TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – JAN 27
661 Rashidun Caliphate, then the largest empire in history, ends with death of Ali. Succeeded by the Umayyad Caliphate
1695 Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan in Istanbul on the death of Amhed II.
1825 Congress approves Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for forced relocation of the Eastern Indians on the “Trail of Tears.”
1862 President Abraham Lincoln issues General War Order No. 1, setting in motion the Union armies.
1870 After accepting 15th amendment, Virginia is readmitted to Union
1880 Thomas Edison patents electric incandescent lamp
1888 The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C. for “the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge”
1891 Mine explosion kills 109 at Mount Pleasant PA
1908 Pasiphaë, a satellite of Jupiter, discovered by Melotte
1915 US Marines occupy Haiti
1916 President Woodrow Wilson opens preparedness program.
1924 Lenin’s body is laid in a marble tomb on Red Square near the Kremlin.
1941 The United States and Great Britain begin high-level military talks in Washington.
1945 Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz and Birkenau Concentration Camps in Poland
1959 NASA selects 110 candidates for the first U.S. space flight.
1967 U.S., U.K. and Soviet Union sign the Outer Space Treaty The treaty bans the deployment of nuclear weapons in outer space and limits the use of the Moon to peaceful purposes.
1967 The Apollo I fire killed astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee during a simulated launch at Cape Canaveral.
1970 Movie rating system modifies “M” rating to “PG”
1973 A cease fire in Vietnam is called as the Paris peace accords are signed by the United States and North Vietnam.
1978 The State Supreme Court rules that Nazis can display the Swastika in a march in Skokie, Illinois.
1980 The Rhodesian black nationalist leader Robert Mugabe returns to Rhodesia after five years in exile. Cheering crowds greeted Mr Mugabe’s arrival in the capita
1988 Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves nomination of Judge Anthony M Kennedy to US Supreme Court
1992 Presidential candidate Bill Clinton (D) & Genifer Flowers accuse each other of lying over her assertion they had a 12-year affair
2002 Explosions at a munitions store cause a huge explosion. in Lagos, Nigeria, which starts a stampede of fleeing people, during which more than 1,000 people are killed.
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
