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

• 98 – Trajan succeeded his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire would reach its maximum extent.
• 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate ends with the death of Ali.
• 1142 – Song dynasty General Yue Fei is executed.
• 1186 – Henry VI, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, marries Constance of Sicily.
• 1302 – Dante Alighieri, the poet and politician is exiled from Florence, Italy, where he served as one of six priors governing the city.
• 1343 – Pope Clement VI issues the papal bull Unigenitus to justify the power of the pope and the use of indulgences. Nearly 200 years later, Martin Luther would protest this.
• 1593 – The Vatican opens the 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 and Caliph of Islam 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.
• 1869 – Boshin War: Tokugawa rebels establish the Ezo Republic in Hokkaidō.
• 1880 – Thomas Edison receives the patent on the incandescent lamp.
• 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 Wilhelmshaven, 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 remained inmates of 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.
• 2011 – Arab Spring: The Yemeni Revolution begins as over 16,000 protestors demonstrate in Sana'a.
• 2013 – Two hundred forty-two people die in a nightclub fire in the city of Santa Maria, Brazil.

Births

• 1443 – Albert III, Duke of Saxony (d. 1500)
• 1546 – Joachim III Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1608)
• 1571 – Abbas I of Persia (d. 1629)
• 1585 – Hendrick Avercamp, Dutch painter (d. 1634)
• 1603 – Sir Harbottle Grimston, 2nd Baronet, English lawyer and politician, Speaker of the British House of Commons (d. 1685)
• 1621 – Thomas Willis, English physician and anatomist (d. 1675)
• 1662 – Richard Bentley, English scholar and theologian (d. 1742)
• 1687 – Johann Balthasar Neumann, German engineer and architect, designed Würzburg Residence and Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers (d. 1753)
• 1701 – Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim, German historian and theologian (d. 1790)
• 1708 – Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia (d. 1728)
• 1741 – Hester Thrale, Welsh author (d. 1821)
• 1756 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1791)
• 1775 – Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, German-Swiss philosopher and academic (d. 1854)
• 1795 – Eli Whitney Blake, American engineer, invented the Mortise lock (d. 1886)
• 1805 – Maria Anna of Bavaria (d. 1877)
• 1805 – Samuel Palmer, English painter and etcher (d. 1881)
• 1805 – Princess Sophie of Bavaria (d. 1872)
• 1806 – Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Spanish composer and educator (d. 1826)
• 1807 – David Strauss, German theologian and author (d. 1874)
• 1814 – Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect, designed the Lausanne Cathedral (d. 1879)
• 1821 – John Chivington, American colonel and pastor (d. 1892)
• 1823 – Édouard Lalo, French violinist and composer (d. 1892)
• 1826 – Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian journalist and author (d. 1889)
• 1826 – Richard Taylor, American general, historian, and politician (d. 1879)
• 1827 – Nakahama Manjirō, Japanese translator (d. 1898)
• 1832 – Lewis Carroll, English mathematician, photographer, and author (d. 1898)
• 1832 – Carl Friedrich Schmidt, Estonian-Russian geologist and botanist (d. 1908)
• 1836 – Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian journalist and author (d. 1895)
• 1842 – Arkhip Kuindzhi, Ukrainian-Russian painter (d. 1910)
• 1848 – Tōgō Heihachirō, Japanese admiral (d. 1934)
• 1850 – John Collier, English painter and author (d. 1934)
• 1850 – Samuel Gompers, English-American labor leader (d. 1924)
• 1850 – Edward Smith, English captain (d. 1912)
• 1858 – Neel Doff, Dutch-Belgian author (d. 1942)
• 1859 – Wilhelm II, German Emperor (d. 1941)
• 1862 – Eustaquio de Escandón, Mexican polo player (d. 1933)
• 1869 – Will Marion Cook, American violinist and composer (d. 1944)
• 1875 – Elizabeth Israel, Dominican super-centenarian (d. 2003)
• 1885 – Jerome Kern, American composer and songwriter (d. 1945)
• 1885 – Eduard Künneke, German composer (d. 1953)
• 1885 – Seison Maeda, Japanese painter (d. 1977)
• 1886 – Radhabinod Pal, Indian academic and jurist (d. 1967)
• 1886 – Balthasar van der Pol, Dutch physicist and academic (d. 1959)
