This Day in History for January 27 – National Geographic Society Founded and More

sen_meister, Flickr

Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history:

1785 – The University of Georgia is founded, becoming the first public university in the United States (More info)

1888 – The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, DC (More info)

1945 – The Russians liberate Auschwitz concentration camp, where the Nazis had killed over a million Jews (More info)

1967 – Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of the Apollo 1 spacecraft (More info)

1976 – “Laverne & Shriley”, a spin-off from the TV show  “Happy Days” premiered on this date in 1976.

1984 – Michael Jackson suffers second degree burns to his scalp during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in the Shrine Auditorium (More info)

It’s  “National Preschool Fitness Day”;  and  “National Chocolate Cake Day”.