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Today in History:

On January 27, 1967

A tragic accident occurred at the Kennedy Space Center that forever changed the course of space exploration. During a routine pre-launch test, a fire broke out inside the Apollo spacecraft, claiming the lives of three brave astronauts: Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee. This devastating event marked a somber moment in NASA’s history and the hearts of the nation.

The Incident

The fire erupted during a test of the Apollo Command Module, which was intended to be the first manned mission of the Apollo program. The astronauts were conducting a “plugs-out” test, which involved running the spacecraft on its internal power while sealed off from external support. Tragically, a spark ignited the pure oxygen environment inside the module, leading to a rapid and uncontrollable blaze. Despite the astronauts’ efforts to escape, the intense heat and smoke proved fatal.

Honoring the Fallen Heroes

In the aftermath of the tragedy, NASA and the nation mourned the loss of Grissom, White, and Chaffee. These men were not only pioneers in space exploration but also dedicated and courageous individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of knowledge and progress. To honor their memory, the spacecraft and the planned mission, which never took place, were posthumously named Apollo 1.

Legacy and Lessons Learned

The Apollo 1 disaster prompted a thorough investigation and significant changes in spacecraft design, safety protocols, and testing procedures. NASA implemented numerous improvements to ensure the safety of future astronauts, including the use of non-flammable materials, better hatch designs, and more rigorous testing standards. These changes were instrumental in the success of subsequent Apollo missions, culminating in the historic Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.

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Also of interest on January 27th

1939 – First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

1951 – Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site begins with Operation Ranger.

2003 – The first selections for the National Recording Registry are announced by the Library of Congress.

2010 – Apple announces the iPad.

2011 – Within Ursa Minor, H1504+65, a white dwarf with the hottest known surface temperature in the universe at 200,000 K, was documented.

2013 – Two hundred and forty-two people die in a nightclub fire in the Brazilian city of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul.

2017 – A naming ceremony for the chemical element tennessine takes place in the United States.

Births on This Day

1919 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor, created Alvin and the Chipmunks (d. 1972)

1940 – James Cromwell, American actor

1940 – Terry Harper, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1942 – Kate Wolf, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1986)

1944 – Nick Mason, English drummer, songwriter, and producer

1950 – Jiří Bubla, Czech ice hockey player

1955 – Brian Engblom, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster

1958 – Susanna Thompson, American actress

1967 – Dave Manson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1968 – Tracy Lawrence, American country singer

1968 – Mike Patton, American singer, composer, and voice artist

1969 – Patton Oswalt, American comedian and actor

1971 – Patrice Brisebois, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1977 – Tomi Kallio, Finnish ice hockey player

1980 – Chanda Gunn, American ice hockey player and coach

1983 – Carlo Colaiacovo, Canadian ice hockey player

1983 – Paulo Colaiacovo, Canadian ice hockey player

Deaths on This Day

1910 – Thomas Crapper, English plumber and businessman (b. 1836)

1931 – Nishinoumi Kajirō II, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 25th Yokozuna (b. 1880)

1967 – crew of Apollo 1

Roger B. Chaffee, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1935)[68]

Gus Grissom, American pilot and astronaut (b. 1926)[69]

Ed White, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1930)[70]

1989 – Thomas Sopwith, English ice hockey player and pilot (b. 1888)

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

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

2006 – Gene McFadden, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1948)

2018 – Ingvar Kamprad, Founder of IKEA (b. 1926)

2018 – Mort Walker, American cartoonist (b. 1923)

2021 – Cloris Leachman, American actress and comedian (b. 1926)

Holidays Today

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January 27th

The Funnies:

AI Contribution of the Day:

Lyrics- Copilot
Music – Suno

Lyrics - Gemini
Music - Suno

Quote of the Day:

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Comic of the Day:

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Inspirobot Always Controversial, Occasionally Inspirational Quote of the Day:

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In case Uranus is in the Crapper, check out Fridays Spark right here.

What I am listening to today:

Please vote for your favorite… It’s Copilot (Crapper) vs Gemini (Swirling and Sick)

  • Crapper
  • Swirling and Sick
0 voters
39 Spice ups
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More important than all of those holidays, today is Holocaust Memorial Day, encouraging everyone to learn about what happened, to ensure that it can never happen again.

26 Spice ups
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I completely agree with you since the holocaust was such a horrific time for Jewish people.

9 Spice ups
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I 100% agree with the comic of the day. What really peeves me off is whenever my sister stops out for a weekend. She will purposely reverse the TP roll in the guest bathroom because she thinks that’s the proper way. Thankfully, I rarely use the guest bath.

5 Spice ups
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Unfortunately, that was not the last loss of life disaster for NASA. I am sure whomever does the SPARK! for 1/28 will address it.

I vote and Sir Thomas agrees. This Spark! belongs in the Crapper @Lonny6654 :stuck_out_tongue: Good article on the tragedy of Apollo 1!

