TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SUNDAY, JAN. 24, the 24th day of 2021. There are 341 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1848, James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter’s Mill in northern California, a discovery that led to the gold rush of ’49.
In 1908, the Boy Scouts movement began in England under the aegis of Robert Baden-Powell.
In 1924, the Russian city of Petrograd (formerly St. Petersburg) was renamed Leningrad in honor of the late revolutionary leader. (However, it has since been renamed St. Petersburg.)
In 1939, at least 28,000 people were killed by an earthquake that devastated the city of Chillan in Chile.
In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill concluded a wartime conference in Casablanca, Morocco.
In 1945, Associated Press war correspondent Joseph Morton was among a group of captives executed by the Germans at the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in Austria.
In 1965, British statesman Winston Churchill died in London at age 90.
In 1978, a nuclear-powered Soviet satellite, Cosmos 954, plunged through Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated, scattering radioactive debris over parts of Northern Canada.
In 1984, Apple Computer began selling its first Macintosh model, which boasted a built-in 9-inch monochrome display, a clock rate of 8 megahertz and 128k of RAM.
In 1987, gunmen in Lebanon kidnapped educators Alann Steen, Jesse Turner, Robert Polhill and Mitheleshwar Singh. (All were eventually released.)
In 1989, confessed serial killer Theodore Bundy was executed in Florida’s electric chair.
In 1993, retired Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall died in Bethesda, Maryland, at age 84.
In 2003, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge was sworn as the first secretary of the new Department of Homeland Security.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Cajun musician Doug Kershaw is 85. Singer-songwriter Ray Stevens is 82. Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond and singer Aaron Neville are 80. Actor Michael Ontkean is 75. Actor Daniel Auteuil and country singer-songwriter Becky Hobbs are 71. Comedian Yakov Smirnoff is 70. South Korean President Moon Jae-in is 68. Actor William Allen Young is 67. Bandleader-musician Jools Holland is 63. Actor Nastassja Kinski and R&B singer Theo Peoples are 60. Country musician Keech Rainwater (Lonestar) is 58. Comedian Phil LaMarr is 54. Olympic gold medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton is 53. R&B singer Sleepy Brown (Society of Soul) and actor Matthew Lillard are 51. Actor Merrilee McCommas is 50. Blues/rock singer Beth Hart is 49. Actor Ed Helms is 47. Actors Mark Hildreth and Christina Moses are 43. Actor Tatyana Ali is 42. Actor Carrie Coon is 40. Actor Daveed Diggs is 39. Actor Justin Baldoni is 37. Actor Mischa Barton is 35.