Draža Mihailović

The Ba Congress was a meeting of representatives of the Chetnik movement led by Draža Mihailović (pictured) between 25 and 28 January 1944 in the village of Ba in German-occupied Serbia during World War II. The congress advanced a political alternative to the communist-led Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ) of the Yugoslav Partisans. In December 1943, the major Allied powers had decided to provide their exclusive support to the Partisans and withdraw support from the Chetniks, as they had concluded that the Chetniks were more interested in collaborating with the Axis powers against the Partisans than fighting the Axis. The congress denounced the decisions of the AVNOJ, re-asserted its full support for the Yugoslav government-in-exile and opposition to the Axis, and proposed a Serb-centric vision for the political and socio-economic future of Yugoslavia. However, with the Allied policy change, nothing could be done to improve the position of the movement. (Full article...)

Sissinghurst Castle Garden

• ... that Vita Sackville-West described the garden rooms she created at Sissinghurst (pictured) as "a series of escapes from the world, giving the impression of cumulative escape"?
• ... that fashion model Vivienne Rohner, named after fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, opened one of Westwood's shows during her first season as a model?
• ... that Washington State Route 304 was accidentally removed from the state highway system by the Washington State Legislature for two years?
• ... that Beate Ulbricht was subjected to harassment by the East German government because her adoptive parents, Walter and Lotte Ulbricht, did not approve of her marriage?
• ... that Henry Stoehr was able to spend more time producing his band's debut studio album, Moveys, after losing his day job due to the COVID-19 pandemic?
• ... that one-sixth of all liquor establishments in Bombay were attacked in the 1921 Prince of Wales riots?
• ... that at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, German para-cyclist Hans-Peter Durst won a time trial despite having no saddle for most of the event?
• ... that one radio station owner's decision to bring a "country cousin" to Tallahassee, Florida, turned out to be a miscalculation?

Roch Marc Christian Kaboré

• In Burkina Faso, a coup d'état led by military officer Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba deposes President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré (pictured) and announces the dissolution of the parliament, government and constitution.
• Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk and peace activist Thích Nhất Hạnh dies at the age of 95.
• Belgian-British pilot Zara Rutherford becomes the youngest woman to fly solo around the world.

January 27

Entrance to Auschwitz I

• 945 – Brothers Stephen and Constantine Lekapenos, having deposed their father as Byzantine emperor a few weeks earlier, were themselves overthrown by Constantine VII, their co-emperor.
• 1820 – A Russian expedition led by naval officers Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev made the first sighting of the coast of Antarctica.
• 1945 – The Soviet Red Army liberated about 7,000 prisoners left behind by the Nazis in Auschwitz concentration camp (entrance pictured), in present-day Oświęcim, Poland.
• 1974 – Brisbane, Australia, was flooded when the Brisbane River broke its banks.
• 2003 – The first selections for the United States National Recording Registry were announced by the Library of Congress.