On This Day: January 27

Updated January 26, 2012, 1:28 pm

On Jan. 27, 1967, 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 at Cape Kennedy, Fla.

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On Jan. 27, 1885, Jerome (David) Kern, one of America’s foremost composers of music for the theatre and screen, was born. Following his death on Nov. 11, 1945, his obituary appeared in The Times.

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On This Date

By The Associated Press

1756 Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria.

1832 Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who wrote “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” under the pen name Lewis Carroll, was born in Cheshire, England.

1880 Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.

1885 Broadway composer Jerome Kern was born in New York City.

1944 The Soviet Union announced the end of the deadly German siege of Leningrad, which had lasted for more than two years.

1951 The era of atomic testing in the Nevada desert began.

1967 Astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee died in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo 1 spacecraft at Cape Kennedy, Fla.

1967 More than 60 nations signed a treaty banning the orbiting of nuclear weapons.

1973 The Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris.

1998 First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, appearing on NBC’s “Today” show, said that allegations against her husband were the work of a “vast right-wing conspiracy.”

2006 Western Union delivered its last telegram.

2010 Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad tablet computer during a presentation in San Francisco.

2010 J.D. Salinger, the reclusive author of “The Catcher in the Rye,” died in Cornish, N.H. at age 91.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Chief Justice John Roberts turns 57 years old today.

AP Photo/Michael Conroy

Actor Alan Cumming turns 47 years old today.

AP Photo/Peter Kramer

1930 Bobby “Blue” Bland, Singer, turns 82

1940 James Cromwell, Actor, turns 72

1945 Nick Mason, Rock musician (Pink Floyd), turns 67

1948 Mikhail Baryshnikov, Ballet dancer, turns 64

1956 Mimi Rogers, Actress, turns 56

1959 Keith Olbermann, TV host, turns 53

1964 Bridget Fonda, Actress, turns 48

1968 Mike Patton, Rock singer (Faith No More), turns 44

1980 Marat Safin, Tennis player, turns 32

Historic Birthdays

Jerome (David) Kern 1/27/1885 – 11/11/1945 American musical comedy composer.Go to obituary »

35 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1/27/1756 – 12/5/1791
Austrian composer

66 David Friedrich Strauss 1/27/1808 – 2/8/1874
German-Protestant philosopher, theologian

69 Édouard Lalo 1/27/1823 – 4/22/1892
French composer

87 Jozef Israëls 1/27/1824 – 8/12/1911
Dutch painter and etcher

65 Lewis Carroll 1/27/1832 – 1/14/1898
English logician, mathematician, photographer, and novelist

89 Learned Hand 1/27/1872 – 8/18/1961
American jurist

59 Victor Moritz Goldschmidt 1/27/1888 – 3/20/1947
Swiss-born Norwegian mineralogist and petrologist

89 Ch’ing-ling Soong 1/27/1892 – 5/29/1981
Chinese political figure

86 Hyman G. Rickover 1/27/1900 – 7/8/1986
American naval officer and nuclear engineer

1756	Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria.
1832	Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who wrote “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” under the pen name Lewis Carroll, was born in Cheshire, England.
1880	Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.
1885	Broadway composer Jerome Kern was born in New York City.
1944	The Soviet Union announced the end of the deadly German siege of Leningrad, which had lasted for more than two years.
1951	The era of atomic testing in the Nevada desert began.
1967	Astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee died in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo 1 spacecraft at Cape Kennedy, Fla.
1967	More than 60 nations signed a treaty banning the orbiting of nuclear weapons.
1973	The Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris.
1998	First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, appearing on NBC’s “Today” show, said that allegations against her husband were the work of a “vast right-wing conspiracy.”
2006	Western Union delivered its last telegram.
2010	Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad tablet computer during a presentation in San Francisco.
2010	J.D. Salinger, the reclusive author of “The Catcher in the Rye,” died in Cornish, N.H. at age 91.

1930	Bobby “Blue” Bland, Singer, turns 82
1940	James Cromwell, Actor, turns 72
1945	Nick Mason, Rock musician (Pink Floyd), turns 67
1948	Mikhail Baryshnikov, Ballet dancer, turns 64
1956	Mimi Rogers, Actress, turns 56
1959	Keith Olbermann, TV host, turns 53
1964	Bridget Fonda, Actress, turns 48
1968	Mike Patton, Rock singer (Faith No More), turns 44
1980	Marat Safin, Tennis player, turns 32

35	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1/27/1756 – 12/5/1791 Austrian composer
66	David Friedrich Strauss 1/27/1808 – 2/8/1874 German-Protestant philosopher, theologian
69	Édouard Lalo 1/27/1823 – 4/22/1892 French composer
87	Jozef Israëls 1/27/1824 – 8/12/1911 Dutch painter and etcher
65	Lewis Carroll 1/27/1832 – 1/14/1898 English logician, mathematician, photographer, and novelist
89	Learned Hand 1/27/1872 – 8/18/1961 American jurist
59	Victor Moritz Goldschmidt 1/27/1888 – 3/20/1947 Swiss-born Norwegian mineralogist and petrologist
89	Ch’ing-ling Soong 1/27/1892 – 5/29/1981 Chinese political figure
86	Hyman G. Rickover 1/27/1900 – 7/8/1986 American naval officer and nuclear engineer