http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Jan 27, 1926: Baird demonstrates TV
On January 27, 1926, John Logie Baird, a Scottish inventor, gives the first public demonstration of a true television system in London, launching a revolution in communication and entertainment. Baird's invention, a pictorial-transmission machine he called a "televisor," used mechanical rotating disks to scan moving images into electronic impulses. This information was then transmitted by cable to a screen where it showed up as a low-resolution pattern of light and dark. Baird's first television program showed the heads of two ventriloquist dummies, which he operated in front of the camera apparatus out of view of the audience.
Baird based his television on the work of Paul Nipkow, a German scientist who patented his ideas for a complete television system in 1884. Nipkow likewise used a rotating disk with holes in it to scan images, but he never achieved more than the crudest of shadowy pictures. Various inventors worked to develop this idea, and Baird was the first to achieve easily discernible images. In 1928, Baird made the first overseas broadcast from London to New York over phone lines and in the same year demonstrated the first color television.
The first home television receiver was demonstrated in Schenectady, New York, in January 1928, and by May a station began occasional broadcasts to the handful of homes in the area that were given the General Electric-built machines. In 1932, the Radio Corporation of America demonstrated an all-electronic television using a cathode-ray tube in the receiver and the "iconoscope" camera tube developed by Russian-born physicist Vladimir Zworykin. These two inventions greatly improved picture quality.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) inaugurated regular high-definition public broadcasts in London in 1936. In delivering the broadcasts, Baird's television system was in competition with one promoted by Marconi Electric and Musical Industries. Marconi's television, which produced a 405-line picture--compared with Baird's 240 lines--was clearly better, and in early 1937 the BBC adopted the Marconi system exclusively. Regular television broadcasts began in the United States in 1939, and permanent color broadcasts began in 1954.
Jan 27, 1302: Dante is exiled from Florence
On this day, poet and politician Dante Alighieri is exiled from Florence, where he served as one of six priors governing the city. Dante's political activities, including the banishing of several rivals, led to his own banishment, and he wrote his masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, as a virtual wanderer, seeking protection for his family in town after town.
Dante was born to a family with noble ancestry that had fallen in fortunes. He began writing poetry in his teens and received encouragement from established poets, to whom he sent sonnets as a young man.
At age nine, Dante first caught a glimpse of Beatrice Portinari, also nine, who would symbolize for him perfect female beauty and spiritual goodness in the coming decades. Despite his fervent devotion to Portinari, who did not seem to return his feelings, Dante became engaged to Gemma Donati in 1277, but the two did not marry until eight years later. The couple had six sons and a daughter.
About 1293, Dante published a book of prose and poetry called The New Life, followed a few years later by another collection, The Banquet. It wasn't until his banishment that he began work on his Divine Comedy. In the poem's first book, the poet takes a tour through Hell with the poet Virgil as a guide. Virgil also guides the poet through Purgatory in the second book. The poet's guide in Paradise, however, is named Beatrice. The work was written and published in sections between 1308 and 1321. Although Dante called the work simply Comedy, the work became enormously popular, and a deluxe version published in 1555 in Venice bore the title The Divine Comedy. Dante died of malaria in Ravenna in 1321.
Jan 27, 1944: Siege of Leningrad is lifted
On this day, Soviet forces permanently break the Leningrad siege line, ending the almost 900-day German-enforced containment of the city, which cost hundreds of thousands of Russian lives.
The siege began officially on September 8, 1941. The people of Leningrad began building antitank fortifications and succeeded in creating a stable defense of the city, but as a result were cut off from all access to vital resources in the Soviet interior, Moscow specifically. In 1942, an estimated 650,000 Leningrad citizens perished from starvation, disease, exposure, and injuries suffered from continual German artillery bombardment.
