JANUARY 24

Contents

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

Events

★ 41 - Gaius Caesar (Caligula), known for his eccentricity and cruel despotism, is assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards. Claudius succeeds his nephew.

★ 1438 - The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa.

★ 1679 - King Charles II of England disbands Parliament.

★ 1742 - Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.

★ 1776 - Henry Knox arrives at Cambridge, Massachusetts with the artillery that he has transported from Fort Ticonderoga.

★ 1826 - Mississippi College is founded in Clinton, becoming the first college in the state of Mississippi.

★ 1848 - California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento.

★ 1857 - The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first full-fledged university in south Asia.

★ 1859 - Political union of Moldavia and Wallachia; Alexandru Ioan Cuza is elected as ruler.

★ 1878 - The revolutionary Vera Zasulich shoots at Fyodor Trepov, the Governor of Saint Petersburg.

★ 1887 - Battle of Dogali: Abyssinian troops defeat Italians.

★ 1907 - Robert Baden-Powell begins the Boy Scout movement.

★ 1916 - In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.

★ 1918 - The Gregorian calendar introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People's Commissars effective from February 14(NS)

★ 1924 - Petrograd, formerly St. Petersburg, Russia, is renamed ''Leningrad''.

★ 1927 - Director Alfred Hitchcock releases his first film, ''The Pleasure Garden'', in England.

★ 1935 - The first cans of beer are sold in the US (Krueger's Finest Beer and Krueger's Cream Ale).

★ 1936 - Albert Sarraut becomes Prime Minister of France

★ 1943 - World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.

★ 1952 - Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada.

★ 1966 - An Air India Boeing 707 jet crashes on Mont Blanc, on the border between France and Italy, killing 117.

★ 1972 - Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.

★ 1977 - Massacre of Atocha in Madrid, during the Spanish transition to democracy.

★ 1978 - Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering debris over Canada's Northwest Territories.

★ 1984 - The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.

★ 1986 - Voyager 2 passes within 81,500 km (50,680 miles) of Uranus.

★ 1986 - Wapping dispute. Newspaper workers in London launch ultimately unsuccessful strike against Rupert Murdoch's News International.

★ 1993 - Turkish journalist and writer Uğur Mumcu assassinated by a car bomb in Ankara

★ 1996 - Polish Premier Jozef Oleksy resigns amid charges he spied for Moscow.

★ 2003 - The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.

Births

★ 76 - Hadrian, Roman Emperor (d. 138)

★ 1287 - Richard Aungerville, English bishop (d. 1345)

★ 1444 - Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1476)

★ 1540 - Edmund Campion, English Jesuit (d. 1581)

★ 1638 - Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet (d. 1706)

★ 1670 - William Congreve, English playwright (d. 1729)

★ 1674 - Thomas Tanner, English bishop (d. 1735)

★ 1679 - Christian Wolff, German philosopher (d. 1754)

★ 1705 - Farinelli, Italian castrato (d. 1782)

★ 1712 - King Frederick II of Prussia (d. 1786)

★ 1724 - Frances Brooke, English writer (d. 1789)

★ 1732 - Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, French playwright (d. 1799)

★ 1752 - Muzio Clementi, Italian composer (d. 1832)

★ 1754 - Andrew Ellicott, American surveyor (d. 1820)

★ 1763 - Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron, Russian general (d. 1831)

★ 1776 - E.T.A. Hoffmann, German writer (d. 1822)

★ 1848 - Vasily Surikov, Russian painter (d. 1916)

★ 1862 - Edith Wharton, American writer (d. 1937)

★ 1864 - Marguerite Durand, French feminist leader (d. 1936)

★ 1872 - Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (d. 1943)

★ 1873 - Leon Czolgosz, American anarchist, assassin of U.S. President William McKinley (d. 1901)

★ 1888 - Vicki Baum, Austrian writer (d. 1960)

★ 1888 - Ernst Heinkel, German aircraft designer (d. 1958)

★ 1891 - Walter Model, German field marshal (d. 1945)

★ 1895 - Eugen Roth, German writer (d. 1976)

★ 1898 - Cliff Heathcote, American baseball player (d. 1939)

★ 1901 - Harry Calder, South African cricketer (d. 1995)

★ 1902 - E. A. Speiser, American Bible scholar (d. 1965)