• 1891 – Ilya Ehrenburg, Russian journalist and author (d. 1967)
• 1893 – Soong Ching-ling, Chinese politician; President of the People's Republic of China (d. 1981)
• 1895 – Joseph Rosenstock, Polish-American conductor and manager (d. 1985)
• 1895 – Harry Ruby, American composer and screenwriter (d. 1974)
• 1900 – Hyman G. Rickover, American admiral (d. 1986)
• 1901 – Willy Fritsch, German actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 1973)
• 1901 – Art Rooney, American football player and coach, founded the Pittsburgh Steelers (d. 1988)
• 1902 – Carl Berner, German-American super-centenarian (d. 2013)
• 1903 – John Eccles, Australian-Swiss neurophysiologist and academic; Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997)
• 1903 – Otto P. Weyland, American general (d. 1979)
• 1904 – James J. Gibson, American psychologist and academic (d. 1979)
• 1905 – Howard McNear, American actor (d. 1969)
• 1908 – William Randolph Hearst, Jr., American journalist and publisher (d. 1993)
• 1908 – Hot Lips Page, American trumpet player, singer, and bandleader (d. 1954)
• 1910 – Edvard Kardelj, Slovene general, economist, and politician; 2nd Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia (d. 1979)
• 1912 – Arne Næss, Norwegian philosopher and environmentalist (d. 2009)
• 1912 – Francis Rogallo, American engineer, invented the Rogallo wing (d. 2009)
• 1915 – Jules Archer, American historian and author (d. 2008)
• 1915 – Jack Brymer, English clarinettist (d. 2003)
• 1915 – Jacques Hnizdovsky, Ukrainian-American painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 1985)
• 1918 – Skitch Henderson, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2005)
• 1918 – Elmore James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1963)
• 1918 – William Seawell, American general (d. 2005)
• 1919 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor (d. 1972)
• 1920 – John Box, English production designer and art director (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Helmut Zacharias, German violinist and composer (d. 2002)
• 1921 – Donna Reed, American actress (d. 1986)
• 1924 – Sabu Dastagir, Indian-American actor and singer (d. 1963)
• 1924 – Rauf Denktaş, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 1st President of Northern Cyprus (d. 2012)
• 1924 – Brian Rix, Baron Rix, English actor, producer, academic and life peer
• 1924 – Harvey Shapiro, American poet and academic (d. 2013)
• 1926 – Fritz Spiegl, Austrian flute player and journalist (d. 2003)
• 1926 – Ingrid Thulin, Swedish actress and director (d. 2004)
• 1927 – Billy Barnes, American actor and composer (d. 2012)
• 1927 – Jerry Haynes, American actor (d. 2011)
• 1928 – Michael Craig, Indian-English actor and screenwriter
• 1928 – Hans Modrow, Polish-German politician, 5th Prime Minister of East Germany
• 1929 – Mohamed Al-Fayed, Egyptian-Swiss businessman
• 1929 – Gastón Suárez, Bolivian author and playwright (d. 1984)
• 1930 – Bobby Bland, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
• 1931 – Red Bastien, American wrestler, trainer, and promoter (d. 2012)
• 1931 – Gazanfer Özcan, Turkish actor (d. 2009)
• 1931 – Mordecai Richler, Canadian author and screenwriter (d. 2001)
• 1931 – Nigel Vinson, Baron Vinson, English lieutenant and businessman
• 1932 – Boris Shakhlin, Russian-Ukrainian gymnast (d. 2008)
• 1933 – Jerry Buss, American chemist and businessman (d. 2013)
• 1934 – Édith Cresson, French politician; 160th Prime Minister of France
• 1934 – George Follmer, American race car driver
• 1935 – Gillian Beer, English academic and critic
• 1935 – Steve Demeter, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2013)
• 1936 – Troy Donahue, American actor and singer (d. 2001)
• 1936 – Florin Piersic, Romanian actor
• 1936 – Samuel C. C. Ting, American physicist and academic; Nobel Prize laureate
• 1937 – Fred Åkerström, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1985)
• 1937 – John Ogdon, English pianist and composer (d. 1989)
• 1938 – Roy Bourgeois, American priest and activist
• 1939 – Julius Lester, American author and academic
• 1937 – Tigran Mansurian, Armenian composer of classical music and film scores
• 1940 – Ahmet Kurtcebe Alptemoçin, Turkish engineer and politician; 35th Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1940 – James Cromwell, American actor and producer
• 1940 – Terry Harper, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1940 – Petru Lucinschi, Romanian politician, 2nd President of Moldova
