TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – JAN 27 2020
661 The 4th Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, Ali ibn Abu Talib is struck on the head while praying at the Great Mosque of Kufa, Mesopotamia by a poison-coated sword wielded by Ibn Muljam a Kharijite, dies two days later
1591 Scottish schoolmaster Dr. John Fian burned for witchcraft at Castle Hill, Edinburgh by order King James VI. Part of the Berwick witch trials.
1606 The trial of Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators began. They were executed on January 31.
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.
1888 The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C. for “the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge”
1900 Foreign diplomats in Peking, China, write formal notes of protest demanding that the Chinese Government stop the Boxes and other groups leading attacks on Westerners and Christians.
1926 US Senate agrees to join World Court
1927 United Independent Broadcasters Inc. started a radio network with contracts with 16 stations. The company later became Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS).
1945 The Russians liberated Auschwitz concentration camp, where the Nazis had killed over 1.5 million people, including over 1 million Jews.
1959 NASA selects 110 candidates for the first U.S. space flight.
1967 A fire in the Apollo 1 Command Module kills astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee during a launch rehearsal
1967 More than 60 nations signed the Outer Space Treaty which banned the orbiting of nuclear weapons and placing weapons on celestial bodies or space stations.
1969 Chuck Noll is named head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers (the youngest coach in NFL history at the time)
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 Robert Mugabe returns to Rhodesia after 5 years in exile
1992 Presidential candidate Bill Clinton (D) & Genifer Flowers accuse each other of lying over her assertion they had a 12-year affair
1997 It was revealed that French national museums were holding nearly 2,000 works of art stolen from Jews by the Nazis during World War II.
1999 The U.S. Senate blocked dismissal of the impeachment case against President Clinton and voted for new testimony from Monica Lewinsky and two other witnesses.
2010 Steve Jobs unveiled the Apple iPad.
2017 Donald Trump issues executive order banning travel to the US for 7 mostly Muslim countries and suspending admission for refugees
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
