On Jan. 27, 1880, Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.
Other Notable Events:
In 1340, Edward III of England declares himself king of France, a claim that leads to the Hundred Years' War. The kings of England call themselves kings of France until 1801.
In 1606, the surviving conspirators in the "Gunpowder Treason" plot to blow up the English Parliament and the king of England on Nov. 5, 1605, were convicted and executed four days later.
In 1695, Mustafa II succeeds as Sultan of Turkey on death of Ahmad II.
In 1756, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria.
In 1822, Greek independence is formally proclaimed.
In 1832, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who wrote "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" under the pen name Lewis Carroll, was born in Cheshire, England.
In 1865, a treaty between Spain and Peru recognised Peru's independence.
In 1888, the National Geographic Society was incorporated in the US.
In 1901, opera composer Giuseppe Verdi died in Milan, Italy, at age 87.
In 1910, Thomas Crapper, often described as the prime developer of the flush toilet mechanism as it is known today, died in England.
In 1914, Haiti's President Oreste abdicates during revolt, and US Marines land to preserve order.
In 1926, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird launched a revolution in communication and entertainment with the first public demonstration of a true television system in London.
In 1943, some 50 bombers struck Wilhelmshaven in the first all-American air raid against Germany. Germany began civil conscription of women.
In 1944, the Soviet Union announced the complete end of the deadly German siege of Leningrad, which had lasted for more than two years. At least 650,000 people died during the 872-day siege.
In 1945, Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland.
In 1964, France establishes diplomatic relations with China.
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 1977, The Vatican reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's ban on female priests.
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan greeted the 52 former American hostages released by Iran at the White House. Indonesia's Tampo Mas II passenger ship catches fire and sinks in Java Sea, killing 580 people.
In 1985, the secret three-day military-satellite mission of the space shuttle Discovery ended with a smooth landing in Florida.
In 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan acknowledged mistakes and accepted responsibility in the Iran arms scandal.
In 1991, President Mohammed Siad Barre of Somalia flees the capital, Mogadishu, as a coalition of rebels seize power. The country plunges into virtual anarchy. U.S. planes bombed the pipelines to Kuwaiti oil fields to cut off the flow of oil into the Persian Gulf.
In 1993, Police in New Delhi lob tear gas shells to disperse rioting mobs of Hindus and Muslims who attack a mosque and a temple and burn down dozens of shops.
In 1994, terrorists struck three times in Northern Ireland, killing the first two victims of the new year and wounding two others.
In 1995, Burmese soldiers won a key battle against one of the world's oldest insurgencies, capturing the base of Burma's largest Karen rebel army in the Burmese jungle.
In 1996, Niger's first democratically elected president, Mahamane Ousmane, was ousted in a coup and army Col Barre Mainassara Ibrahim takes over as head of state. France conducted an open-air nuclear test in the South Pacific.
In 1997, the people of Chechnya went to the polls to elect Aslan Maskhadov for president, only months after Russian forces turned most of the capital to rubble.
In 1998, in his State of the Union address, U.S. President Bill Clinton hailed the fact that the federal government would have a balanced budget in 1999 -- the first in 30 years. 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." Bowing to the wish of the pope, the Catholic Church in Germany stops issuing certificates allowing abortion.
In 2000, President Bill Clinton proposed a $350 billion tax cut, big spending increases for schools and health care and photo ID licenses for handgun purchases in his final State of the Union address. Human rights officials announce that they have unearthed the remains of 50 people at a clandestine cemetery in Zacualpa, a village 64 kilometres (40 miles) north-west of Guatemala City. The victims, including two children, were apparent casualties of Guatemala's 36-year civil war.
In 2001, police fired tear gas and warning shots as thousands of rock-throwing students in Jakarta stormed the gates of Indonesia's Parliament in the largest protest yet against the country's president.
In 2002, munitions at an army base in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, exploded, sending fireballs and shrapnel into the air forcing hundreds of area residents to flee. As many as 600 people drown in a canal that blocked their way to safety.
In 2003, the head U.N. inspector for atomic weapons said no evidence had been found that Iraq was reviving its nuclear weapons program.
