On this day: January 27

Events on January 27

• 98 Trajan succeeded his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; the Roman Empire reached its maximum extent under his rule. Wikipedia
• 945 The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Wikipedia
• 1302 Dante Alighieri is condemned in absentia and exiled from Florence. Wikipedia
• 1343 Clement VI issued the papal bull Unigenitus, justifying the power of the pope and the use of indulgences. Wikipedia
• 1695 Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan and Caliph of Islam in Istanbul on the death of Ahmed II. Mustafa rules until his abdication in 1703. Wikipedia
• 1726 J. S. Bach led the first performance of Alles nur nach Gottes Willen, BWV 72, concluding his third Christmas season in Leipzig on the Third Sunday after Epiphany. Wikipedia
• 1726 J. S. Bach leads the first performance of Alles nur nach Gottes Willen, BWV 72, concluding his third Christmas season in Leipzig on the Third Sunday after Epiphany. Wikipedia
• 1825 The U.S. Congress approves Indian Territory (in what is present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for forced relocation of the Eastern Indians on the "Trail of Tears". Wikipedia
• 1825 On the advice of John C. Calhoun, President James Monroe asked Congress to organize Indian Territory (map pictured) west of the Mississippi River, laying the groundwork for Indian removal in the United States. Wikipedia
• 1874 Modest Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov premieres in Mariinsky Theatre in St.Petersburg. Wikipedia
• 1880 Thomas Edison receives a patent for his incandescent lamp. Wikipedia
• 1916 World War I: The British government passes the Military Service Act that introduces conscription in the United Kingdom. Wikipedia
• 1924 Six days after his death, Vladimir Lenin's body is carried into a specially erected mausoleum. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: The Eighth Air Force sorties ninety-one B-17s and B-24s to attack the U-boat construction yards at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. This was the first American bombing attack on Germany. Wikipedia
• 1945 The Soviet Red Army liberated about 7,000 prisoners left behind by the Nazis in Auschwitz concentration camp. Wikipedia
• 1967 Cold War: The Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom sign the Outer Space Treaty in Washington, D.C., banning deployment of nuclear weapons in space, and limiting the usage of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes. Wikipedia
• 1967 Apollo program: Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their Apollo 1 spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Wikipedia
• 1980 Through cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escape hostilities in Iran in the culmination of the Canadian Caper. Wikipedia
• 1980 Six American diplomats who had evaded capture in the Iran hostage crisis escaped with the help of Canadian government officials to Zürich, Switzerland. Wikipedia
• 1996 In a military coup, Colonel Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara deposes the first democratically elected president of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane. Wikipedia
• 2002 An explosion at a military storage facility in Lagos, Nigeria, kills at least 1,100 people and displaces over 20,000 others. Wikipedia
• 2010 Apple announces the iPad. Wikipedia
• 2011 Arab Spring: The Yemeni Revolution began as more than 16,000 protesters demonstrated in Sanaa to demand governmental changes. Wikipedia
• 2013 Two hundred and forty-two people die in a nightclub fire in the Brazilian city of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul. Wikipedia
• 2014 Rojava conflict: The Kobanî Canton declares its autonomy from the Syrian Arab Republic. Wikipedia
• 2019 MBC Newsdesk reported on a nightclub assault in Seoul, South Korea, leading to the Burning Sun scandal, which involved several Korean idols and police officials. Wikipedia

Born on January 27

• 1571 Abbas I of Persia (died 1629) Wikipedia
• 1756 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian pianist and composer (died 1791) Wikipedia
• 1775 Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, German-Swiss philosopher and academic (died 1854) Wikipedia
• 1814 Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect, designed the Lausanne Cathedral (died 1879) Wikipedia
• 1826 Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian journalist and author (died 1889) Wikipedia
• 1832 Lewis Carroll, English novelist, poet, and mathematician (died 1898) Wikipedia
• 1836 Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian journalist and author (died 1895) Wikipedia
• 1859 Wilhelm II, German Emperor during World War I (died 1941) Wikipedia
• 1893 Soong Ching-ling, Chinese politician, Honorary President of the People's Republic of China (died 1981) Wikipedia
• 1903 John Eccles, Australian-Swiss neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1997) Wikipedia
• 1921 Donna Reed, American actress (died 1986) Wikipedia
• 1924 Rauf Denktaş, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 1st President of Northern Cyprus (died 2012) Wikipedia
• 1934 Édith Cresson, French politician and diplomat, Prime Minister of France Wikipedia
• 1936 Samuel C. C. Ting, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1942 Tasuku Honjo, Japanese immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine Wikipedia
• 1944 Mairead Maguire, Northern Irish activist, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1948 Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian-American dancer, choreographer, and actor Wikipedia
• 1955 John Roberts, American lawyer and judge, 17th Chief Justice of the United States Wikipedia
• 1964 Bridget Fonda, American actress Wikipedia
• 1974 Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Norwegian skier and biathlete Wikipedia
• 1980 Marat Safin, Russian tennis player and politician Wikipedia
• 2000 Aurélien Tchouaméni, French footballer Wikipedia

Died on January 27

• 98 Nerva, Roman emperor (born 35) Wikipedia
• 1596 Francis Drake, English captain and explorer (born 1540) Wikipedia
• 1731 Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker, invented the piano (born 1655) Wikipedia
• 1814 Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher and academic (born 1762) Wikipedia
• 1873 Adam Sedgwick, British geologist, Anglican priest and doctoral advisor to Charles Darwin (born 1785) Wikipedia
• 1901 Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer (born 1813) Wikipedia
• 1951 Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Finnish field marshal and politician, 6th President of Finland (born 1867) Wikipedia
• 1983 Louis de Funès, French actor and screenwriter (born 1914) Wikipedia
• 2008 Suharto, Indonesian general and politician, 2nd President of Indonesia (born 1921) Wikipedia
• 2009 John Updike, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (born 1932) Wikipedia
• 2010 J. D. Salinger, American soldier and author (born 1919) Wikipedia
• 2014 Pete Seeger, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and activist (born 1919) Wikipedia
• 2015 Charles Hard Townes, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1915) Wikipedia
• 2018 Ingvar Kamprad, Founder of IKEA (born 1926) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Angela Merici Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Paul Joseph Nardini Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Devota (Monaco) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Enrique de Ossó y Cercelló Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: John Chrysostom (translation of relics) (Anglican, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Sava (Serbia) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: January 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Day of the lifting of the siege of Leningrad (Russia) Wikipedia
• Liberation of the remaining inmates of Auschwitz-related observances: Holocaust Memorial Day (UK) Wikipedia
• Liberation of the remaining inmates of Auschwitz-related observances: International Holocaust Remembrance Day Wikipedia
• Liberation of the remaining inmates of Auschwitz-related observances: Memorial Day (Italy) Wikipedia
• Liberation of the remaining inmates of Auschwitz-related observances: Other Holocaust Memorial Days observances Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “January 27” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.