TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Saturday, Jan. 27, the 27th day of 2018. There are 338 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History
On Jan. 27, 1943, some 50 bombers struck Wilhelmshaven in the first all-American air raid against Germany during World War II.
On this date
1756 — Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria. 1880 — Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp. 1888 — The National Geographic Society was incorporated in Washington, D.C. 1901 — Opera composer Giuseppe Verdi died in Milan, Italy, at age 87. 1913 — The musical play “The Isle O’ Dreams,” featuring the song “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” by Ernest R. Ball, Chauncey Olcott and George Graff Jr., opened in New York. 1945 — During World War II, Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland. 1951 — An era of atomic testing in the Nevada desert began as an Air Force plane dropped a one-kiloton bomb on Frenchman Flat. 1967 — Astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee died in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo spacecraft. More than 60 nations signed a treaty banning the deploying of nuclear weapons in outer space. 1973 — The Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris. 1984 — Singer Michael Jackson suffered serious burns to his scalp when pyrotechnics set his hair on fire during the filming of a PepsiCola TV commercial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. 1998 — First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, on NBC’s “Today” show, charged the sexual misconduct allegations against her husband, President Bill Clinton, were the work of a “vast right-wing conspiracy.” 2001 — Ten people were killed when a plane bringing people home from Oklahoma State University’s basketball game against Colorado crashed in a field outside Denver.
Five years ago
Flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil, killing 242 people.
One year ago
President Donald Trump barred all refugees from entering the United States for four months — and those from war-ravaged Syria indefinitely — declaring the ban necessary to prevent “radical Islamic terrorists” from entering the nation.
The politically ascendant anti-abortion movement gathered for a triumphant rally on the National Mall, rejoicing at the end of an eightyear Obama presidency that participants said was dismissive of their views.
Today’s Birthdays
Actor James Cromwell is 78. Actor John Witherspoon is 76. Rock musician Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) is 74. Rhythm-and-blues singer Nedra Talley (The Ronettes) is 72. Ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov is 70. Latin singer-songwriter Djavan is 69. Political commentator Ed Schultz is 64. Chief U.S. Justice John Roberts is 63. Country singer Cheryl White is 63. Country singer-musician Richard Young (The Kentucky Headhunters) is 63. Actress Mimi Rogers is 62. Rock musician Janick Gers (Iron Maiden) is 61. Actress Susanna Thompson is 60. Rock singer Margo Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) is 57. Rock musician Gillian Gilbert is 57. Actress Tamlyn Tomita is 55. Actress Bridget Fonda is 54. Actor Alan Cumming is 53. Country singer Tracy Lawrence is 50. Rock singer Mike Patton is 50. Rapper Tricky is 50. Actor-comedian Patton Oswalt is 49. Neo-soul musician Andrew Lee (St. Paul & the Broken Bones) is 32. Rock musician Matt Sanchez (American Authors) is 32. Actor Braeden Lemasters is 22.