What happened on January 27 News and Events on This Day in History

Space

1967 U.S.A. Apollo 1 27th January, 1967 : Three astronauts aboard Apollo 1 ( Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White II and Roger B. Chaffee ) die while still on the launch pad as they are practicing for a two-week mission in space.

Space 1967 World Outer Space Treaty 27th January, 1967 : The Outer Space Treaty which banned the placing of nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction in orbit of Earth is signed by 60 countries of the world including the two most important superpowers at the time The Soviet Union and The United States Of America who both had large Space Exploration programmes and Large Nuclear programmes. This was an important treaty because if any country was to place Nuclear Weapons or other Weapons of Mass Destruction in Orbit no country in the world would be safe.

U.S.

1984 U.S.A. Michael Jackson 27th January, 1984 : Michael Jackson receives serious burns to his head after his hair caught light while singing his hit "Billie Jean" for a Pepsi Cola commercial in Los Angeles when the special effects went wrong.

UK 1926 England Birth of Television 27th January, 1926 : John Logie Baird, gives the first public demonstration of a television system in London.
The BBC started the first public broadcasts in London in 1936.
Regular television broadcasts began in the United States in 1939.

Canada 1938 Canada Honeymoon Bridge Collapses 27th January, 1938 : The Honeymoon Bridge across Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada collapses after a severe ice storm causes the lower river to flood with ice and place undue stress on the abutments causing the bridge to collapse.

Russia 1944 Russia Siege of Leningrad 27th January, 1944 : After 872 days of the siege of Leningrad by German forces allowing no food or medical supplies to enter which caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Russian lives, The Siege was finally broken

Poland 1945 Poland Auschwitz 27th January, 1945 : The Red Army liberates the Nazi's biggest concentration camp at Auschwitz in southern Poland. During the concentration camps existence it is believed up to 1 million Jews were murdered ,75,000 Poles, 21,000 Gypsies, and 15,000 Soviet POWs.

U.S. 1951 U.S.A. Nuclear Bomb Tests 27th January, 1951 : The US government detonates the first of a series of nuclear bombs at its new Nevada test site.

U.S. 1961 U.S.A. Tax Fraud 27th January, 1961 : A district attorney and his staff were soon to be investigated for tax fraud. They had been asked to be disqualified from office as of this date as well. This petition was drawn up by lawyer Dave Cargo.
An investigation was started after explanations were sought pertaining to the fact that large numbers of homes and commercial property were not taxed the same as other properties. One reason was because the county assessor (Armando Gianini) would list products much lower than the current selling prices.
Additionally, Armando Gianini did not asses all the homes on which property taxes were owed. Some of the homes were not even on the record come 1960 tax season.

U.S. 1968 U.S.A. Communist and Defence Industry 27th January, 1968 : One of the biggest issues discussed during this time period was that of whether or not to allow representatives of the Communist Party to be allowed to work in defense facilities. In fact, the 1950 Internal Security Act was passed prohibiting the communist party from doing so.
On this day in 1968, the U.S. Senate examined the issue of subversive (i.e. rebellious, insubordinate) activity as related to possible opposition of the internal security laws, which already passed nearly 10 years ago. Furthermore, the U.S. Senate was discussing the possibility of “cracking down” on Senate subcommittee members w ho discount or invalidate decisions made by the Senate and/or the Supreme Court.
However, subcommittees defend themselves by saying they have no intention of challenging the Supreme Court. Certain subcommittees also have mentioned that they had no intention of reversing any decisions made by the Court.

Vietnam 1968 Vietnam Troops 27th January, 1968 : It is reported on this day that 3,500 more air troops were sent to Sahn, in Vietnam. They were sent to help fight against North Vietnam, who had just launched new shell attacks.

U.S. 1972 U.S.A. Howard Hughes 27th January, 1972 : Author Clifford Irving attested to the fact that he indeed had given Howard Hughes a check for $275,000. This payment was for the rights to Howard Hughes name and history for the creation of a biography.
Due to laryngitis, Irving’s lawyer did most of the talking for him during a news conference that took place on the premises of the Kennedy airport. Irving’s lawyer reassured the public that the book will be coming out and that it will be a successful book, and authentic.
In all, Howard Hughes was to receive a total of $650,000 for the book. He said that the publishing company was supposed to give him this money, and never did.
It turned out some time later that a woman known to the public as H.R. Hughes had taken the three checks and had deposited them into a Swiss Bank account. The paper that issued this report also mentioned that the Swiss police were looking for a woman, and the whereabouts of Hughes’ wife was to be confirmed as well.

Vietnam 1973 Vietnam Peace 27th January, 1973 : The Vietnam war formally ended when ministers from the United States, North and South Vietnam and the Viet Cong signed an agreement in Paris

Australia 1974 Australia Brisbane River Floods 27th January, 1974 : The Brisbane River Floods causing much of the city to suffer because the river banks in many areas are higher than the surrounding plains and the floods spread over wide areas of the city of Brisbane.

1980 Rhodesia Robert Mugabe 27th January, 1980 : The Rhodesian black nationalist leader Robert Mugabe returns to Rhodesia after five years in exile. Cheering crowds greeted Mr Mugabe's arrival in the capital, Salisbury, from Mozambique where he has been gathering support for his Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front) or Zanu (PF) party.

Russia 1985 Soviet Union Coca Cola 27th January, 1985 : Coca Cola starts distribution in the Soviet Union 12 years after Pepsi

U.S. 1993 U.S.A. Andre the Giant 27th January, 1993 : The wrestler Andre the Giant ( 7ft4in and 520 LBS ) , dies of a heart attack after attending his fathers funeral in France.

UK 1995 UK Eric Cantona 27th January, 1995 : Eric Cantona has been fined £20,000 and banned from playing football over his kung fu-style attack on a fan, and Manchester United have relegated him to the bench for nine months. He has also lost the captaincy and his place on the team of the French National Team

Nigeria 2002 Nigeria Stampede 1,000 die 27th January, 2002 : Explosions at a munitions store cause a huge explosion. in Lagos, Nigeria, which starts a stampede of fleeing people, during which more than 1,000 people are killed.
This Day In History For Tomorrow January 28th Day After January 29th Or You Can Use Our Calendar at the top of the page to find the day or month you are looking for

United States 2010 United States President Obama’s first State of the Union speech 27th January, 2010 : In his first State of the Union address, Barack Obama has said that creating jobs must be the nation's number one focus. Having accepted that Americans were 'hurting' and that his election pledge for change had not come quickly enough, he defended his healthcare reform efforts and bank bail-out policy. He also announced a spending freeze from 2011 to tackle the budget deficit. Bob McDonnell, for the Republicans, was critical of the expansion of government. The Virginia governor went on to say that the federal government was 'simply trying to do too much.'

Brazil   2011 Brazil Belo Monte Dam Construction Approved in Brazil 27th January, 2011 :  The Brazilian environmental agency, Ibama, approved the beginning stages of construction on the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, to be built on a tributary of the Amazon river. Ibama approved the clearing of nearly 600 acres of land for the dam’s construction. Opponents of the dam worry that the construction could displace up to 50,000 people and threaten indigenous life in the region.