This day in history

[January 27, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, Jan. 27, the 27th day of 2010. There are 338 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Jan. 27, 1880, Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.

On this date:

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

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

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 1973, the Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan greeted the 52 former American hostages released by Iran at the White House.

In 1985, the secret three-day military-satellite mission of the space shuttle Discovery ended with a smooth landing in Florida.

Ten years ago: President Bill Clinton proposed a $350 billion tax cut, big spending increases for schools and health care and photo ID licenses for handgun purchases in his final State of the Union address.

Five years ago: Condoleezza Rice, in her first day on the job as Secretary of State, reached out to European allies and partners in the war on terrorism and echoed President George W. Bush's inaugural charge to promote liberty across the globe. Frail survivors and humbled world leaders remembered the victims of the Holocaust as they marked the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz.

One year ago: Saying, "The American people expect action," President Barack Obama held closed-door meetings with House and Senate Republicans on the eve of a key vote on an economic stimulus package. A man in Wilmington, Calif. fatally shot his wife, five young children and himself after faxing a note to a TV station claiming the couple had just been fired from their hospital jobs. Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist John Updike died in Danvers, Mass. at age 76.

Today's birthdays: Singer Bobby "Blue" Bland is 80. Actor James Cromwell is 70. Actor John Witherspoon is 68. Rock musician Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) is 65. Rhythm-and-blues singer Nedra Talley (The Ronettes) is 64. Ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov is 62. Chief U.S. Justice John Roberts is 55. Country singer Cheryl White is 55. Country singer-musician Richard Young (The Kentucky Headhunters) is 55. Actress Mimi Rogers is 54. Rock musician Janick Gers (Iron Maiden) is 53. Sports and political commentator Keith Olbermann is 51. Rock singer Margo Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) is 49. Rock musician Gillian Gilbert is 49. Actress Bridget Fonda is 46. Actor Alan Cumming is 45. Country singer Tracy Lawrence is 42. Rock singer Mike Patton is 42. Rapper Tricky is 42. Rock musician Michael Kulas (James) is 41. Actor-comedian Patton Oswalt is 41. Actor Josh Randall is 38. Country singer Kevin Denney is 34. Tennis player Marat Safin is 30.

Thought for today: "Who never doubted, never half believed. Where doubt is, there truth is - it is her shadow." -- Gamaliel Bailey, American abolitionist (1807-1859)

[Associated Press]

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