Barges offered occasional relief in the summer and ice-borne sleds did the same in the winter. Slowly but surely a million of Leningrad's young, sick, and elderly residents were evacuated, leaving about 2 million to ration available food and use all open ground to plant vegetables. On January 12, Soviet defenses punctured the siege, ruptured the German encirclement, and allowed more supplies to come in along Lake Ladoga. The siege officially ended after 872 days (though it is often called the 900-day siege), after a Soviet counteroffensive pushed the Germans westward.
Jan 27, 1943: Americans bomb Germans for first time
On this day, 8th Air Force bombers, dispatched from their bases in England, fly the first American bombing raid against the Germans, targeting the Wilhelmshaven port. Of 64 planes participating in the raid, 53 reached their target and managed to shoot down 22 German planes—and lost only three planes in return.
The 8th Air Force was activated in February 1942 as a heavy bomber force based in England. Its B-17 Flying Fortresses, capable of sustaining heavy damage while continuing to fly, and its B-24 Liberators, long-range bombers, became famous for precision bombing raids, the premier example being the raid on Wilhelmshaven. Commanded at the time by Brig. Gen. Newton Longfellow, the 8th Air Force was amazingly effective and accurate in bombing warehouses and factories in this first air attack against the Axis power.
Jan 27, 1888: National Geographic Society founded
On January 27, 1888, the National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C., for "the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge."
The 33 men who originally met and formed the National Geographic Society were a diverse group of geographers, explorers, teachers, lawyers, cartographers, military officers and financiers. All shared an interest in scientific and geographical knowledge, as well as an opinion that in a time of discovery, invention, change and mass communication, Americans were becoming more curious about the world around them. With this in mind, the men drafted a constitution and elected as the Society's president a lawyer and philanthropist named Gardiner Greene Hubbard. Neither a scientist nor a geographer, Hubbard represented the Society's desire to reach out to the layman.
Nine months after its inception, the Society published its first issue of National Geographic magazine. Readership did not grow, however, until Gilbert H. Grosvenor took over as editor in 1899. In only a few years, Grosvenor boosted circulation from 1,000 to 2 million by discarding the magazine's format of short, overly technical articles for articles of general interest accompanied by photographs. National Geographic quickly became known for its stunning and pioneering photography, being the first to print natural-color photos of sky, sea and the North and South Poles.
The Society used its revenues from the magazine to sponsor expeditions and research projects that furthered humanity's understanding of natural phenomena. In this role, the National Geographic Society has been instrumental in making possible some of the great achievements in exploration and science. To date, it has given out more than 1,400 grants, funding that helped Robert Peary journey to the North Pole, Richard Byrd fly over the South Pole, Jacques Cousteau delve into the sea and Jane Goodall observe wild chimpanzees, among many other projects.
Today, the National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions. National Geographic continues to sell as a glossy monthly, with a circulation of around 9 million. The Society also sees itself as a guardian of the planet's natural resources, and in this capacity, focuses on ways to broaden its reach and educate its readers about the unique relationship that humans have with the earth.
Jan 27, 1970: John Lennon writes and records "Instant Karma" in a single day
"I wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch and we're putting it out for dinner." That's the way John Lennon told the story of "Instant Karma," one of his most memorable songs as a solo artist and the third Lennon single to appear before the official breakup of the Beatles. The only exaggeration in John's description was the part about dinner: "Instant Karma" wasn't actually released to the public until 13 days after it was written and recorded over the course of a single Tuesday, on January 27, 1970. By any measure, it was one of the fastest pop songs ever to come to market.
"Instant Karma" came during a tumultuous time for John Lennon personally and for the band he was in the midst of leaving behind. The Beatles had spent the better part of 1969 trying to decide whether or not they were still a band, abandoning recording sessions that had just begun and canceling plans for their first live performances in more than three years. The material for both of the band's last two albums—Abbey Road and Let it Be—was recorded that year, but Let it Be sat unreleased and without an agreed-upon producer. Lennon, meanwhile, was moving in a new direction. "Give Peace a Chance," recorded during the famous June 1969 "bed-in," had already come out under the name "The Plastic Ono Band," as had "Cold Turkey," his wrenching account of kicking heroin that same year. By January 1970, John had walked away from the Beatles, and the Plastic Ono Band was the only musical entity he considered himself part of.
