TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, JAN. 24, the 24th day of 2024. There are 342 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On Jan. 24, 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.
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 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 1978, a nuclear-powered Soviet satellite, Cosmos 954, plunged through Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated, scattering radioactive debris over parts of northern Canada. In 1985, the space shuttle Discovery was launched from Cape Canaveral on the first secret, all-military shuttle mission. In 1989, confessed serial killer Theodore Bundy was executed in Florida’s electric chair. In 2003, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge was sworn as the first secretary of the new Department of Homeland Security. In 2011, a suicide bomber attacked Moscow’s busiest airport, killing 37 people; Chechen separatists claimed responsibility. In 2013, President Barack Obama’s Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the lifting of a ban on women serving in combat. In 2018, former sports doctor Larry Nassar, who had admitted molesting some of the nation’s top gymnasts for years under the guise of medical treatment, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison. In 2023, the sci-fi indie hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once” led Oscar nominations with 11. (It would go on to win seven, including best picture.)
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Cajun musician Doug Kershaw is 88. Singer-songwriter Ray Stevens is 85. Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond is 83. Singer Aaron Neville is 83. Comedian Yakov Smirnoff is 73. Actor Nastassja Kinski is 63. Olympic gold medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton is 56. Actor Ed Helms is 50. Actor Tatyana Ali is 45. Actor Justin Baldoni is 40.