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UPI Almanac for Friday, Jan. 27, 2017

On Jan. 27, 1984, singer Michael Jackson sustained a burn on his scalp during the filming of a soft-drink commercial.

By United Press International
Singer Michael Jackson performs at "A Night At The Apollo" concert held on April 24, 2002, at New York City Apollo theatre to kick off a nationwide Democratic National Committee voter registration initiative. File Photo by Ezio Petersen/UPI
Singer Michael Jackson performs at "A Night At The Apollo" concert held on April 24, 2002, at New York City Apollo theatre to kick off a nationwide Democratic National Committee voter registration initiative. File Photo by Ezio Petersen/UPI | License Photo

Today is Friday, Jan. 27, the 27th day of 2017 with 338 to follow.

The moon is new. Morning stars are Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury. Evening stars are Neptune, Venus, Mars and Uranus.

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Aquarius. They include composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1756; author Lewis Carroll (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) in 1832; labor organizer Samuel Gompers in 1850; composer Jerome Kern in 1885; U.S. Adm. Hyman Rickover, "father of the nuclear Navy," in 1900; Art Rooney, founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers, in 1901; U.S. newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst Jr. in 1908; musician Elmore James in 1918; musician Skitch Henderson in 1918; actor Donna Reed in 1921; actor Troy Donahue in 1936; actor James Cromwell in 1940 (age 77): Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire in 1944 (age 72); drummer Nick Mason of Pink Floyd in 1944 (age 73); Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts in 1955 (age 62); actor Mimi Rogers in 1956 (age 61); news commentator Keith Olbermann in 1959 (age 58); former NFL player and television commentator Cris Collinsworth in 1959 (age 58); actor Bridget Fonda in 1964 (age 53); actor Alan Cumming in 1965 (age 52).

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On this date in history:

In 1606, the surviving conspirators in the "Gunpowder Treason" plot to blow up the English Parliament and the king of England on Nov. 5, 1605, were convicted. They were executed four days later.

In 1785, the first public university in the United States was founded as the University of Georgia.

In 1880, Thomas Edison was granted a patent for an electric incandescent lamp.

In 1888, The National Geographic Society was founded in Washington.

In 1926, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird launched a revolution in communication and entertainment with the first public demonstration of a true television system in London.

In 1967, U.S. astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee died in a fire aboard the Apollo 1 spacecraft during a launch simulation at Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

In 1973, the United States and North Vietnam signed a cease-fire agreement following lengthy Paris talks between U.S. national security adviser Henry Kissinger and Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho. The same day, the United States announced an end to the military draft. Although the U.S.combat mission officially ended in 1973, the Vietnam War would not be over until April of 1975.

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In 1984, singer Michael Jackson sustained a burn on his scalp during the filming of a soft-drink commercial.

In 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan acknowledged mistakes and accepted responsibility in the Iran-Contra arms scandal.

In 1991, U.S. planes bombed pipelines to Kuwaiti oil fields to cut off the flow of oil into the Persian Gulf.

In 1996, France conducted an open-air nuclear test in the South Pacific.

In 1998, in his State of the Union address, U.S. President Bill Clinton hailed the fact that the federal government would have a balanced budget in 1999 -- the first in 30 years.

In 2004, Jack Paar, who brought sophisticated humor to late-night TV as the host of The Tonight Show, died following a long illness. He was 85.

In 2009, the U.S. Defense Department said Afghanistan militants had directed 3,276 roadside bombs at Western troops in 2008. The bombings claimed 161 lives.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it was replacing the nationwide color-coded, terror-alert scale with a system that would focus on specific terror threats to potential targets.

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In 2013, fire at the overcrowded Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, Brazil, killed more than 230 people, most of them victims of smoke inhalation. About 170 others were injured.

In 2014, U.S. folk singer Pete Seeger, who wrote "If I Had a Hammer," "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and "Where Have all the Flowers Gone?" died in New York City at the age of 94.


A thought for the day: "Corrupt politicians make the other 10 percent look bad." -- Henry Kissinger

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