Today in History, January 27th
On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz. Plus the Apollo 1 fire, the Paris Peace Accords, and the end of the siege of Leningrad.
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January 27 is best known for 1945, when Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz concentration and death camp in occupied Poland, a date now observed as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The date also saw three Apollo 1 astronauts killed in a launch pad fire in 1967 and the signing of the Paris Peace Accords to end U.S. involvement in Vietnam in 1973.
The big story: Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz (1945)
Auschwitz was a complex of three main camps in German-occupied Poland: the original camp, the killing center at Birkenau, and the labor camp at Monowitz. About 1.1 million people were murdered there, roughly one million of them Jews. As the Red Army closed in, the SS tried to erase the evidence. On January 17, 1945, guards counted about 67,000 prisoners and began driving most of them west on foot in winter. Those who fell behind were shot. On January 26, the SS blew up the last crematorium at Birkenau. The next day, Soviet soldiers reached the camps and found about 7,000 prisoners left behind, most of them sick or starving, including more than 200 children. They also found hundreds of bodies. Auschwitz became the best-known symbol of the Holocaust, and January 27 is observed as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
More events on January 27
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1302 | The poet Dante Alighieri, a former leader of Florence’s government, was exiled from the city. He began The Divine Comedy during his years of wandering. |
| 1785 | Georgia’s legislature incorporated the University of Georgia, the first state-chartered university in the new nation. |
| 1888 | The National Geographic Society was incorporated in Washington, D.C., “for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge.” |
| 1943 | American bombers struck Germany for the first time, hitting the port of Wilhelmshaven. |
| 1944 | Soviet forces broke the German siege of Leningrad after 872 days. Hundreds of thousands of residents had died, many from starvation. |
| 1951 | The U.S. set off its first atomic test at the Nevada Proving Ground, about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The flash was seen as far away as San Francisco. |
| 1967 | Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee died when fire swept their Apollo 1 capsule during a launch rehearsal at Cape Canaveral. |
| 1973 | The U.S., North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and the Viet Cong signed the Paris Peace Accords, calling for a cease-fire, the release of prisoners of war, and the withdrawal of U.S. troops within 60 days. |
| 1993 | Hawaii-born Chad Rowan, known as Akebono, became the first non-Japanese wrestler promoted to yokozuna, sumo’s highest rank. |
| 2002 | A fire at a military armory in Lagos, Nigeria, set off a huge explosion. In the panic that followed, more than 1,000 people died, many of them drowned in a canal while fleeing. |
| 2010 | Apple unveiled the iPad, starting at $499. |
Born on January 27
- 1756: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer, born in Salzburg.
- 1832: Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson in Daresbury, England.
- 1850: Samuel Gompers, founding leader of the American Federation of Labor, born in London.
- 1948: Mikhail Baryshnikov, ballet dancer, born in Riga, Latvia, then part of the Soviet Union.
Sources
- Auschwitz, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Soviets liberate Auschwitz, History.com
- Dante is exiled from Florence, History.com
- National Geographic Society founded, History.com
- Americans bomb Germans for first time, History.com
- Siege of Leningrad is lifted, History.com
- First atomic detonation at the Nevada test site, History.com
- Astronauts die in launch pad fire, History.com
- Paris Peace Accords signed, History.com
- Explosions trigger deadly panic in Nigeria, History.com