The January 27 session came about spontaneously. Lennon wrote the song that morning and, as he said, "I knew I had a hit record." What got the record finished that same day and gave it its incredible sound, however, was the unexpected appearance of Phil Spector that evening in the EMI studios. After several run-throughs under Spector's direction, John said, "Suddenly we went in the room and heard what he'd done to it...it was fantastic. It sounded like there was [sic] fifty people playing." John's happiness with the results would lead directly to Spector's taking over the dormant Let it Be project—a development that ended up driving a further wedge between Lennon and McCartney prior to the official breakup of the Beatles.
January 27, 1991 - New York Giants defeat the Buffalo Bills in the closest Super Bowl ever
The one thing that I personally remember happening on this date specifically would be the Giants defeating the Buffalo Bills by a single point in Super Bowl XXV. It was probably the best sports memory I ever had as soon as it happened, and remains one of my favorite sports-related memories still to date, probably behind only France winning the World Cup in 1998, which I was fortunate enough to have been in the host country (France itself) at the time. The Giants have won two Super Bowls since, much more recently, but somehow, those did not quite feel the same way as the Super Bowl run in January of 1991. The Giants had started the season like a juggernaut at 10-0, but then lost three of their next four, including losses to future playoff opponents in the San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills. The Giants ended the regular season with shaky looking victories against weak opponents, and many were writing them off. Their starting quarterback, Phil Simms, had been injured, and Jeff Hostetler, who had very limited experience to that point, was the designated starter. But in the playoffs, his arm proved quite reliable, and his running game added a unique and unpredictable diminsion to the Giants' offense. They surprised many people by blowing out the Bears in the divisional round, setting up a rematch against the hot dynasty of that era, the San Francisco 49ers. On a sunny, beautiful day in Candlestick Park, the Giants and 49ers played what I still think might have been the most physically and psychologically intense football game I've ever seen. Evrry single point counted. There was only one touchdown in the entire game, and seven field goals overall. The Giants relied on the leg of veteran placekicker Matt Bahr to keep them in the game and, eventually, to win it for them on a 40-yard field goal on what was literally the last play of the game, ending San Francisco's dynasty. New York had defeated the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI four seasons earlier, and had been a heavy favorite, being that season's powerhouse. But in 1991, the Buffalo Bills had the hottest team and were the fashionable pick to win the big game. One Bills player was not worried about expressing his confidence, when he let everyone know that he was getting his finger sized for a ring. But in a back and forth game that was more like a chess match than anything, the Giants surprised many by keeping Buffalo's dangerous offense, which had scored 51 points in the AFC Championship, and 96 points overall in the two prior playoff games. The Giants held on to the ball for more than 2/3rds of the game, and held off the favored Bills, ultimately winning it, 20-19, when Scott Norwood's 47-yard field goal attempt sailed just wide right with 4 seconds left to play, icing the game, and another championship, for the New York Giants.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
98 - Trajan becomes Roman Emperor after the death of Nerva.
661 - Rashidun Caliphate ended with death of Ali.
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.
1302 - Dante becomes a Florentine political exile
1343 - Pope Clement VI issues the Bull Unigenitus.
1538 - States of Gelderland accepts Willem van Kleef as
viceroy
1556 - Willem of Orange becomes knight of Guilder Flies
1593 - Vatican opens 7 year trial against scholar Giordano
Bruno
1662 - 1st American lime kiln begins operation (Providence
RI)
1671 - Pirate Henry Morgen lands at Panama City
1695 - Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan in Istanbul on
the death of Ahmed II. Mustafa rules until his death in 1703.
1710 - Czar Peter the Great sets 1st Russian state budget
1736 - Abdication of Stanislas, last king of Poland
1778 - Piccinni's opera "Roland" premieres, Paris
1785 - 1st US state university chartered, Athens Georgia
1823 - President Monroe appoints 1st US ambassadors to South
America
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."
