (d. 1977)
• 1886 – Radhabinod Pal, Indian jurist (d. 1967)
• 1886 – Balthasar van der Pol, Dutch physicist (d. 1959)
• 1891 – Ilya Ehrenburg, Russian writer (d. 1967)
• 1893 – Soong Ching-ling, Chinese wife of Sun Yat-sen (d. 1981)
• 1895 – Joseph Rosenstock, Polish conductor (d. 1985)
• 1895 – Harry Ruby, American composer (d. 1974)
• 1900 – Hyman Rickover, American admiral (d. 1986)
• 1901 – Willy Fritsch, German actor (d. 1973)
• 1901 – Art Rooney, Pittsburgh Steelers founder and owner (d. 1988)
• 1903 – John Carew Eccles, Australian neuropsychologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1997)
• 1903 – Otto P. Weyland, American military figure (d. 1979)
• 1904 – James J. Gibson, American ecological psychologist (d. 1979)
• 1905 – Howard McNear, American actor (d. 1969)
• 1908 – William Randolph Hearst, Jr., American newspaper magnate (d. 1993)
• 1908 – Oran Page, American musician (jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader) (d. 1954)
• 1910 – Edvard Kardelj, Yugoslav Communist politician (d. 1979)
• 1912 – Arne Næss, Norwegian philosopher (d. 2009)
• 1912 – Francis Rogallo, American aeronautical engineer (d. 2009)
• 1915 – Jules Archer, American historian (d. 2008)
• 1915 – Jacques Hnizdovsky, Ukrainian-born artist (d. 1985)
• 1918 – Skitch Henderson, American bandleader (d. 2005)
• 1918 – Elmore James, American blues musician (d. 1963)
• 1918 – William Seawell, United States Army Brigadier General (d. 2005)
• 1919 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American musician (d. 1972)
• 1920 – John Box, British film production designer and art director (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Helmut Zacharias, German violinist (d. 2002)
• 1921 – Donna Reed, American actress (d. 1986)
• 1924 – Sabu Dastagir, Indian actor (d. 1963)
• 1926 – Fritz Spiegl, Austrian journalist (d. 2003)
• 1926 – Ingrid Thulin, Swedish actress (d. 2004)
• 1927 – Jerry Haynes, American actor (d. 2011)
• 1928 – Michael Craig, British actor
• 1928 – Hans Modrow, German politician, premier of East Germany
• 1929 – Gastón Suárez, Bolivian novelist (d. 1984)
• 1930 – Bobby Blue Bland, American singer
• 1931 – Mordecai Richler, Canadian author, screenwriter and essayist (d. 2001)
• 1932 – Boris Shakhlin, Soviet gymnast (d. 2008)
• 1933 – Mohamed Al-Fayed, Egyptian businessman
• 1934 – George Follmer, American racecar driver
• 1936 – Troy Donahue, American actor (d. 2001)
• 1936 – Samuel C. C. Ting, American physicist, Nobel laureate
• 1937 – John Ogdon, English pianist (d. 1989)
• 1937 – Fred Åkerström, Swedish singer
• 1940 – James Cromwell, American actor
• 1940 – Terry Harper, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1940 – Petru Lucinschi, 2nd President of Moldova
• 1941 – Beatrice Tinsley, New Zealand astronomer and cosmologist (d. 1981)
• 1942 – Stewart Raffill, American film director
• 1942 – John Witherspoon, American actor
• 1942 – Kate Wolf, American folk singer and songwriter (d. 1986)
• 1944 – Peter Akinola, Nigerian religious leader
• 1944 – Mairéad Corrigan, Irish activist, Nobel laureate
• 1944 – Nick Mason, English drummer (Pink Floyd)
• 1945 – Harold Cardinal, Cree political leader (d. 2005)
• 1946 – Nedra Talley, American singer (Ronettes)
• 1947 – Björn Afzelius, Swedish singer (d. 1999)
• 1947 – Vyron Polydoras, Greek politician
• 1947 – Cal Schenkel, American artist
• 1948 – Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian ballet dancer
• 1948 – Valeri Brainin, Russian/German musicologist, music manager, composer, and poet
• 1948 – Jean-Philippe Collard, French pianist
• 1949 – Ethan Mordden, American author
• 1950 – Derek Acorah, English spirit medium
• 1950 – Amos Grunebaum, Israeli-born physician
• 1951 – Brian Downey, Irish musician (drummer) (Thin Lizzy)
• 1951 – Cees van der Knaap, Dutch politician
• 1952 – "White Shoes" Johnson, American football player
• 1954 – Peter Laird, American comic book artist
• 1954 – Stelios Papafloratos, Greek footballer
• 1954 – Ed Schultz, American radio talk show host
• 1954 – Jōkō Ninomiya, Japanese martial artist
• 1955 – Brian Engblom, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1955 – John G. Roberts, American jurist and the 17th Chief Justice of the United States
• 1955 – Alexander Stuart, British author
• 1955 – Koji Ushikubo, Japanese racing driver
• 1956 – Mimi Rogers, American actress
• 1957 – Janick Gers, British guitarist (Iron Maiden)
• 1957 – Frank Miller, American comic book author and film director
• 1957 – Frank Skinner, English writer and comedian