• 1941 – Bobby Hutcherson, American vibraphone player and composer
• 1941 – Beatrice Tinsley, New Zealand astronomer and cosmologist (d. 1981)
• 1942 – Stewart Raffill, American director and screenwriter
• 1942 – John Witherspoon, American actor
• 1942 – Kate Wolf, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1986)
• 1943 – Julia Cumberlege, Baroness Cumberlege, English businesswoman and politician
• 1944 – Peter Akinola, Nigerian archbishop
• 1944 – Mairead Maguire, Northern Irish peace activist; Nobel Prize laureate
• 1944 – Nick Mason, English drummer, songwriter, and producer (Pink Floyd)
• 1945 – Harold Cardinal, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2005)
• 1946 – Christopher Hum, English academic and diplomat; British Ambassador to China
• 1946 – Nedra Talley, American singer (The Ronettes)
• 1947 – Björn Afzelius, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
• 1947 – Vyron Polydoras, Greek politician; Greek Minister for Public Order
• 1947 – Cal Schenkel, American painter and illustrator
• 1947 – Philip Sugden, English historian and author (d. 2014)
• 1948 – Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian dancer, choreographer, and actor
• 1948 – Valeri Brainin, Russian-German composer and poet
• 1948 – Jean-Philippe Collard, French pianist
• 1948 – Gordon Henderson, English politician
• 1949 – Ethan Mordden, American author
• 1950 – Derek Acorah, English medium and television host
• 1950 – Alex Norton, Scottish actor and screenwriter
• 1951 – Brian Downey, Irish drummer and songwriter
• 1951 – Seth Justman, American keyboard player and songwriter
• 1951 – Ken Timbs, American wrestler (d. 2004)
• 1951 – Cees van der Knaap, Dutch soldier and politician
• 1952 – Billy Johnson, American football player and coach
• 1952 – Tam O'Shaughnessy, American tennis player, psychologist, and academic
• 1954 – Peter Laird, American author and illustrator
• 1954 – Jōkō Ninomiya, Japanese-American martial artist
• 1954 – Ed Schultz, American talk show host and sportscaster
• 1955 – Brian Engblom, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
• 1955 – John Roberts, American lawyer and judge; 17th Chief Justice of the United States
• 1955 – Alexander Stuart, English-American author and screenwriter
• 1956 – Mimi Rogers, American actress and producer
• 1956 – Susanne Blakeslee, American actress
• 1957 – Frank Miller, American illustrator, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1958 – James Grippando, American lawyer and author
• 1958 – Kadri Mälk, Estonian jewelry designer
• 1958 – Alan Milburn, English businessman and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• 1958 – Susanna Thompson, American actress
• 1959 – Cris Collinsworth, American football player and sportscaster
• 1959 – Göran Hägglund, Swedish politician; 28th Swedish Minister for Social Affairs
• 1959 – Keith Olbermann, American journalist and author
• 1960 – Fiona O'Donnell, Canadian-Scottish politician
• 1961 – Zarganar, Burmese comedian, actor, and director
• 1961 – Dina Bonnevie, Filipino actress
• 1961 – Gillian Gilbert, English keyboard player and singer (New Order and The Other Two)
• 1961 – Narciso Rodriguez, American fashion designer
• 1961 – Margo Timmins, Canadian singer-songwriter (Cowboy Junkies)
• 1962 – Roberto Paci Dalò, Italian director and composer
• 1963 – George Monbiot, English-Welsh author and activist
• 1964 – Patrick van Deurzen, Dutch composer and academic
• 1964 – Bridget Fonda, American actress
• 1964 – Jack Haley, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2015)
• 1965 – Alan Cumming, Scottish-American actor, singer, director, and producer
• 1965 – Oktay Kaynarca, Turkish actor and producer
• 1965 – Ignacio Noé, Argentinian author and illustrator
• 1965 – Attila Sekerlioglu, Austrian footballer and manager
• 1966 – Tamlyn Tomita, Japanese-American actress and singer
• 1967 – Bobby Deol, Indian actor and singer
• 1967 – Dave Manson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1968 – Tricky, English rapper, producer, and actor
• 1968 – Patrick Blondeau, French footballer
• 1968 – Mike Patton, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantômas, Tomahawk, and Lovage)
• 1968 – Matt Stover, American football player
• 1969 – Cornelius, Japanese singer, guitarist, and producer (Flipper's Guitar and Plastic Ono Band)
• 1969 – Michael Kulas, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer (James)
