TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021.

Today’s highlight in history

On Jan. 24, 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.

On this date

In 1908, the Boy Scouts movement began in England under the aegis of Robert Badenpowell.

In 1924, the Russian city of Petrograd (formerly St. Petersburg) was renamed Leningrad in honor of the late revolutionary leader. (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 1989, confessed serial killer Theodore Bundy was executed in Florida’s electric chair.

In 1993, retired Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall died at age 84.

Today’s birthdays

Musician Doug Kershaw is 85. Singer Ray Stevens is 82. Singer Neil Diamond is 80. Singer Aaron Neville is 80. Actor Michael Ontkean is 75. Singe Becky Hobbs is 71. Comedian Yakov Smirnoff is

70. Actor William Allen Young is 67. Actor Nastassja Kinski is

60. Singer Theo Peoples is 60. Comedian Phil Lamarr is 54. Olympic gold medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton is 53. Actor Matthew Lillard is 51. Actor Ed Helms is 47. Actor Tatyana Ali is 42. Actor Justin Baldoni is

37. Actor Mischa Barton is 35.