January 24

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.
• 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)
• 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, 19th century Hasidic leader. (b. 1775)
• 1882 - Levi Boone, mayor of Chicago (b. 1808)
• 1920 - Amedeo Modigliani, painter, 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, a Native American hero of World War II's Battle of Iwo Jima. (b. 1923)
• 1960 - Edwin Fischer, pianist and conductor (b. 1886)
• 1961 - Alfred Carlton Gilbert, gold medal winner at 1908 Summer Olympics, inventor of Erector Set (b. 1884)
• 1965 - Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1874)
• 1971 - Bill W, co-founder Alcoholics Anonymous (b. 1895)
• 1973 - J. Carrol Naish, actor (b. 1897)
• 1975 - Larry Fine, actor, comedian; member of the Three Stooges (b. 1902)
• 1983 - George Cukor, American film director
• 1986 - L. Ron Hubbard, science fiction writer, 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 (electrocuted) (b. 1946)
• 1993 - Thurgood Marshall, United States Supreme Court justice (b. 1908)
• 1998 - Walter D. Edmonds, American author
• 2003 - Gianni Agnelli, Fiat president (b. 1921)
• 2004 - Leônidas da Silva, Brazilian football player
• 2005 - June Bronhill, Australian opera and operetta singer, known for The Merry Widow (b. 1929)
• 2005 - Vladimir Savchenko, Ukrainian science fiction writer (b. 1933)
• 2005 - Chalkie White, rugby union coach (Leicester Tigers) (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

January 23 - January 25 - December 24 - February 24 -- listing of all days