The Apollo 1 crew, from left, Edward H. White II, Virgil I.
"Gus" Grissom, and Roger B. Chaffee.

A launch pad fire during Apollo program tests at Cape Canaveral,
Florida, killed all three astronauts of Apollo 1 on this day in 1967. 
     
An investigation indicated that a faulty electrical wire inside the
Apollo 1 command module was the probable cause of the fire.

The astronauts, the first Americans to die in a spacecraft, had been participating in a simulation of the Apollo 1 launch scheduled for
the following month.

The entrance to the tribute to the three astronauts who died
in the fire.

The three-part hatch that was in place on the Apollo 1
spacecraft is shown in the tribute.This is the first time
any part of the Apollo 1 spacecraft has been displayed
publicly. 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791)
(Unfinished portrait,1782)

Mozart was a composer, instrumentalist, and music
teacher.

His full baptized name was Johannes Chrysostomus
Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart.

He was born in Salzburg (then a free archbishopric
city within the Holy Roman Empire, now Austria).

He wrote more than 800 musical works including many
chamber pieces, church music, minuets, dances, songs,
and a Requiem. Along with Bach and Beethoven, Mozart
is viewed as one of the greatest composers who ever lived.

Mozart also had his own special violin. It is called the
"Klotz" violin. The violin still exists today and is in a
museum called the Salzburg Mozarteum.  
       
Mozart died on December 5, 1791 at the age of 35. The
cause of death is uncertain.
(Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

On January 26, 1926, John Logie Baird, a Scottish inventor,
gave the first public demonstration of a true television system
in London, launching a revolution in communication and
entertainment.

This information was then transmitted by cable to a screen
where it showed up as a low-resolution pattern of light and
dark. Baird’s first television program showed the heads of
two ventriloquist dummies, which he operated in front of the
camera apparatus out of view of the audience.

Baird based his television on the work of Paul Nipkow, a
German scientist who patented his ideas for a complete
television system in 1884.

The first TV image from John Logie Baird’s early “Televisor” demonstrations.

On January 26, 1905, during a routine inspection of the
Premier Mine in Pretoria, South Africa, a superintendent
made a  glittering discovery: a 3,106-carat diamond.

Weighing 1.33 pounds, and christened the “Cullinan,”
it was the largest diamond ever found.

Superintendent Frederick Wells was 18 feet below the
earth’s surface when he spotted a flash of starlight
embedded in the wall just above him. His discovery
was presented that same afternoon to Sir Thomas
Cullinan, who owned the mine.

Cullinan then sold the diamond to the Transvaal
provincial government, which presented the stone
to Britain’s King Edward VII as a birthday gift.

Sir Thomas Cullinan
(1862 – 1936)

Douglas MacArthur (26 January 1880 – 5 April 1964)

MacArthur was a general who served as a top commander
during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank
of General of the Army.

He served with distinction in World War I; as chief of staff
of the United States Army from 1930 to 1935; as Supreme
Commander, Southwest Pacific Area, from 1942 to 1945
during WWII; as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers
overseeing the occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951;
and as head of the United Nations Command in the Korean
War from 1950 to 1951.  

MacArthur was nominated for the Medal of Honor three
times, and was awarded it for his WWII service in the
Philippines.

General Douglas MacArthur wades ashore during initial
landings at Leyte, Philippine Islands.

General Douglas MacArthur signs as Supreme Allied Commander during formal surrender ceremonies on
the USS MISSOURI in Tokyo Bay.