★ 1905 - J. Howard Marshall, American billionaire (d. 1995)

★ 1907 - Maurice Couve de Murville, French politician (d. 1999)

★ 1909 - Martin Lings, English Islamic scholar (d. 2005)

★ 1909 - Ann Todd, English actress (d. 1993)

★ 1913 - Norman Dello Joio, American composer

★ 1915 - Robert Motherwell, American painter (d. 1991)

★ 1916 - Jack Brickhouse, American sports broadcaster (d. 1998)

★ 1917 - Ernest Borgnine, American actor

★ 1918 - Oral Roberts, American evangelist

★ 1919 - Coleman Francis, American film director

★ 1922 - Charles Socarides, American psychiatrist (d. 2005)

★ 1925 - Maria Tallchief, American ballerina

★ 1928 - Desmond Morris, British anthropologist

★ 1928 - Michel Serrault, French actor

★ 1934 - Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish poet (d. 1976)

★ 1936 - Doug Kershaw, American musician

★ 1939 - Ray Stevens, American musician

★ 1941 - Neil Diamond, American singer

★ 1941 - Aaron Neville, American singer

★ 1943 - Subhash Ghai, Indian film director

★ 1943 - Sharon Tate, American actress and Manson murder victim (d. 1969)

★ 1944 - Klaus Nomi, German singer (d. 1983)

★ 1945 - John Garamendi, American politician

★ 1946 - Michael Ontkean, Canadian actor

★ 1947 - Warren Zevon, American musician (d. 2003)

★ 1949 - John Belushi, American actor (d. 1982)

★ 1950 - Gerald Brisco, American professional wrestler

★ 1950 - Benjamin Urrutia, Ecuadorian writer

★ 1950 - Daniel Auteuil, French actor

★ 1951 - Yakov Smirnoff, Ukrainian-born American comedian

★ 1954 - Jo Gartner, Austrian racing driver (d. 1986)

★ 1956 - Hanne Krogh, Norwegian singer (Bobbysocks)

★ 1957 - Adrian Edmondson, British comedian

★ 1958 - Neil Allen, American baseball player

★ 1958 - Jools Holland, British musician

★ 1959 - Vic Reeves, English comedian

★ 1961 - Nastassja Kinski, German-born actress

★ 1961 - Vince Russo, American writer

★ 1963 - Martyn Grimley, English field hockey player

★ 1963 - Arnold Vanderlyde, Dutch boxer

★ 1965 - Mike Awesome, American professional wrestler (d. 2007)

★ 1966 - Jimeoin, Northern Irish comedian

★ 1967 - John Myung, American musician (Dream Theater)

★ 1967 - Phil LaMarr, American voice actor

★ 1968 - Michael Kiske, German musician

★ 1968 - Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast

★ 1969 - Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Icelandic actor

★ 1970 - Matthew Lillard, American actor

★ 1971 - Cory Bailey, American baseball player

★ 1972 - Naoshi Mizuta, Japanese composer

★ 1974 - Shii Ann Huang, American game show contestant

★ 1975 - Rónald Gómez, Costa Rican footballer

★ 1976 - Shae-Lynn Bourne, Canadian ice dancer with Victor Kraatz

★ 1979 - Tatyana Ali, American actress

★ 1980 - Nicole Marie Lenz, American actress

★ 1981 - Travis Hanson, American baseball player

★ 1983 - Shaun Maloney, Scottish footballer

★ 1983 - Scott Speed, American race car driver

★ 1984 - Scott Kazmir, American baseball player

★ 1986 - Mischa Barton, English-born American actress

★ 1986 - Raviv Ullman, Israeli-born American actor

★ 1989 - Calvin Goldspink, English singer

Deaths

★ 41 - Caligula, Emperor of Rome (b. 12)

★ 772 - Pope Stephen III (b. 720)

★ 1002 - Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 980)

★ 1125 - David IV of Georgia (b. 1073)

★ 1366 - Alfonso IV of Aragon (b. 1299)

★ 1376 - Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel, English military leader

★ 1473 - Conrad Paumann, German composer

★ 1595 - Ferdinand II of Austria (b. 1529)

★ 1626 - Samuel Argall, English adventurer and naval officer (b. 1580)

★ 1639 - Georg Jenatsch, Swiss politician (b. 1596)