Russian Tsar Peter the GreatRussian Tsar Peter the Great
1864 - Battle of Fair Gardens, TN
1864 - Civil War skirmish at Kelly's Ford, Va
1870 - 1st sorority (Kappa Alpha Theta) (DePauw U in
Greencastle, Indiana)
1870 - After accepting 15th amendment, VA is readmitted to
Union
1870 - Manitoba & Northwest Territories incorporated
1880 - Thomas Edison patents electric incandescent lamp
1886 - 1st British government of Salisbury resigns
1888 - National Geographic Society organizes (Wash DC)
1891 - Mine explosion kills 109 at Mount Pleasant
Pennsylvania
1894 - 1st college basketball game, U of Chicago beats
Chicago YMCA 19-11
1894 - Midwinter Fair opens in Golden Gate Park
1896 - Tasmania bowl out Victoria for 65 for their 1st ever
innings victory
1897 - British troops occupy Bida Gold Coast (Ghana)
1900 - Social Democrat Party of America (Debs' party) holds
1st convention
1902 - 5 workers killed on explosion during IRT subway
construction (NYC)
Inventor Thomas EdisonInventor Thomas Edison 1905 - Maurice
Rouvier forms government in France
1906 - Rudolf Gundersen skates world record 500m at 44.8 sec
1908 - Pasiphaë, a satellite of Jupiter, discovered by
Melotte
1909 - The Young Left is founded in Norway.
1915 - US Marines occupy Haiti
1916 - Communist party "Spartacus Letters" 1st
published in Berlin
1917 - Coen de Koning wins 2nd official 11 cities race
(9:53) (record)
1918 - "Tarzan of the Apes," 1st Tarzan film,
premieres at Broadway Theater
1918 - The first hostilities occurred in the Finnish Civil
War.
1924 - Egyptian king Foead nominates Saad Zaghloel Pasja
premier
1924 - Lenin placed in Mausoleum in Red Square, Moscow
1926 - 1st public demonstration of television, John L Baird,
London
1926 - US Senate agrees to join World Court
1933 - Otto Meisnner dines with British ambassador Rumbold
1934 - 27th Australian Men's Tennis Open: Fred Perry beat
Crawford (6-3 7-5 6-1)
Marxist Revolutionary and Russian Leader Vladimir
LeninMarxist Revolutionary and Russian Leader Vladimir Lenin 1934 - French
government of Chautemps falls (Stavisky Affair)
1934 - VARA refuses to hire after commemoration of Marinus
Van de Lubbe
1939 - First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
1940 - -17°F (-27°C), CCC Camp F-16, Georgia (state record)
1941 - Peruvian agent Rivera-Schreiber warns of Japanese
assault on Pearl Harbor
1942 - -19°F (-27.4°C), Netherland's coldest day since 1850
1943 - 1st US air attack on Germany (Wilhelmshafen)
1944 - Leningrad liberated from Germany in 880 days with
600,000 killed
1944 - Casey Stengel, manager of the Boston Braves since
1938, resigns Lou Perini, Guido Rugo, & Joseph Maney buy control of Boston
Braves
1945 - Nazi occupiers forbid food transport to West (The
Netherlands)
1945 - Russia liberates Auschwitz & Birkenau
Concentration Camp (Poland)
1945 - S Romberg, H&D Fields' musical premieres in NYC
1945 - Wally van Hall, "banker in defiance,"
arrested
1948 - 1st locomotive to carry 1,000,000 pounds (450,000 kg)
operates
1948 - 1st tape recorder sold
1949 - Chinese liner "Taiping" collides with a
collier off south China
1950 - 2nd Emmy Awards: Ed Wynn Show & Texaco Star
