Today is Friday, January 27, the 27th day of 2023. There are 338 days left in the year. Spring arrives in 58 days (March 20, 2023). There are 151 days until summer (June 21, 2023).
Here are some notable events in history on this day — some that still have an impact on us today:
In 1756, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria.
In 1880, Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.
In 1888, the National Geographic Society was incorporated in Washington, D.C.
In 1944, during World War II, the Soviet Union announced the complete end of the deadly German siege of Leningrad, which had lasted for more than two years.
In 1945, during World War II, Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland.
In 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. In 1973, the Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris.
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, greeted at the White House the 52 former American hostages released by Iran.
In 1984, singer Michael Jackson suffered serious burns to his scalp when pyrotechnics set his hair on fire during the filming of a Pepsi-Cola TV commercial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
In 2006, Western Union delivered its last telegram.
In 2010, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad tablet computer during a presentation in San Francisco. J.D. Salinger, the reclusive author of “The Catcher in the Rye,” died in Cornish, New Hampshire, at age 91.
In 2013, flames raced through a crowded nightclub in southern Brazil, killing 242 people. Novak Djokovic beat Andy Murray 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-2 to become the first man in the Open era to win three consecutive Australian Open titles.In 2017, 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.
In 2018, a suicide bombing in the Afghan capital of Kabul killed more than 100 people; the attacker was driving an ambulance full of explosives and raced through a security checkpoint after saying he was transferring a patient to a hospital. Comic strip artist Mort Walker, a World War II veteran who satirized the Army with the antics of the lazy private “Beetle Bailey,” died in Connecticut at the age of 94.
In 2020, China confirmed more than 2,700 cases of the new coronavirus with more than 80 deaths in that country; authorities postponed the end of the Lunar New Year holiday to keep the public at home. U.S. health officials said they believed the risk to Americans remained low and that they had no evidence that the new virus was spreading in the United States; they advised Americans to avoid non-essential travel to any part of China.
In 2022, liberal Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer confirmed that he would step down from the court later in the year. President Joe Biden strongly affirmed that he would nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court to replace Breyer, declaring that such historic representation is “long overdue.” Biden’s nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, would be confirmed in April. Millions of health care workers across the country were required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, as a mandate from the Biden administration took effect in about half the states.
Today’s birthdays: Actor James Cromwell is 83. Rock musician Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) is 79. R&B singer Nedra Talley (The Ronettes) is 77. Ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov is 75. Latin singer-songwriter Djavan is 74. U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts is 68. Country singer Cheryl White is 68. Country singer-musician Richard Young (The Kentucky Headhunters) is 68. Actor Mimi Rogers is 67. Rock musician Janick Gers (Iron Maiden) is 66. Actor Susanna Thompson is 65. Political and sports commentator Keith Olbermann is 64. Rock singer Margo Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) is 62. Rock musician Gillian Gilbert is 62. Actor Tamlyn Tomita is 60. Actor Bridget Fonda is 59. Actor Alan Cumming is 58. Country singer Tracy Lawrence is 55. Rock singer Mike Patton is 55. Rapper Tricky is 55. Rock musician Michael Kulas (James) is 54. Actor-comedian Patton Oswalt is 54. Actor Josh Randall is 51. Country singer Kevin Denney is 45. Tennis player Marat Safin is 43. Rock musician Matt Sanchez (American Authors) is 37. Actor Braeden Lemasters is 27.
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This made local news on this date: A telegraph line was recently set up between Bismarck and Fort Lincoln. Fort Commander Brevet Major General George Custer sent one of the first telegrams over the new line: “Cordially reciprocating your greeting upon the establishment of telegraphic communication between your city, the most extensive and farthest advanced effort of civilization in our northwestern frontier and this post, the advanced guard of the tide of emigration which, in the early future, is destined to make the region one of prosperous homes and fertile farms, I join in recognizing the additional bond which makes the inhabitants of Bismarck and Ft. Lincoln united by one more common interest. May Bismarck, whether as the Capital of a new Territory or the principle business center of the extreme northwest, continue to expand its limits until Fort Lincoln may become first, one of its suburbs, afterward a ward of a city whose population shall be numbered by hundreds of thousands, and whose wealth may be estimated by millions.” — Bismarck Tribune, January 27, 1874, page 1.
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Today’s birthdays: Cartoonist Jules Feiffer is 94. Sportscaster-actor Bob Uecker is 88. Actor Scott Glenn is 84. Singer Jean Knight is 80. Activist Angela Davis is 79. Actor Richard Portnow is 76. Rock musician Corky Laing (Mountain) is 75. Actor David Strathairn (streh-THEHRN’) is 74. Producer-director Mimi Leder is 71. Alt-country singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams is 70. Reggae musician Norman Hassan (UB40) is 65. Actor-comedian-talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is 65. Rock musician Charlie Gillingham (Counting Crows) is 63. Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky is 62. Musician Andrew Ridgeley is 60. R&B singer Jazzie B (Soul II Soul) is 60. Actor Paul Johansson is 59. Director Lenny Abrahamson is 57. Actor Bryan Callen is 56. Gospel singer Kirk Franklin is 53. Actor Nate Mooney is 51. Actor Jennifer Crystal is 50. Rock musician Chris Hesse (Hoobastank) is 49. Actor Matilda Szydagis is 49. Actor Gilles Marini (ZHEEL ma-REE’-nee) is 47. Gospel singer Tye Tribbett is 47. Retired NBA player Vince Carter is 46. Actor Sarah Rue is 45. Actor Colin O’Donoghue is 42.
