Historical Events on January 27

  • 1776: Continental Army Colonel Henry Knox arrives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with the heavy artillery that was captured at Fort Ticonderoga.
  • 1785: The first public university in the U.S., the University of Georgia, is established on this date.
  • 1825: The United States Congress approves Indian Territory in what is now the state of Oklahoma. This would set the table for the forced relocation of American Indians on the Trail of Tears.
  • 1880: A patent for the incandescent lamp is given to Thomas Edison.
  • 1943: United States 8th Air Force heavily bombards the U-boat construction yards located at Wilhelmshaven, Germany using over 90 B-17 and B-24 bombers. This is the first American bombing run on Germany during World War II.
  • 1944: After almost 2 ½ years, the Siege of Leningrad is lifted during WWII.
  • 1945: The Soviets liberate the remaining inmates interned at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp.
  • 1951: Operation Ranger begins. This operation is the official start of nuclear testing at a test site in Nevada.
  • 1967: The Outer Space Treaty is signed by the U.S., the U.K., and the U.S.S.R. This treaty bans nuclear weapons in space and limits use of the Moon and other planetary bodies to be only used for peaceful purposes.
  • 1996: The first official observation of International Holocaust Remembrance Day occurs in Germany.
  • 2003: The Library of Congress announces the first selections for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.

Famous Birthdays on January 27

  • English novelist and mathematician, Lewis Carroll is born in 1832.
  • English painter and author, John Collier is born in 1850.
  • German Emperor Wilhelm II is born in 1859.
  • American author Dorothy Scarborough is born in 1878.
  • American football player, coach and founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Art Rooney is born in 1901.
  • Australian-Swiss neurophysiologist and Nobel Prize Laureate, John Eccles is born in 1903.
  • American General Otto P. Weyland is born in 1903.
  • American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate, Samuel C.C. Ting is born in 1936.
  • American actor James Cromwell is born in 1940.