Today In History

Today is Thursday, Jan. 24, the 24th day of 2019. There are 341 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 2013: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the lifting of a ban on women serving in combat.

ON THIS DATE

› 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.

› 1942: The Roberts Commission placed much of the blame for America’s lack of preparedness for Imperial Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on Rear Adm. Husband E. Kimmel and Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short, the Navy and Army commanders.

› 1943: President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill concluded a wartime conference in Casablanca, Morocco.

› 1984: Apple Computer began selling its first Macintosh model, which boasted a builtin 9-inch monochrome display, a clock rate of 8 megahertz and 128k of RAM.

› 1985: The space shuttle Discovery was launched from Cape Canaveral on the first secret, all-military shuttle mission.

› 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 83. Singer-songwriter Ray Stevens is 80. Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond is 78. Singer Aaron Neville is 78. Actor Michael Ontkean is

73. Actor Daniel Auteuil is

69. Country singer-songwriter Becky Hobbs is 69. Comedian Yakov Smirnoff is 68. South Korean President Moon Jae-in is

66. Actor William Allen Young is 65. Bandleader-musician Jools Holland is 61. Actress Nastassja Kinski is 58. Rhythm and blues singer Theo Peoples is 58. Comedian Phil LaMarr is 52. Olympic gold medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton is 51. Rhythm and blues singer Sleepy Brown (Society of Soul) is 49. Actor Matthew Lillard is 49. Actress Merrilee McCommas is 48. Blues/rock singer Beth Hart is 47. Actress Christina Moses is 41. Actress Tatyana Ali is 40. Rock musician Mitchell Marlow (Filter) is 40. Actress Carrie Coon is 38. Actor Daveed Diggs is 37. Actor Justin Baldoni is 35. Actress Mischa Barton is 33.