Theater win
1951 - "Peter Pan" closes at Imperial Theater NYC
after 320 performances
1951 - US begins 126 nuclear tests at Nevada Test Site
1953 - Netherlands end Marshall aid
1955 - "Plain & Fancy" opens at Mark Hellinger
Theater NYC for 476 perfs
1956 - NFL's NY Giants switches games from Polo Grounds to
Yankee Stadium
1957 - Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Lake Worth Golf Open
1958 - Ferenc Munnich follows Kadar as premier of Hungary
1961 - "Sing Along with Mitch" [Miller] premieres
on NBC TV
1962 - "Family Affair" opens at Billy Rose Theater
NYC for 65 performances
1963 - Jevgeni Grishin skates world record 500m in 39.6 sec
1963 - Sam Rice, Eppa Rixey, Elmer Flick, & John
Clarkson elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1964 - "Introducing the Beatles" album released in
US
1964 - Barlow & Graeme Pollock complete 341 stand at
Adelaide Oval
1964 - Margaret Chase Smith (Sen-R-Maine) tries for
Republican Pres bid
1965 - 1st ground station-to-aircraft radio communication
via satellite
1965 - Ground breaking for "Dragon Gateway" at
Grant Avenue
1966 - Wisc State Circuit Court Judge Elmer W Roller rules
either the Braves stay in Milwaukee or NL must promise Wisc an expansion team
for 1966
1967 - Apollo 1 fire kills astronauts Grissom, White &
Chaffee
1967 - Beatles sign a 9 year worldwide contract with EMI
records
1967 - New Orleans Saints sign their 1st player (Paige
Cothren-kicker)
1967 - Treaty banning military use of nuclear weapons in
space, signed
1968 - "Darling of the Day" opens at George Abbott
Theater NYC for 31 perfs
1969 - 14 spies hung in Baghdad
1969 - 9 Jews publically executed in Damascus Syria
1969 - Actress Thelma Ritter suffers a heart attack (she
dies Feb 5th)
1969 - Noordiers vicar Ian Paisley sentenced to 3 years
1970 - Movie rating system modifies "M" rating to
"PG"
1971 - Montgomery St Station, last link in BART, `holed
thru'
1973 - UCLA's basketball team wins 61st consecutive game
(NCAA record)
1973 - US & Vietnam sign cease-fire, ending longest US
war & milt draft
1973 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Janet
Lynn
1973 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Gordon
McKellen Jr
1973 - William Rogers & Nguyen Duy Trinh sign US-N
Vietnam treaty
1974 - "Lorelei" opens at Palace Theater NYC for
320 performances
1976 - "Laverne & Shirley" spinoff from
"Happy Days" premieres on ABC TV
1976 - 9th ABA All-Star Game: Denver 144 beats ABA 138 at
Denver
1976 - Morocco-Algeria battles in Westerly Sahara
1976 - Viv Richards scores his 1st Test century against
Australia
1977 - 1st broadcast of "Roots" mini-series on ABC
TV
1977 - Pres Carter pardons most Vietnam War draft evaders
(10,000)
Actress Jane FondaActress Jane Fonda 1979 - 36th Golden
Globes: Midnight Express, Jon Voight & Jane Fonda
1979 - Islanders ends 23 undefeated games at home streak
(15-0-8)
1980 - "Comin' Uptown" closes at Winter Garden
Theater NYC after 45 perfs
1980 - NFL Pro Bowl: NFC beats AFC 37-27
1982 - "Joseph & the Amazing Dreamcoat" opens
at Royale NYC for 747 perfs
1982 - Mauno Koivisto installed as president of Finland
