January 24

January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 341 days remaining (342 in leap years).

Events

• 41 – Roman Emperor Gaius Caesar (Caligula), known for his eccentricity and cruel despotism, was assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards.
• 1438 – Pope Eugenius IV was suspended by the Council of Basel.
• 1458 – Matthias I Corvinus becomes king of Hungary.
• 1624 – Alfonso Mendez, appointed by Pope Gregory XV 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.
• 1848 – California gold rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento.
• 1888 – Jacob L. Wortman patents the typewriter ribbon.
• 1908 – 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 void.
• 1918 – A decree of the Council of People's Commissars, introducing the Gregorian calendar in Russia since February 1, issued
• 1922 – Christian K. Nelson patents the Eskimo Pie.
• 1924 – St. Petersburg, Russia is renamed Leningrad.
• 1927 – Young director Alfred Hitchcock released his first film, The Pleasure Garden, in England.
• 1936 – Albert Sarraut becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1943 – World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.
• 1945 – Auschwitz, Concentration Camp in Poland is Liberated by Soviet Troops.
• 1952 – Vincent Massey sworn in as first Canada-born Governor-General of Canada.
• 1962 – Brian Epstein signs to manage The Beatles.
• 1966 – An Air India Boeing 707 jet crashes on Mont Blanc, on the border between France and Italy, killing 117
• 1972 – Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese soldier, is discovered on Guam.
• 1982 – Super Bowl XVI: San Francisco 49ers defeat the Cincinnati Bengals, 26–21 in the first Super Bowl played north of the Mason-Dixon line
• 1984 – The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.
• 1986 – Voyager 2 passes within 50,679 miles of Uranus.
• 1987 – In Lebanon, gunmen kidnap Alann Steen, Jesse Turner, Robert Polhill and Mitheleshwar Singh.
• 1989 – Serial killer Ted Bundy is executed in Florida's electric chair.
• 1995 – The prosecution delivers its opening statement in the O. J. Simpson murder trial.
• 1996 – Polish Premier Jozef Oleksy resigns amid charge he spied for Moscow.
• 2001 – The last two of the Texas 7 are taken into custody in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
• 2002 – Enron Congressional hearings begin.
• 2002 – Terrorist suspect John Walker Lindh's hearing begins.
• 2002 – The United States Department of Justice indicts Robert Nicholas Angleton for conspiring to murder his wife, Doris Angleton, along with his brother Roger.
• 2003 – The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.

Births

• 76 – Hadrian, Roman emperor (d. 138)
• 1444 – Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1476)
• 1638 – Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and courtier (d. 1706)
• 1670 – William Congreve, English playwright (d. 1729)
• 1712 – King Frederick II of Prussia (d. 1786)
• 1732 – Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, French playwright (d. 1799)
• 1776 – E.T.A. Hoffmann, German writer, composer, and painter (d. 1822)
• 1862 – Edith Wharton, American writer (d. 1937)
• 1888 – Vicki Baum, writer (d. 1960)
• 1888 – Ernst Heinkel, aircraft designer (d. 1958)
• 1895 – Eugen Roth, writer (d. 1976)
• 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
• 1925 – Maria Tallchief, ballerina
• 1928 – Desmond Morris, anthropologist and writer
• 1934 – Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish poet and dramatist (d. 1976)
• 1936 – Doug Kershaw, musician
• 1939 – Ray Stevens, country musician
• 1941 – Aaron Neville, American singer
• 1943 – Sharon Tate, American actress (d. 1969)
• 1941 – Neil Diamond, American singer
• 1946 – Michael Ontkean, Canadian actor
• 1947 – Warren Zevon, American musician and songwriter (d. 2003)
• 1949 – John Belushi, actor (d. 1982)
• 1951 – Yakov Smirnoff, Russian comedian
• 1958 – Jools Holland, musician
• 1959 – Nastassja Kinski, actress
• 1959 – Vic Reeves, comedian
• 1968 – Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast
• 1970 – Matthew Lillard, American actor
• 1979 – Tatyana Ali, actress
• 1986 – Ricky Ullman, actor
• 1986 – Mischa Barton, British-American actress

Deaths

• 41 – Caligula, Emperor of Rome (assassinated) (b. 12)
• 772 – Pope Stephen IV (b. 720)
• 1125 – David the Builder, King of Georgia (b. 1073)
• 1366 – King Alfonso IV of Aragon (b. 1299)
• 1595 – Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria, regent of Tyrol and Further Austria (b. 1529)
• 1856 – Rabbi Yechezkel of Kuzmir, Hasidic leader (b. 1775)
• 1882 – Levi Boone, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1808)
• 1883 – Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (b. 1812)
• 1920 – Amedeo Modigliani, painter and sculptor (b. 1884)
• 1932 – Sir Alfred Yarrow, shipbuilder (b. 1842)
• 1939 – Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician and Muesli inventor (b. 1867)
• 1943 – John Burns, English politician (b. 1858)
• 1955 – Ira Hayes, American World War II hero (b. 1923)
• 1960 – Edwin Fischer, pianist and conductor (b. 1886)
• 1961 – Alfred Carlton Gilbert, swimmer and inventor (b. 1884)
• 1965 – Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1874)
• 1971 – Bill W., co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (b. 1895)
• 1973 – J. Carrol Naish, actor (b. 1897)
• 1975 – Larry Fine, American actor and comedian (b. 1902)
• 1983 – George Cukor, American film director
• 1986 – L. Ron Hubbard, science fiction writer and founder of Scientology (b. 1911)
• 1986  – Gordon MacRae, actor, singer (b. 1921)
• 1986  – Vincente Minnelli, director (b. 1903)
• 1986  – Flo Hyman, American volleyball player
• 1989 – Ted Bundy, serial killer (executed) (b. 1946)
• 1993 – Thurgood Marshall, United States Supreme Court justice (b. 1908)
• 1998 – Walter D. Edmonds, American author
• 2003 – Gianni Agnelli, Italian auto executive (b. 1921)
• 2004 – Leônidas da Silva, Brazilian footballer
• 2005 – June Bronhill, Australian opera and operetta singer (b. 1929)
• 2005  – Vladimir Savchenko, Ukrainian science fiction writer (b. 1933)
• 2005  – Chalkie White, English rugby coach (b. 1929)

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

External links

• BBC: On This Day

See Also:

January 23 – January 25 – December 24 – February 24 — listing of all days