TODAY IN HISTORY - JANUARY 27TH

1825 – The U.S. Congress approves Indian Territory (in what is present-day Oklahoma), clearing the way for forced relocation of the Eastern Indians on the "Trail of Tears".

1880 – Thomas Edison receives the patent on the incandescent lamp.

1888 – The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C.

1901 – Art Rooney, American football player and coach, founded the Pittsburgh Steelers (d. 1988) is born.

1908 – William Randolph Hearst, Jr., American journalist and publisher (d. 1993) is born.

1939 – First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

1948 – Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian dancer, choreographer, and actor is born.

1967 – Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their Apollo 1 spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

1967 – The United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union sign the Outer Space Treaty in Washington, D.C., banning deployment of nuclear weapons in space, and limiting use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes.

1972 – Mahalia Jackson, American singer and actress (b. 1911) dies.

1973 – The Paris Peace Accords officially end the Vietnam War. Colonel William Nolde is killed in action becoming the conflict's last recorded American combat casualty.

1980 – Through cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escape hostilities in Iran in the culmination of the Canadian Caper.

1984 – Pop singer Michael Jackson suffers second degree burns to his scalp during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in the Shrine Auditorium.

1993 – André the Giant, French wrestler and actor (b. 1946) dies.

1993 – American-born sumo wrestler Akebono Tarō becomes the first foreigner to be promoted to the sport's highest rank of yokozuna.

1996 – Germany first observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

2003 – The first selections for the National Recording Registry are announced by the Library of Congress.

2006 – Western Union discontinues its Telegram and Commercial Messaging services.

2008 – Gordon B. Hinckley, American religious leader and author; 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1910) dies.

2010 – J. D. Salinger, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1919) dies.

2013 – Two hundred forty-two people die in a nightclub fire in the city of Santa Maria, Brazil.

2014 – Pete Seeger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1919) dies.