1982 - Phila trades Larry Bowa & Ryne Sandberg to Cubs
for Ivan DeJesus
1982 - Roberto S Cordova installed as president of Honduras
1982 - West Indies beat Australia 3-1 to win World Series
Cup
1983 - World's longest subaqueous tunnel (53.90 km) opens,
Honshu-Hokkaid
1984 - John & Yoko release "Milk & Honey"
album
1984 - LA Kings end Wayne Gretzky's NHL-record 51-game
scoring streak
1984 - Michael Jackson is burned during filming for Pepsi
commercial
1985 - "Doug Henning & His World..." closes at
Lunt-Fontanne NY after 60 perf
1985 - 15th Space Shuttle (51-C) Mission-Discovery 3 returns
to Earth
King of Pop Michael JacksonKing of Pop Michael Jackson 1985
- Hollis Stacy wins LPGA Mazda Golf Classic
1985 - Mark Mckoy cycles world record 50m hurdles indoor
(5.25)
1985 - NFL Pro Bowl: AFC beats NFC 22-14
1986 - 13th American Music Award: Whitney Houston, Huey
Lewis & C Gayle
1987 - Midnight Rockers beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers
for AWA World Tag Team
1988 - Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves
nomination of Judge Anthony M Kennedy to US Supreme Court
1989 - German war criminals Fischer & Aus der Funten
freed
1989 - Kevin Johnson (Phoenix) begins NBA free throw streak
of 57 games
1989 - Okla's linebacker, Mark VanKeirsblilck assaults an Ok
grad student
1990 - 64th Australian Womens Tennis Open: Steffi Graf beats
MJ Fernandez (6-3 6-4)
1991 - 79th Australian Mens Tennis: Boris Becker beats I
Lendl (16 64 64 64)
1991 - Dutch PSP, Pacifist Socialistic Party, disbands
1991 - Nadine Strossen is 1st female president of the ACLU
1991 - Super Bowl XXV: NY Giants beat Buffalo Bills, 20-19
in Tampa Super Bowl MVP: Ottis Anderson, NY Giants, RB
1992 - "Crazy He Calls Me" opens at Walter Kerr
Theater NYC for 7 perfs
1992 -
19th American Music Award: C & C Music Factory, Michael Bolton win
1992 - Jane Fonda undergoes arthroscopic surgery on her
right knee
1992 - Mike Tyson goes on trial for rape (he is found
guilty)
1992 - Presidential candidate Bill Clinton (D) and Genifer
Flowers accuse each other of lying over her assertion they had a 12-year affair
1993 - DC-3 crashes in Kinshasa, killing 12
1994 - "No Man's Land" opens at Criterion Theater
NYC for 61 performances
1994 - Carlos Reina succeeds pres Callejas in Honduras
1994 - Romanian social-democrats form government with
anti-Semites
1995 - 69th Australian Womens Tennis: Mary Pierce beats A S
Vicario (63 62)
1996 - 15 day old siamese twins separated-Sarah Morales
survives, Sarahi dies
1996 - 70th Australian Womens Tennis: Monica Seles beats
Anke Huber (64 61)
1996 - Catherine Roskam becomes the 1st NY female Episcopal
bishop
1996 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1996 - Germany celebrates it's 1st Holocaust Rememberance
Day
1996 - Monica Seles beats Anke Huber to win Australian Open
1996 - Shiv Chanderpaul scores 303* for Guyana v Jamaica at Kingston
1996 - Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara deposes the first
democratically elected president of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane, in a military
coup.