★ 1666 - Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer (b. 1588)

★ 1709 - George Rooke, English admiral (b. 1650)

★ 1769 - François de Chevert, French general (b. 1695)

★ 1856 - Rabbi Yechezkel of Kuzmir, Polish Hasidic leader (b. 1775)

★ 1877 - Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist (b. 1796)

★ 1882 - Levi Boone, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1808)

★ 1883 - Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (b. 1812)

★ 1895 - Lord Randolph Churchill, British politician (b. 1849)

★ 1911 - David Graham Phillips, American journalist and novelist (b. 1867)

★ 1920 - Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1884)

★ 1924 - Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b. 1894)

★ 1932 - Alfred Yarrow, English shipbuilder (b. 1842)

★ 1939 - Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician and nutritionist (b. 1867)

★ 1943 - John Burns, English politician (b. 1858)

★ 1948 - Maria Mandel, Camp Leader at Auschwitz (b. 1912)

★ 1948 - Arthur Liebehenschel, Commandant at Auschwitz concentration camp (b. 1901)

★ 1955 - Ira Hayes, American World War II hero (b. 1923)

★ 1960 - Edwin Fischer, Swiss pianist and conductor (b. 1886)

★ 1961 - Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American swimmer and inventor (b. 1884)

★ 1962 - Stanley Lord, captain of the SS Californian the night of the Titanic disaster (b. 1877)

★ 1962 - André Lhote, french painter.

★ 1965 - Winston Churchill, soldier, politician, historian, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Nobel laureate (b. 1874)

★ 1966 - Homi J. Bhabha, Indian physicist (b. 1909)

★ 1970 - Caresse Crosby, American poet (b. 1891)

★ 1971 - Bill W., American co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (b. 1895)

★ 1973 - J. Carrol Naish, American actor (b. 1897)

★ 1975 - Larry Fine, American actor and comedian (b. 1902)

★ 1978 - Herta Oberheuser, German doctor (b. 1911)

★ 1982 - Alfredo Ovando Candía, Bolivian president and dictator (b. 1918)

★ 1983 - George Cukor, American film director (b. 1899)

★ 1986 - L. Ron Hubbard, American writer and founder of Scientology (b. 1911)

★ 1986 - Flo Hyman, American volleyball player (b. 1954)

★ 1986 - Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (b. 1921)

★ 1988 - Werner Fenchel, German mathematician (b. 1905)

★ 1989 - Ted Bundy, American serial killer (b. 1946)

★ 1989 - George Knudson, Canadian golfer (b. 1937)

★ 1990 - Madge Bellamy, American actress (b. 1899)

★ 1991 - John M. Kelly, Irish politician and academic (b. 1931)

★ 1992 - Ricky Ray Rector, American murderer (b. 1950)

★ 1993 - Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1908)

★ 1998 - Walter D. Edmonds, American author (b. 1903)

★ 2000 - Bobby Duncum, Jr., American professional wrestler (b. 1965)

★ 2001 - Les Brown, American band leader (b. 1912)

★ 2002 - Peter Gzowski, Canadian broadcaster, writer and reporter (b. 1934)

★ 2003 - Gianni Agnelli, Italian auto executive (b. 1921)

★ 2004 - Leônidas da Silva, Brazilian footballer (b. 1913)

★ 2005 - June Bronhill, Australian singer (b. 1929)

★ 2005 - Vladimir Savchenko, Ukrainian writer (b. 1933)

★ 2005 - Chalkie White, English rugby union coach (b. 1929)

★ 2006 - Fayard Nicholas, American tap dancer, one-half of The Nicholas Brothers (b. 1914)

★ 2006 - Schafik Handal, Salvadorean politician

★ 2006 - Chris Penn, American actor (b. 1965)

★ 2006 - Marija Skalovska, Macedonian opera singer (b. 1929)

★ 2007 - Krystyna Feldman, Polish actress (b. 1920)

★ 2007 - Guadalupe Larriva, Ecuadorian politician (b. 1956)

Holidays and observances

★ Roman Empire - first day of the Sementivae in honor of Ceres and Terra

★ Roman Catholic Church - Feasts of St. Francis de Sales and Our Lady of Peace

★ January 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

★ Wales - Saint Cadoc

External links

★ BBC: On This Day

★

★ On this day in Canada
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