What happened on January 27 ?

98 - Nerva, Roman Emperor (b. 35)

1490 - Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shogun (b. 1435)

1629 - Hieronymus Praetorius, German composer (b. 1560)

1638 - Gonzalo de Céspedes y Meneses, Spanish novelist

1731 - Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian maker of musical instruments (b. 1655)

1740 - Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon, Prime Minister of France (b. 1692)

1814 - Johann Gottlieb Fichte, German philosopher (b. 1762)

1816 - Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, British admiral (b. 1724)

1851 - John James Audubon, French-American naturalist, ornithologist, and painter (b. 1785)

1857 - Dorothea Lieven, Russian noblewoman (b. 1785)

1860 - János Bolyai, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1802)

1880 - Edward Middleton Barry, English architect (b. 1830)

1901 - Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer (b. 1813)

1910 - Thomas Crapper, English inventor (b. 1836)

1919 - Endre Ady, Hungarian poet (b. 1877)

1940 - Isaac Babel, Ukrainian writer (b. 1894)

1956 - Erich Kleiber, Argentine conductor (b. 1890)

1967 - Crew of Apollo 1: Roger Chaffee (b. 1935)

Virgil "Gus" Grissom (b. 1926)

Edward White (b. 1930)

1970 - Rita Angus, New Zealand painter (b. 1908)

1971 - Jacobo Arbenz, President of Guatemala (b. 1913)

1972 - Mahalia Jackson, American singer (b. 1911)

1975 - Bill Walsh, American producer and writer (b. 1913)

1983 - Louis de Funès, French actor (b. 1914)

1986 - Lilli Palmer, German-born actress (b. 1914)

1988 - Massa Makan Diabaté, Malian author (b. 1938)

1989 - Thomas Sopwith, British aviation pioneer (b. 1888)

1992 - Allan Jones, American actor and singer (b. 1908)

1993 - André the Giant, professional wrestler and actor (b. 1946)

1994 - Claude Akins, American actor (b. 1918)

1996 - Ralph Yarborough, American politician (b. 1903)

2000 - Friedrich Gulda, Austrian pianist (b. 1930)

2004 - Jack Paar, American television show host (b. 1918)

2006 - Johannes Rau, President of Germany (b. 1931)