Today in History: January 27, Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps liberated by Soviet troops

Today is Tuesday, Jan. 27, the 27th day of 2026. There are 338 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 27, 1945, during World War II, Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz and Birkenau Nazi concentration camps in Poland.

Also on this date:

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

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

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 1 spacecraft at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

In 1973, the Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris, ending direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

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.

In 2002, a series of explosions rocked an armory in Lagos, Nigeria, starting fires in nearby neighborhoods and killing hundreds of people. Many of those who died were area residents who drowned in a canal in darkness while fleeing the blasts.

In 2013, a fire started by pyrotechnics in the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, killed 242 people and injured over 600.

In 2017, President Donald Trump barred all refugees from entering the United States for four months, declaring the ban necessary to prevent "radical Islamic terrorists" from entering the country.

In 2023, a Palestinian gunman opened fire outside an east Jerusalem synagogue during Jewish observances of the Sabbath, killing seven people and wounded three others before he was shot and killed by police.

Today's birthdays: Actor James Cromwell is 86. Rock musician Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) is 82. Ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov is 78. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is 71. Political and sports commentator Keith Olbermann is 67. Actor Bridget Fonda is 62. Actor Alan Cumming is 61. Country singer Tracy Lawrence is 58. Rock singer Mike Patton is 58. Rapper Tricky is 58. Actor-comedian Patton Oswalt is 57. Actor Freddy Carter is 33. Musician and actor Braeden Lemasters is 30. Country singer Bailey Zimmerman is 26.