1997 - "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus,"
opens at Gershwin NYC
1997 - 24th American Music Award: Toni Braxton & Alanis
Morissette win
1998 - Crane crashes into Roosevelt Is (NYC) Tram, injuring
10
1998 - Roland Clarkson discovers 2^3021377-1 (37th known
Mersenne prime)
1998 - WNBA begins filling rosters of Washington Mystics
and; Detroit Shock
2013 - 20 police officers have been killed in a series of
bomb attacks in Kandahar, Afghanistan
2013 - In Port Said, Egypt, protests result in 7 people
being killed and 630 are injured
2013 - 11 people are killed and 32 are injured after a bus
crashes down a ravine in Serta, Portugal
2013 - 7 people are killed and 3 are injured after a
retaining wall collapses during a football match at the Ugur Sports Facility,
Turkey
2013 - Novak Djokovic defeats Andy Murray to wins his third
consecutive men's singles title at the 2013 Australian Open
2013 - Magnus Carlsen wins the 2013 Tata Steel Chess
Tournament
2013 - Spain defeats Denmark to win the 2013 World Men's
Handball Championship
2013 - NFL Pro Bowl: NFC beats AFC 62-35
1606 - The trial of Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators began. They were executed on January 31. 1870 - Kappa Alpha Theta, the first women’s sorority, was founded at Indiana Asbury University (now DePauw University) in Greencastle, IN. 1880 - Thomas Edison patented the electric incandescent lamp. 1888 - The National Geographic Society was founded in Washington, DC. 1900 - In China, foreign diplomats in Peking, fearing a revolt, demanded that the imperial government discipline the Boxer rebels. 1926 - John Baird, a Scottish inventor, demonstrated a pictorial transmission machine called television. 1927 - United Independent Broadcasters Inc. started a radio network with contracts with 16 stations. The company later became Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). 1931 - NBC radio debuted "Clara, Lu ’n’ Em" on its Blue network (later, ABC radio). 1943 - During World War II, the first all American air raid against Germany took place when about 50 bombers attacked Wilhlemshaven. 1944 - The Soviet Union announced that the two year German siege of Leningrad had come to an end. 1945 - Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland. 1948 - Wire Recording Corporation of America announced the first magnetic tape recorder. The ‘Wireway’ machine with a built-in oscillator sold for $149.50. 1951 - In the U.S., atomic testing in the Nevada desert began as an Air Force plane dropped a one-kiloton bomb on Frenchman Flats. 1957 - The "CBS Radio Workshop" was heard for the first time. 1967 - At Cape Kennedy, FL, astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee died in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo I spacecraft. 1967 - More than 60 nations signed the Outer Space Treaty which banned the orbiting of nuclear weapons and placing weapons on celestial bodies or space stations. 1973 - The Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris. 1977 - The Vatican reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's ban on female priests. 1981 - U.S. President Reagan greeted the 52 former American hostages released by Iran at the White House. 1984 - Carl Lewis beat his own two-year-old record by 9-1/4 inches when he set a new indoor world record with a long-jump mark of 28 feet, 10-1/4 inches. 1984 - Wayne Gretzky set a National Hockey League (NHL) record for consecutive game scoring. He ended the streak at 51 games. 1985 - The Coca-Cola Company, of Atlanta, GA, announced a plan to sell its soft drinks in the Soviet Union. 1992 - Former world boxing champion Mike Tyson went on trial for allegedly raping an 18-year-old contestant in the 1991 Miss Black America Contest. 1996 - Mahamane Ousmane, the first democratically elected president of Niger, was overthrown by a military coup. Colonel Ibrahim Bare Mainassara declared himself head of state. 1997 - It was revealed that French national museums were holding nearly 2,000 works of art stolen from Jews by the Nazis during World War II. 1998 - U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared on NBC's "Today" show. She charged that the allegations against her husband were the work of a "vast right-wing conspiracy." 1999 - The U.S. Senate blocked dismissal of the impeachment case against President Clinton and voted for new testimony from Monica Lewinsky and two other witnesses. 2002 - A series of explosions occurred at a military dump in Lagos, Nigeria. More than 1,000 people were killed in the blast and in the attempt to escape. 2003 - Altria Group, Inc. became the name of the parent company of Kraft Foods, Philip Morris USA, Philip Morris International and Philip Morris Capital Corporation. 2010 - Steve Jobs unveiled the Apple iPad.
1880 Thomas Edison was granted a patent for his incandescent light. 1944 The Soviets announced the end of the two-year siege of Leningrad. 1945 The Russians liberated Auschwitz concentration camp, where the Nazis had killed over 1.5 million people, including over 1 million Jews. 1951 The U.S. Air Force started atomic testing in the Nevada desert. 1967 The Apollo I fire killed astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee during a simulated launch at Cape Canaveral. 1973 Vietnam War peace accords were signed in Paris.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/jan27.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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