• 1958 – James Grippando, American novelist
• 1958 – Kadri Mälk, Estonian artist and jewelry designer
• 1958 – Susanna Thompson, American actress
• 1959 – Cris Collinsworth, American football player
• 1959 – Göran Hägglund, Swedish politician
• 1959 – Keith Olbermann, American news anchor & political commentator
• 1960 – Bernd Stieler, German footballer
• 1961 – Dina Bonnevie, Filipina actress
• 1961 – Gillian Gilbert, British musician (New Order)
• 1961 – Narciso Rodriguez, American fashion designer
• 1961 – Margo Timmins, Canadian singer (Cowboy Junkies)
• 1961 – Karen Velez, American model
• 1961 – Zarganar, Burmese comedian and dissident
• 1962 – Roberto Paci Dalò, Italian director and composer
• 1963 – Mark Moraghan, British actor and singer
• 1964 – Patrick van Deurzen, Dutch composer
• 1964 – Bridget Fonda, American actress
• 1964 – Jack Haley, American basketball player
• 1965 – Alan Cumming, Scottish actor
• 1965 – Mike Newell, English football manager
• 1966 – Tamlyn Tomita, Japanese actress
• 1967 – Bobby Deol, Indian actor
• 1967 – Byron Mann, Hong Kong actor
• 1967 – Dave Manson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1968 – Patrick Blondeau, French footballer
• 1968 – Mike Patton, American singer-songwriter (Faith No More)
• 1968 – Matt Stover, American football player
• 1968 – Deb Talan, American folk singer and songwriter (The Weepies)
• 1968 – Tricky, English rapper
• 1969 – Cornelius, Japanese musician and producer (Flipper's Guitar)
• 1969 – Marc Forster, German/Swiss filmmaker
• 1969 – Michael Kulas, Canadian singer (James)
• 1969 – Patton Oswalt, American actor and writer
• 1970 – Emmanuel Pahud, Swiss flautist
• 1971 – Patrice Brisebois, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1971 – Lil Jon, American rapper
• 1971 – Fann Wong, Singaporean actress
• 1972 – Wynne Evans, Welsh operatic tenor
• 1972 – Janine Ilitch, Australian netballer
• 1972 – Mark Owen, English pop singer
• 1972 – Josh Randall, American actor
• 1972 – Keith Wood, Irish rugby player
• 1974 – Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Nordic biathlete
• 1974 – Andrei Pavel, Romanian tennis player
• 1974 – Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lankan cricketer
• 1976 – Clint Ford, American voice actor
• 1976 – Ahn Jung-Hwan, Korean footballer
• 1976 – Ruby Lin, Taiwanese actress and singer
• 1976 – Todd MacCulloch, American basketball player
• 1976 – Zoriah Miller, American photojournalist
• 1976 – Fred Taylor, American football player
• 1978 – Pete Laforest, Canadian baseball player
• 1978 – Jake Pavelka, American reality TV star
• 1979 – Mario Fatafehi, American football player
• 1979 – Rosamund Pike, British actress
• 1979 – Liesbet Van Breedam, Belgian beach volleyball player
• 1979 – Daniel Vettori, New Zealand cricketer
• 1980 – Chanda Gunn, American ice hockey player
• 1980 – Marat Safin, Russian tennis player
• 1981 – Alicia Molik, Australian tennis player
• 1981 – Tony Woodcock, New Zealand rugby union player
• 1983 – Deon Anderson, American football player
• 1983 – Carlo Colaiacovo, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1983 – Paulo Colaiacovo, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1983 – Gavin Floyd, American baseball player
• 1983 – Tim Kasten, German rugby player
• 1983 – Mike Zagurski, American baseball player
• 1984 – Davetta Sherwood, American actress
• 1985 – Gerard Aafjes, Dutch footballer
• 1985 – Dustley Mulder, Dutch footballer
• 1986 – Giorgi Loria, Georgian footballer
• 1987 – Lily Donaldson, British model
• 1987 – Katy Rose, American pop singer
• 1988 – Toni Gänge, German footballer
• 1988 – Kerlon, Brazilian footballer
• 1988 – Liu Wen, Chinese model
• 1989 – Daisy Lowe, British model
• 1989 – Carl Magnay, British footballer
• 1989 – Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Dutch footballer
• 1990 – Maria-Elena Papasotiriou, American/Greek figure skater
• 1991 – Christian Bickel, German footballer
• 1992 – Stefano Pettinari, Italian footballer
• 1994 – Rani Khedira, German footballer

Deaths

• 98 – Nerva, Roman Emperor (b. 35)
• 457 – Marcian, Byzantine Emperor (b. 392)
• 661 – Ali, the final Sunni Rashidun and first Shia Imam
• 1490 – Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shogun (b. 1435)
• 1540 – Saint Angela Merici, Italian religious leader and saint (b. 1474)
• 1595 – Sir Francis Drake, English explorer (b. c.1540)
• 1629 – Hieronymus Praetorius, German composer (b. 1560)
• 1638 – Gonzalo de Céspedes y Meneses, Spanish novelist (b. 1585?)