• 1969 – Patton Oswalt, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1970 – Emmanuel Pahud, Swiss flute player
• 1971 – Patrice Brisebois, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1971 – Toomas Kallaste, Estonian footballer
• 1971 – Fann Wong, Singaporean actress and singer
• 1972 – Mark Owen, English singer-songwriter (Take That)
• 1972 – Josh Randall, American actor
• 1972 – Keith Wood, Irish rugby player and hurdler
• 1973 – Valyantsin Byalkevich, Belarusian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
• 1974 – Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Norwegian skier and biathlete
• 1974 – Andrei Pavel, Romanian tennis player and coach
• 1974 – Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lankan cricketer and coach
• 1976 – Clint Ford, American voice actor
• 1976 – Ahn Jung-hwan, South Korean footballer
• 1976 – Ruby Lin, Taiwanese actress, singer, and producer
• 1976 – Fred Taylor, American football player
• 1978 – Pete Laforest, Canadian-American baseball player and manager
• 1979 – Rosamund Pike, English actress
• 1979 – Liesbet Van Breedam, Belgian volleyball player
• 1979 – Daniel Vettori, New Zealand cricketer and coach
• 1980 – Marat Safin, Russian tennis player and politician
• 1981 – Yaniv Katan, Israeli footballer
• 1981 – Alicia Molik, Australian tennis player
• 1981 – Tony Woodcock, New Zealand rugby player
• 1983 – Carlo Colaiacovo, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1983 – Tim Kasten, German rugby player
• 1985 – Gerard Aafjes, Dutch footballer
• 1985 – Dustley Mulder, Dutch footballer
• 1986 – Giorgi Loria, Georgian footballer
• 1987 – Lily Donaldson, English model
• 1987 – Katy Rose, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1987 – Anton Shunin, Russian footballer
• 1988 – Kerlon, Brazilian footballer
• 1988 – Liu Wen, Chinese model
• 1989 – Alberto Botía, Spanish footballer
• 1989 – Daisy Lowe, English model
• 1989 – Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Dutch footballer
• 1991 – Christian Bickel, German footballer
• 1991 – Juan Govea, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1993 – Yaya Sanogo, French footballer
• 1994 – Rani Khedira, German footballer

Deaths

• 98 – Nerva, Roman emperor (b. 35)
• 457 – Marcian, Byzantine emperor (b. 392)
• 661 – Ali, Arab general and caliph (b. 607)
• 672 – Pope Vitalian
• 1490 – Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shogun (b. 1435)
• 1540 – Angela Merici, Italian educator and saint, founded the Company of St. Ursula (b. 1474)
• 1596 – Francis Drake, English captain and explorer (b. 1540)
• 1629 – Hieronymus Praetorius, German organist and composer (b. 1560)
• 1638 – Gonzalo de Céspedes y Meneses, Spanish author and poet (b. 1585)
• 1651 – Abraham Bloemaert, Dutch painter and illustrator (b. 1566)
• 1689 – Robert Aske, English merchant and philanthropist (b. 1619)
• 1731 – Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker, invented the Piano (b. 1655)
• 1733 – Thomas Woolston, English theologian and author (b. 1669)
• 1740 – Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon (b. 1692)
• 1794 – Antoine Philippe de La Trémoille, French general (b. 1765)
• 1812 – John Perkins, Jamaican captain
• 1814 – Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher and academic (b. 1762)
• 1816 – Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, English admiral and politician (b. 1724)
• 1851 – John James Audubon, French-American ornithologist and painter (b. 1789)
• 1860 – János Bolyai, Romanian-Hungarian mathematician and academic (b. 1802)
• 1880 – Edward Middleton Barry, English architect; co-designed the Halifax Town Hall and the Royal Opera House (b. 1830)
• 1901 – Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer (b. 1813)
• 1910 – Thomas Crapper, English plumber and businessman (b. 1836)
• 1919 – Endre Ady, Hungarian poet and journalist (b. 1877)
• 1921 – Maurice Buckley, Australian sergeant (b. 1891)
• 1922 – Nellie Bly, American journalist and author (b. 1864)
• 1927 – Jurgis Matulaitis-Matulevičius, Lithuanian bishop (b. 1871)
• 1931 – Nishinoumi Kajirō II, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 25th Yokozuna (b. 1880)
• 1940 – Isaac Babel, Russian journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1894)
• 1942 – Kaarel Eenpalu, Estonian journalist and politician; Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1888)
• 1951 – Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Finnish field marshal and politician; 6th President of Finland (b. 1867)
