January 27, 1971-The Catechist is Born in Beverly Hospital. I was an unexpected baby. My parents didn’t think they would have any more kids. But Surprise!! I was later Baptized within the next month, thus putting that mark (LOL) on my soul identifying me as a Catholic. While I was a babe in my mother’s arms.
Saint Angela Merici, is the Saint of the Day
It is also
International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
Pre-1600
- 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
- 1302 – Dante Alighieri is condemned in absentia and exiled from Florence.
- 1343 – Pope Clement VI issues the papal bull Unigenitus to justify the power of the pope and the use of indulgences. Nearly 200 years later, Martin Luther would protest this.
1601–1900
- 1606 – Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31.
- 1785 – The University of Georgia is founded, the first public university in the United States.
- 1820 – A Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev discovers the Antarctic continent.
- 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 a patent for his incandescent lamp.
- 1895 -Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov’s revival of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet “Swan Lake” premieres in St. Petersburg.
- 1888-National Geographic Society founded.
1901–present
- 1918– “Tarzan of the Apes”, 1st Tarzan film, premieres at Broadway Theater.
- 1924 – Three days after his death Lenin’s body is carried into a specially erected mausoleum.
- 1925- January 27–February 1 the 1925 serum run to Nome (the “Great Race of Mercy”) relays diphtheria antitoxin by dog sled across the U.S. territory of Alaska, to combat an epidemic.
- 1943- Future President Ronald Reagan serves in film unit.
- 1944-Siege of Leningrad is lifted.
- 1945-Auschwitz is liberated by the Russians.
- 1948- 1st tape recorder sold.
- 1956- RCA records releases Elvis Presley single “Heartbreak Hotel”, his first million-seller (written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden).
- 1967 – Apollo program: Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their Apollo 1 spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
- 1965-Shelby GT 350 debuts.
- 1967 – Cold War: The Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom sign the Outer Space Treaty in Washington, D.C., banning deployment of nuclear weapons in space, and limiting the usage of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes.
- 1970-John Lennon writes and records “Instant Karma” in a single day.
- 1973 US & North Vietnam’s William Rogers & Nguyen Duy Trinh sign cease-fire, ending longest US war and military draft.
- 1974-Teresa Jornet Ibars (January 9, 1843 – August 26, 1897), also known as Saint Teresa of Jesus is canonized. She was a Spanish Catholic professed religious and the founder of the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly.
- 1976- “Laverne & Shirley” TV spinoff from “Happy Days” starring Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams premieres on ABC TV.
- 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. The critically and commercially successful film Argo, based on this event, was released in North American cinemas on October 12, 2012.
- 1983 – The pilot shaft of the Seikan Tunnel, the world’s longest sub-aqueous tunnel (53.85 km) between the Japanese islands of Honshū and Hokkaidō, breaks through.
- 1984 -Michael Jackson is burned during filming for Pepsi commercial.
- 1996 – Germany first observes the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
- 2003 – The first selections for the National Recording Registry are announced by the Library of Congress.
- 2010 – Apple announces the iPad.
- 2017 – A naming ceremony for the chemical element tennessine takes place in the United States.
- 2022– We got to see our granddaughter Aurora on Zoom for the first time.
Births on my Birthday
1601–1900
- 1756 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1791)
- 1832 – Lewis Carroll, creator of Alice in Wonderland. (d. 1898)
- 1919 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor, created Alvin and the Chipmunks (d. 1972)
- 1921 – Donna Reed, American actress (d. 1986) Star in ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’, and the Donna Reed Show.
- 1940 – James Cromwell, American actor
- 1954 – Peter Laird, American author and illustrator
Deaths on my Birthday
- 672 – Pope Vitalian
- 847 – Pope Sergius II (b. 790)
- 1540 – Angela Merici, Italian educator and saint, founded the Company of St. Ursula (b. 1474)
- 1967 – crew of Apollo 1
- Roger B. Chaffee, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1935)
- Gus Grissom, American pilot and astronaut (b. 1926)
- Ed White, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1930)
- 2009 – John Updike, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (b. 1932)
- 2010 – J. D. Salinger, American soldier and author of Catcher in the Rye (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Pete Seeger, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and activist (b. 1919)
And while we’re at it
Some other things that happen in the year I was born…
1971
Movies In The Theater
- Bedknobs and Broomsticks, starring Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson
- Escape from the Planet of the Apes,
- Fiddler on the Roof
- The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston and Anthony Zerbe
- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, directed by Mel Stuart, starring Gene Wilder and Jack Albertson
TV Shows On The Air
- Bewitched (1964–1972) is still on the air.
- The Brady Bunch (1969–1974) is still on the air.
- Dark Shadows ends.
- The Electric Company, a skit-based children’s program aimed at teaching reading skills, on PBS (1971–77) DEBUT
- Upstairs, Downstairs in the UK on ITV (1971–75, 2010–) DEBUT
Music on the Radio
- American Pie-Don McLean
- Joy to the World-Three Dog Night
- One Tin Soldier – Coven (apocalyptic statement)
- Take Me Home Country Roads – John Denver and Fat City
- You’ve Got a Friend-James Taylor
Books on the Book Shelf
- The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett
- The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor
- The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
- The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom by Corrie ten Boom
- The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
History That Happen
A shadowy group of people decided they needed to begin an investigation of the FBI, something that just needed to be done because nobody else was doing it. And they decided to do this with a burglary. This is the subject of a podcast of Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World in which he mentions an inclusive interview given to the Catholic Bard about his podcast.
- February 5 – Apollo 14 lands on the Moon.
- July 5 – Right to vote: The 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution, formally certified by President Richard Nixon, lowers the voting age from 21 to 18.
- October 1 – Walt Disney World opens in Orlando, Florida.
- October 14 – Greenpeace is founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- October 17– Maximilian Kolbe is beautified at Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City.
People Who Are As Old As I Am
January 7-Jeremy Renner AKA Marvel’s Hawkeye
February 25-Sean Astin AKA Goonie and Sam from LOTR
April 18 – David Tennant AKA Dr. Who
June 5-Mark Wahlberg AKA Marky Mark the great Sci-Fi Catholic Actor
June 28-Elon Musk
September 8-Martin Freeman AKA Bilbo Baggins and Dr. Watson
September 9 – Henry Thomas AKA Elliot from E.T.
September 16 – Amy Poehler AKA Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation
People Who Died The Year I Was Born
January 10– French fashion designer Coco Chanel (b. 1883)
March 8 – Silent Comedy Legend Harold Lloyd (b. 1893)
July 3 – Doors Singer Jim Morrison (b. 1943)
July 6 – Music Legend Louis Armstrong (b. 1901)
December 20 – Walt Disney’s Older Brother Roy O. Disney (b. 1893)