• 1651 – Abraham Bloemaert, Dutch painter and printmaker in etching and engraving (b. 1566)
• 1689 – Robert Aske, merchant whose charitable foundation operates Haberdashers' Aske's Boys School and Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls (b. 1619)
• 1731 – Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian musical instrument maker (b. 1655)
• 1740 – Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon, Prime Minister of France (b. 1692)
• 1794 – Antoine Philippe de La Trémoille, French royalist commander and counterrevolutionary (b. 1765)
• 1812 – Captain John Perkins, first black commissioned officer in the Royal Navy
• 1814 – Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher (b. 1762)
• 1816 – Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, British admiral (b. 1724)
• 1851 – John James Audubon, French-born naturalist and ornithologist (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 soldier (b. 1891)
• 1922 – Nellie Bly, American journalist and writer (b. 1864)
• 1927 – Blessed Jurgis Matulaitis-Matulevičius (Matulewicz), Lithuanian bishop (b. 1871)
• 1931 – Nishinoumi Kajirō II, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 25th Yokozuna (b. 1880)
• 1940 – Isaac Babel, Ukrainian writer (b. 1894)
• 1942 – Kaarel Eenpalu, Estonian Prime Minister (b. 1888)
• 1956 – Erich Kleiber, Austrian conductor (b. 1890)
• 1967 – Roger Chaffee – Crew of Apollo 1 (b. 1935)
• 1967 – Virgil "Gus" Grissom – Crew of Apollo 1 (b. 1926)
• 1967 – Edward White – Crew of Apollo 1 (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 – Richard Courant, German-American mathematician (b. 1888)
• 1972 – Mahalia Jackson, American singer (b. 1911)
• 1973 – William Nolde, last American combat casualty of Vietnam War (b. 1929)
• 1974 – Georgios Grivas, Cyprus-born general in the Greek Army (b. 1898)
• 1975 – Bill Walsh, American producer and writer (b. 1913)
• 1979 – Qalander Ba Ba Auliya, Sufi master (b. 1898)
• 1983 – Louis de Funès, French actor (b. 1914)
• 1986 – Lilli Palmer, German-born actress (b. 1914)
• 1987 – Norman McLaren, Scottish-born Canadian animator and film director (b. 1914)
• 1988 – Massa Makan Diabaté, Malian author (b. 1938)
• 1989 – Bayani Casimiro, Filipino dancer and actor (b. 1918)
• 1989 – Thomas Sopwith, British aviation pioneer (b. 1888)
• 1992 – Clara Solovera, Chilean folk musician (b. 1909)
• 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)
• 2001 – Stavros Damianides, Greek musician (b. 1941)
• 2003 – Louis Archambault, Canadian sculptor (b. 1915)
• 2003 – Henryk Jabłoński, President of Poland (b. 1909)
• 2004 – Salvador Laurel, Vice President of the Philippines (b. 1928)
• 2004 – Jack Paar, American television show host (b. 1918)
• 2005 – Shah A M S Kibria, Finance Minister of Bangladesh (b. 1931)
• 2006 – Jean-Christophe Lafaille, French mountaineer (disappeared) (b. 1965)
• 2006 – Gene McFadden, American singer and songwriter (b. 1948)
• 2006 – Johannes Rau, 8th President of Germany (b. 1931)
• 2007 – Tige Andrews, American actor (b. 1920)
• 2007 – Yang Chuan-kwang, Taiwanese athlete (b. 1933)
• 2007 – Alberta Davis, American supercentenerian ( b. 1881)
• 2008 – Gordon B. Hinckley, American religious leader (b. 1910)
• 2008 – Suharto, President of Indonesia (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Louie Welch, mayor of Houston (b. 1918)
• 2009 – Mino Reitano, Italian singer and actor (b. 1944)
• 2009 – John Updike, American novelist (b. 1932)
• 2009 – R. Venkataraman, 8th President of India (b. 1910)
• 2010 – Zelda Rubinstein, American actress (b. 1933)
• 2010 – J. D. Salinger, American novelist (b. 1919)
• 2010 – Howard Zinn, American historian and activist (b. 1922)
• 2011 – Mārtiņš Freimanis, Latvian musician, singer, songwriter, actor and TV personality (b. 1977)
• 2012 – Jeannette Hamby, American politician(b. 1933)
• 2012 – István Rózsavölgyi, Hungarian athlete (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Kevin White, American politician and Mayor of Boston (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Saint Angela Merici
  • Devota (Monaco)
  • Sava (Serbia)
  • January 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Liberation of Auschwitz-related observances:
  • Holocaust Memorial Day (United Kingdom)
  • International Holocaust Remembrance Day (International)
  • Memorial Day or Il Giorno della Memoria (Italy)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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