In 2005, Condoleezza Rice, in her first day on the job as Secretary of State, reached out to European allies and partners in the war on terrorism and echoed President George W. Bush's inaugural charge to promote liberty across the globe. Frail survivors and humbled world leaders remembered the victims of the Holocaust as they marked the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz. A court sentenced Peru's former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos to eight years in prison for paying tabloids hundreds of thousands of dollars to run smear campaigns against opponents of ex-President Alberto Fujimori. At least 13 Iraqis were killed and 15 wounded as violence swept Iraq days before national elections. Also in 2005, U.N. officials in Sudan said about 100 people were killed or injured in the bombing by Sudanese government planes of a north Darfur village.
In 2006, Western Union delivered its last telegram. Bolivian President Evo Morales cut his salary in half and ordered that no Cabinet minister collect a higher wage than his own, with the savings being used to hire more public school teachers.
In 2007, suspected Muslim separatists ambushed police patrols and torched a school in southern Thailand, a day after killing a police sergeant and setting fire to a government school. As the Bush administration sought more troops for Iraq, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in Washington to urge a U.S. troop withdrawal.
In 2008, former Indonesian president Suharto, whose regime killed hundreds of thousands of left-wing political opponents, died in Jakarta at age 86.
In 2009, saying, "The American people expect action," President Barack Obama held closed-door meetings with House and Senate Republicans on the eve of a key vote on an economic stimulus package. The U.S. Defense Department announced that Afghanistan militants had directed 3,276 roadside bombs at Western troops in 2008. The bombings claimed 161 lives. A man in Wilmington, Calif. fatally shot his wife, five young children and himself after faxing a note to a TV station claiming the couple had just been fired from their hospital jobs. Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist John Updike died in Danvers, Mass. at age 76.
Today's Birthdays January 27: Singer Bobby "Blue" Bland is 80. Actor James Cromwell is 70. Actor John Witherspoon is 68. Rock musician Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) is 65. Rhythm-and-blues singer Nedra Talley (The Ronettes) is 64. Ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov is 62. Chief US Justice John Roberts is 55. Country singer Cheryl White is 55. Country singer-musician Richard Young (The Kentucky Headhunters) is 55. Actress Mimi Rogers is 54. Rock musician Janick Gers (Iron Maiden) is 53. Sports and political commentator Keith Olbermann is 51. Sportscaster & former NFL player Cris Collingsworth is 51. Rock singer Margo Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) is 49. Rock musician Gillian Gilbert is 49. Actress Bridget Fonda is 46. Actor Alan Cumming is 45. Country singer Tracy Lawrence is 42. Rock singer Mike Patton is 42. Rapper Tricky is 42. Rock musician Michael Kulas (James) is 41. Actor-comedian Patton Oswalt is 41. Actor Josh Randall is 38. Country singer Kevin Denney is 34. Tennis player Marat Safin is 30.
Also: Edouard Lalo, French composer (1823-1892); labor organizer Samuel Gompers (1850); U.S. Navy Adm. Hyman Rickover, "father of the nuclear Navy" (1900); Pittsburgh Steelers founder Art Rooney (1901); U.S. newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, Jr. (1908); musicians Elmore James and Skitch Henderson (both 1918); actress Donna Reed (1921); Canadian novelist Mordecai Richler (1931-2001).
Today In Entertainment History January 27
In 1885, Broadway composer Jerome Kern was born in New York City.
In 1968, "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding was released, six weeks after he was killed in a plane crash.
In 1970, John Lennon recorded "Instant Karma."
In 1972, singer Mahalia Jackson died of heart failure in Chicago. She was 60.
In 1976, "Laverne and Shirley" premiered on ABC.
In 1984, Michael Jackson was burned on his scalp during the filming of a Pepsi commercial that featured special effects. He was briefly hospitalized.
In 1991, Whitney Houston sang the "Star-Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl. It was revealed later she actually sang over a pre-recorded version of the anthem.
In 1992, C&C Music Factory dominated the 19th annual American Music Awards, winning five trophies.
In 1993, Warner Brothers Records announced that it was releasing rapper Ice-T from his contract due to what it called "creative differences." The previous summer, the record company was in the middle of the controversy over Ice-T's song "Cop Killer."
In 2004, Jack Paar, who brought sophisticated humor to late-night TV as the host of "The Tonight Show," died following a long illness. He was 85.
Thought for Today: "Who never doubted, never half believed. Where doubt is, there truth is — it is her shadow." — Gamaliel Bailey, American abolitionist (1807-1859).
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