When I was in high school, there was a teacher who served in WWII. His division was the first to encounter the Dachau Concentration camp. When he would talk about that time, he would not look at the audience because it was too painful.

I was looking for a parody of Eternal Flame called Hemorrhoidal Pain. I could not find that, but I did find:

How do you like it?

@Panda-Marie @chrisdavis8 @gurugabe1 @HulkSmash

7 Spice ups
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Wow, that is a lot of birthdays! I have one to add for the list for today, but also a few from over the weekend. A huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to @Bryan-Young, @ian-arnold, @NetNinjaxX6, @spiceuser-i8m2, @spiceuser-turam, @travisfinch, @Lakecoit, @me89, and @omair-aus :partying_face: :birthday: :sw_spicerex:

I hope you had/have an amazing birthday!

10 Spice ups
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Crappy day already

1756: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Austrian composer

1948: Mikhail Baryshnikov - Russian-American dancer

2010: American writer J.D. Salinger—who was best known for The Catcher in the Rye (1951), which uses humour and colourful language to portray the sensitive, rebellious adolescent Holden Caulfield—died at age 91.
1945: Auschwitz is liberated
1888: National Geographic Society is incorporated
1302: Dante is exiled from Florence
1970: John Lennon writes and records “Instant Karma” in a single day
1862: President Lincoln orders Union forces to advance
1978: “Dracula Killer” murders four people
1992: Video re-creation used in murder trial
1965: Shelby GT 350 debuts

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2010 – Apple announces the iPad. (I remember the memes that were going around when they announced this. Apple’s first feminine hygiene product.)
@HulkSmash @panda-marie @lamocon @jameswalker20 @shreddie @jemjules @cooperjs1 @ismoonastar @ich-ni-san @agentofpork

13 Spice ups
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COTD - The “No” configuration can be super useful when you have a Doberman that thinks unrolling toilet paper rolls is the coolest thing ever in the history of the multiverse.

That is one pretty photo. Thanks for that.

10 Spice ups
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Wipe the drool off your desk.

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This was talked about in Fly Me to the Moon. Good movie.

I like the use of the image to start the Spark! Then you find out why it’s used.

Thanks for the reminder.

I went to a concentration camp when I lived in Germany. I remember it was a very sobering and somber experience.

@jameswalker20 @gurugabe1 @Panda-Marie @chrisdavis8

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I visited Mauthausen when I spent a summer in Austria between my junior and senior year in high school. I had already devoted years to researching the Holocaust ever since the first time I read “The Diary of a Young Girl”, but I still was not prepared for the emotion I felt during my visit. It is something I will never forget, nor should it be.

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I was there before I had read anything about what had happened (just what I learned in school). I wish I would have been interested while I lived there for 6 years. I wish I could go back. I want to visit Warsaw and a few other places.
I did get to go to Normandy, and I felt the same type of emotions there.

7 Spice ups
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My Grandfather was Polish, he worked for the OSS for part of the war (long story), and “discovered” Buchenwald in April 1944, and managed to get Patton’s Army Group to enter and investigate it.

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I got to see the Carpenters in Vegas in '76 (I think, could be '77). It was a good show. Karen did something I still vividly remember.

She said she was getting hot and needed to take off her jacket. She asked a man in the front row if he would mind helping her take her jacket off. This man, probably in his 60’s, seemed super enthusiastic about helping her and told her he’d be happy to help. She promptly handed him her microphone and then took her jacket off. She then asked for her microphone back and thanked him.

As an early adolescent, I thought that was the funniest thing ever.

7 Spice ups
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@lamocon is in good company. 100% of felines polled favor the front.

But if you have a cat, use the method labeled “No!”

10 Spice ups
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2010 – Apple announces the iPad.

I really thought that the iPad had been out for longer then that. Wow…

7 Spice ups
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Let us not forget the Roma, slavs, gays, those with mental health issues that also were part of the holocaust

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As did many Religious Leaders who, whether openly condemning the Nazis, hiding Jews, or both, were also sent to concentration camps as well.

Also, for anyone in the TwinCities area, our local PBS is airing a special tonight called Resistance: They Fought Back - Twin Cities PBS 9:00pm-10:30pm which combats the myth that Jews went quietly to their deaths.

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Having re-watched Schindler’s List the other day, this was in my thoughts. Another good movie is the HBO original Conspiracy - this is an account of the Wannsee conference in January 1942 where Heydrich, Eichmann, and other party bigshots got together for a board meeting in a confiscated mansion and wrote off millions of human beings over food and drink. For me this was every bit as chilling, perhaps more so, than images of the camp horrors - the matter-of-fact and businesslike approach to industrialized murder.

7 Spice ups
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Tommy Sopwith is best know for his aircraft company, but I understand the hockey player joke. His best known product was of course the Sopwith Camel fighter plane, as used by Snoopy.

It’s to bad the Ikea or Death site doesn’t exist anymore, this was a web quiz asking if a work=d was a death metal band or an Ikea product and Ingvar Kamprad was referred to as “the cloven hoofed one”

8 Spice ups