ON THIS DAY

1848: James Marshall finds a gold nugget in the US state of California, touching off the Gold Rush.

1907: First Boy Scout troop is organised by Sir Robert Baden-Powell in England.

1935: The first beer in cans, Krueger Cream Ale, goes on sale in the US in Richmond, Virginia.

1965: Death of Sir Winston Churchill, Britain’s World War II prime minister, aged 90.

1989: Serial killer Theodore Bundy is put to death in Florida’s electric chair.

2004: NASA’s Opportunity rover arrives safely on Mars and within four hours sends pictures back to Earth.

2017: La La Land scores 14 nominations at the Academy Awards, a record-tying number of nods for a film. Birthdays: Neil Diamond, US singer (1941-); Jenny Kee, Australian designer (1947-); John Belushi, American actor (1949-1982).