• 1956 – Erich Kleiber, Austrian conductor and director (b. 1890)
• 1961 – Bernard Friedberg, Austrian scholar and author (b. 1876)
• 1963 – John Farrow, Australian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1904)
• 1965 – Abraham Walkowitz, American painter (b. 1878)
• 1967 – Roger B. Chaffee, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1935)
• 1967 – Gus Grissom, American pilot and astronaut (b. 1926)
• 1967 – Alphonse Juin, Algerian-French general (b. 1888)
• 1967 – Edward Higgins White, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1930)
• 1971 – Jacobo Árbenz, Guatemalan captain and politician; President of Guatemala (b. 1913)
• 1972 – Richard Courant, German-American mathematician and academic (b. 1888)
• 1972 – Mahalia Jackson, American singer and actress (b. 1911)
• 1974 – Georgios Grivas, Cypriot general (b. 1898)
• 1975 – Bill Walsh, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1913)
• 1979 – Qalandar Baba Auliya, Indian-Pakistani mystic, philosopher, and scholar (b. 1898)
• 1983 – Louis de Funès, French actor and screenwriter (b. 1914)
• 1986 – Lilli Palmer, German-American actress (b. 1914)
• 1987 – Norman McLaren, Scottish-Canadian animator and director (b. 1914)
• 1988 – Massa Makan Diabaté, Malian historian, author, and playwright (b. 1938)
• 1989 – Thomas Sopwith, English aviator (b. 1888)
• 1993 – André the Giant, French wrestler and actor (b. 1946)
• 1994 – Claude Akins, American actor (b. 1918)
• 1996 – Ralph Yarborough, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (b. 1903)
• 2000 – Friedrich Gulda, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1930)
• 2003 – Louis Archambault, Canadian sculptor (b. 1915)
• 2003 – Henryk Jabłoński, Polish historian and politician, President of Poland (b. 1909)
• 2004 – Salvador Laurel, Filipino politician; 10th Vice President of the Philippines (b. 1928)
• 2004 – Jack Paar, American talk show host and author (b. 1918)
• 2005 – Shah A M S Kibria, Bangladeshi economist and politician (b. 1931)
• 2006 – Gene McFadden, American singer-songwriter and producer (McFadden & Whitehead) (b. 1948)
• 2006 – Johannes Rau, German journalist and politician, 8th President of Germany (b. 1931)
• 2007 – Yang Chuan-kwang, Taiwanese decathlete, long jumper, and hurdler (b. 1933)
• 2008 – Suharto, Indonesian general and politician; 2nd President of Indonesia (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Gordon B. Hinckley, American religious leader and author; 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1910)
• 2009 – Mino Reitano, Italian singer and actor (b. 1944)
• 2009 – John Updike, American author, poet, and critic (b. 1932)
• 2009 – R. Venkataraman, Indian lawyer and politician; 8th President of India (b. 1910)
• 2010 – Zelda Rubinstein, American actress (b. 1933)
• 2010 – J. D. Salinger, American soldier and author (b. 1919)
• 2010 – Ajmer Singh, Indian sprinter and academic (b. 1940)
• 2010 – Howard Zinn, American historian, author, and activist (b. 1922)
• 2011 – Charlie Callas, American actor and drummer (b. 1927)
• 2011 – Mārtiņš Freimanis, Latvian singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1977)
• 2013 – Ivan Bodiul, Ukrainian-Russian politician (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Phạm Duy, Vietnamese singer-songwriter (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Stanley Karnow, American journalist and historian (b. 1925)
• 2014 – Ichirō Nagai, Japanese voice actor (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Pete Seeger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1919)
• 2015 – David Landau, English-Israeli journalist (b. 1947)
• 2015 – Charles Hard Townes, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Angela Merici
  • Blessed Paul Joseph Nardini
  • Devota (Monaco)
  • Enrique de Ossó y Cercelló
  • Sava (Serbia)
  • Phoebe, Dorcas and Lydia (Episcopal, Lutheran)
  • January 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • John Chrysostom (translation of relics) (Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox)
• Liberation of the remaining inmates of Auschwitz-related observances:
  • Holocaust Memorial Day (United Kingdom)
  • International Holocaust Remembrance Day (International)
  • Memorial Day (Italy) (Il Giorno della Memoria) (Italy)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to January 27.

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