Today in History for Jan. 27, 2013

Today is Sunday, Jan. 27, the 27th day of 2013. There are 338 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight:

On Jan. 27, 1973, the Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris.

On this date:

In 1756, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria.

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

In 1888, the National Geographic Society was incorporated in Washington, D.C.

In 1901, opera composer Giuseppe Verdi died in Milan, Italy, at age 87.

In 1913, the musical play “The Isle O’ Dreams” opened in New York; it featured the song “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” by Ernest R. Ball, Chauncey Olcott and George Graff Jr.

In 1943, some 50 bombers struck Wilhelmshaven in the first all-American air raid against Germany during World War II.

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

In 1945, Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland.

In 1951, an era of atomic testing in the Nevada desert began as an Air Force plane dropped a one-kiloton bomb on Frenchman Flat.

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

In 1977, the Vatican issued a declaration reaffirming the Roman Catholic Church’s ban on female priests.

In 1984, singer Michael Jackson suffered serious burns to his scalp when pyrotechnics set his hair on fire during the filming of a Pepsi-Cola TV commercial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Ten years ago: The Bush administration dismissed Iraq’s response to U.N. disarmament demands as inadequate. Meanwhile, chief U.N. inspector Hans Blix charged that Iraq had never genuinely accepted U.N. resolutions demanding its disarmament and warned that “cooperation on substance” was necessary for a peaceful solution.

Five years ago: Former Indonesian president Suharto, whose regime killed hundreds of thousands of left-wing political opponents, died in Jakarta at age 86. Gordon B. Hinckley, the 15th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died in Salt Lake City, Utah, at age 97. Novak Djokovic fended off unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the Australian Open final, earning his first Grand Slam title. Evan Lysacek won his second-straight title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Paul, Minn.

One year ago: Addressing students at the University of Michigan, President Barack Obama issued a warning to the nation’s colleges and universities, threatening to strip their federal aid if they “jack up tuition” every year and to give the money instead to schools showing restraint and value. A federal judge in Seattle sentenced “Barefoot Bandit” Colton Harris-Moore to 6½ years in prison for his infamous two-year, international crime spree of break-ins and boat and plane thefts. Former Boston Mayor Kevin H. White died at age 82.

Today’s birthdays: Singer Bobby “Blue” Bland is 83. Actor James Cromwell is 73. Actor John Witherspoon is 71. Rock musician Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) is 68. Rhythm-and-blues singer Nedra Talley (The Ronettes) is 67. Ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov is 65. Chief U.S. Justice John Roberts is 58. Country singer Cheryl White is 58. Country singer-musician Richard Young (The Kentucky Headhunters) is 58. Actress Mimi Rogers is 57. Rock musician Janick Gers (Iron Maiden) is 56. Commentator Keith Olbermann is 54. Rock singer Margo Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) is 52. Rock musician Gillian Gilbert is 52. Actress Bridget Fonda is 49. Actor Alan Cumming is 48. Country singer Tracy Lawrence is 45. Rock singer Mike Patton is 45. Rapper Tricky is 45. Rock musician Michael Kulas (James) is 44. Actor-comedian Patton Oswalt is 44. Actor Josh Randall is 41. Country singer Kevin Denney is 37. Tennis player Marat Safin is 33.

Thought for today: “Opinion is that exercise of the human will which helps us to make a decision without information.” — John Erskine, American author and educator (1879-1951).