2000 – Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-101 to resupply the International Space Station.
1996 – Marc Garneau flies into space for the second time. Aboard STS-77 (Endeavour), he conducted Canadian experiments using the Float Zone Furnace and the Aquatic Research Facility. The mission completed 160 orbits of the earth in 4.1 million miles. Mission duration was 240 hours and 39 minutes.
1971 – Mars 2 (USSR) launched. On November 27, 1971 the Orbiter arrived at
Mars, it returned data until 1972. The Lander, however, crashed on the surface due to a failure in braking rockets.
1961 – Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly-by another planet by passing Venus (the probe had lost contact with Earth a month earlier and did not send back any data).
1958 – Man-In-Space-Soonest. USA Air Force Ballistic Missile Division completed its third Man-In-Space Development Plan.
Birthdays
1948 – Jean-Pierre Haigneré born in Paris, France. Selection: 1985 CNES Group 2, 1998 ESA Group, Time in space: 209days 12hours 25mins. Missions: Soyuz TM-17, Mir Altair, Soyuz TM-16, Soyuz TM-29, Mir Perseus (EO-27)
1939 – Dick Scobee, American astronaut born in Cle Elum, WA, USA. Selection: NASA Group 8 (1978). Time in space: 6 days 23 hours, 40 mins. He was the Commander of the last flight of Challenger. His last words were “Roger, go at throttle up.” on January 28, 1986.
1900 – 
Cecilia Helena Payne-Gaposchkin. She discovered the chemical composition of stars and that hydrogen and helium are the most abundant elements in stars and, therefore, in the universe. In 1977 she received the prestigious Henry Norris Russell Prize from the American Astronomical Society.