On this day: 27/01/98

Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent.

On this day: 27/01/945

The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to become monks by Constantine VII, who becomes sole emperor of the Byzantine Empire.

On this day: 27/01/1186

Henry VI, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, marries Constance of Sicily.

On this day: 27/01/1302

Dante Alighieri is condemned in absentia and exiled from Florence.

On this day: 27/01/1343

Pope Clement VI issues the papal bull Unigenitus to justify the power of the pope and the use of indulgences. Nearly 200 years later, Martin Luther would protest this.

On this day: 27/01/1606

Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31.

On this day: 27/01/1695

Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan and Caliph of Islam in Istanbul on the death of Ahmed II. Mustafa rules until his abdication in 1703.

On this day: 27/01/1759

Spanish forces clash with indigenous Huilliches of southern Chile in the battle of Río Bueno.

On this day: 27/01/1776

American Revolutionary War: Henry Knox's "noble train of artillery" arrives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

On this day: 27/01/1785

The University of Georgia is founded, the first public university in the United States.