TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

On this day in history:

1788 - French ships are noted outside Botany Bay just two days before Captain Arthur Phillip takes formal possession of New South Wales.

1903 - The Golden Pipeline, a massive engineering undertaking bringing vital water to the Western Australian goldfields, is opened.

1908 - In England, the first Boy Scout troop was organised by Robert Baden-Powell.

1916 - Conscription was introduced in Britain.

1924 - The Russian city of St. Petersburg was renamed Leningrad. The name has since been changed back to St. Petersburg.

1965 - Winston Churchill died at the age of 90.

1972 - A Japanese soldier, unaware that World War II ended almost thirty years earlier, is discovered hiding on Guam.

1972 - The U.S. Supreme Court struck down laws that denied welfare benefits to people who had resided in a state for less than a year.

1978 - A nuclear-powered Soviet satellite plunged through Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated. The radioactive debris was scattered over parts of Canada’s Northwest Territory.

1980 - The United States announced intentions to sell arms to China.

1984 - The Apple Macintosh computer is released. 1990 - Japan launched the first probe to be sent to the Moon since 1976. A small satellite was placed in lunar orbit.

1996 - Polish Premier Jozef Oleksy resigned due to allegations that he had spied for Moscow.

Birthdays

Hadrian (Roman emperor) AD 76

Frederick the Great (Prussia) 1712

Edith Wharton (Jones) 1862 Ann Todd 1909

John Beasley Brickhouse 1916 Ernest Borgnine 1917

Oral Roberts 1918

Maria Tallchief 1925 Marvin Kaplan 1927 Desmond Morris 1928 Doug Kershaw 1936

Jack Scott (Scafone) 1936 Bobby Scott 1937

Ray Stevens 1939