By: History.com Editors

1967

Astronauts die in launch pad fire

History.com Editors

Published: February 09, 2010

Last Updated: January 30, 2025

A launch pad fire during Apollo program tests at Cape Canaveral, Florida, kills astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee. 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 next month.

NASA's Early Years

In 1958, NASA was founded and quickly took up the goal of sending a man into Earth's orbit -- and safely returning him home. Seven men were chosen for Project Mercury, embarking on years of training to prepare for a journey no one had made before.

The Apollo program was initiated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) following President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 declaration of the goal of landing men on the moon and bringing them safely back to Earth by the end of the decade. The so-called “moon shot” was the largest scientific and technological undertaking in history. In December 1968, Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to travel to the moon, and on July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. walked on the lunar surface. In all, there were 17 Apollo missions and six lunar landings.

The 5 Deadliest Disasters of the Space Race

The U.S.-Soviet space race had many notable successes, but some deadly catastrophes, too.

Flag flies at half-staff at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on the day after seven astronauts died in the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia on its way to a landing in Florida.

By: Sarah Pruitt

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on January 27th

1302

Dante is exiled from Florence

Poet and politician Dante Alighieri is exiled from Florence, where he served as one of six priors governing the city. Dante’s political activities, including the banishing of several rivals, led to his own banishment, and he wrote his masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, as a virtual wanderer, seeking protection for his family in town after town. […]

1862

President Lincoln orders Union forces to advance

On January 27, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issues General War Order No. 1, ordering all land and sea forces to advance on February 22, 1862. This bold move sent a message to his commanders that the president was tired of excuses and delays in seizing the offensive against Confederate forces. The unusual order was the […]

1888

National Geographic Society is incorporated

On January 27, 1888, the National Geographic Society is incorporated in Washington, D.C., for “the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge.” The 33 men who originally met and formed the National Geographic Society were a diverse group of geographers, explorers, teachers, lawyers, cartographers, military officers and financiers. All shared an interest in scientific and geographical […]

1943

Future President Ronald Reagan serves in film unit

On January 27, 1943, future President Ronald Reagan, an Army Air Corps first lieutenant during World War II, is on an active-duty assignment with the Army’s First Motion Picture Unit. Technically, Reagan was a unit public relations officer, however Warner Brothers Studios and the American Army Air Corps had tapped him the previous year to […]

1943

Americans bomb Germans for first time

8th Air Force bombers, dispatched from their bases in England, fly the first American bombing raid against the Germans, targeting the Wilhelmshaven port. Of 64 planes participating in the raid, 53 reached their target and managed to shoot down 22 German planes—and lost only three planes in return. The 8th Air Force was activated in […]

1944

Siege of Leningrad is lifted

On January 27, 1944, Soviet forces permanently break the Leningrad siege line, ending the almost 900-day German-enforced containment of the city, which cost hundreds of thousands of Russian lives. The siege began officially on September 8, 1941. The people of Leningrad began building antitank fortifications and succeeded in creating a stable defense of the city, […]

1945

Auschwitz is liberated

The Soviet Red Army enters Auschwitz, Poland, and liberates the survivors of the network of concentration camps—and finally reveals to the world the depth of the horrors perpetrated there.

Liberation of Auschwitz: Photos

1951

First atomic detonation at the Nevada test site

Forcefully marking the continued importance of the West in the development of nuclear weaponry, the government detonates the first of a series of nuclear bombs at its new Nevada test site. Although much of the West had long lagged behind the rest of the nation in technological and industrial development, the massive World War II […]

1965

Shelby GT 350 debuts

On January 27, 1965, the Shelby GT 350, a version of a Ford Mustang sports car developed by the American auto racer and car designer Carroll Shelby, is launched. The Shelby GT 350, which featured a 306 horsepower V-8 engine, remained in production through the end of the 1960s and today is a valuable collector’s […]

1970

John Lennon writes and records “Instant Karma” in a single day

“I wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch and we’re putting it out for dinner.” That’s the way John Lennon told the story of “Instant Karma,” one of his most memorable songs as a solo artist and the third Lennon single to appear before the official breakup of the Beatles. The only exaggeration in […]

1973

Paris Peace Accords signed

The United States, South Vietnam, Viet Cong and North Vietnam formally sign “An Agreement Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam” in Paris. Due to South Vietnam’s unwillingness to recognize the Viet Cong’s Provisional Revolutionary Government, all references to it were confined to a two-party version of the document signed by North Vietnam and […]

1978

“Dracula Killer” murders four people

On January 27, 1978, Richard Chase, who becomes known as the “Dracula Killer,” murders Evelyn Miroth and Daniel Meredith, as well as Miroth’s 6-year-old son and another woman, in Sacramento, California. Chase sexually assaulted Miroth with a knife before killing her and mutilating her body. He removed some of the organs of the body and […]

1992

Video re-creation used in murder trial

On January 27, 1992, a judge in the murder trial of porn producer Jim Mitchell allows the first-ever use of video re-creation of the crime. Jim Mitchell shot his brother Artie to death in his Corte Madera, California, house a year earlier, on February 27, 1991. When police responding to a 911 call by Artie’s […]

1993

American becomes first non-Japanese to achieve highest rank in sumo wrestling

On January 27, 1993, American Chad Rowan becomes the first non-Japanese sumo wrestler to become a “yokozuna,” the sport’s highest rank. Rowan, a 23-year-old Hawaii native who stands 6-foot-8 and weighs 455 pounds, is the 64th person to hold the top rank in sumo, Japan’s national sport.  Rowan, who went by his sumo name, Akebono, which […]

1996

Monica Seles wins first Grand Slam title since being attacked

On January 27, 1996, Serbian-born tennis player Monica Seles, the former No. 1 women’s player in the world, defeats Anke Huber of Germany to win the Australian Open. The win in Melbourne was Seles’ first Grand Slam title since she was stabbed by Gunther Parche, a self-professed fan of the German tennis champion Steffi Graf […]

2002

Armory explosions trigger deadly panic in Nigeria

Explosions at a military depot in Lagos, Nigeria, trigger a stampede of fleeing people, during which more than 1,000 people are killed. The Ikeja armory was located just north of the city center of Lagos and housed a large barracks and munitions depot. On January 27, a Sunday afternoon, a street market was set up […]

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Citation Information

Article title
Astronauts die in launch pad fire
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
March 25, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
January 30, 2025
Original Published Date
February 09, 2010

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