January 24
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Featured Event
© Betty Sederquist/stock.adobe.com
On this day in 1848, James Marshall spotted gold nuggets glistening in a California stream while constructing a sawmill for John Sutter, the Swiss-born founder of what would become the state’s capital city. Although the pair initially kept the nuggets a secret, Sutter eventually reported their finding to the government, setting off the California Gold Rush, which enticed hundreds of thousands of settlers west to try their luck. [Read today’s edition of Today in History > >]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
FSA-Office of War Information Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-USW33-019093-C)
We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields, and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender!
British statesman, orator, and author Winston Churchill, who as prime minister (1940–45, 1951–55) rallied the British people during World War II , died this day in 1965.
Famous Birthdays
More on January 24
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
2004
Launched in mid-2003, the six-wheeled robotic rover Opportunity landed on Mars and—like its twin rover, Spirit, which had landed on January 3—analyzed rocks and soils and relayed pictures back to Earth.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
2003
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security came into being as Tom Ridge was sworn in as the agency’s first secretary. [Where is the secretary of Homeland Security in the order of presidential succession?]
National Archives, Washington, D.C. (2803441)
1993
Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court (1967–91), died at age 84. [Why are there nine justices on the U.S. Supreme Court?]
Mark Foley—AP/REX/Shutterstock.com
1989
Ted Bundy—who confessed to murdering 30 women, though many believe the number to be much higher—was executed in Florida at age 42. [Learn about seven notorious serial killers, including Ted Bundy.]
Courtesy of Apple
1984
Steve Jobs introduced Apple’s revolutionary computer Macintosh, two days after the groundbreaking commercial “1984” aired before a national TV audience and heralded the product’s impending release. [Test your knowledge of tech companies.]
© L. Busacca—Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
1941
Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, who wrote pop songs for other musicians before launching a successful solo recording career, was born in Brooklyn, New York. [Sort fact from fiction in our music quiz.]
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation/The Museum of Art Film Stills Archive, New York City
1940
The Grapes of Wrath, the acclaimed film adaptation of John Steinbeck’s classic novel, had its world premiere. The character Tom Joad’s soliloquy on the poor, reflecting his empathy for their plight, remains one of the most famous scenes in film history. [How much do you know about movies?]
Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/REX/Shutterstock.com
1908
The first Boy Scout troop was organized by Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell in England. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about famous English men.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Digital File Number: cph 3a30082 )
1862
Edith Wharton, an American author best known for her stories and novels about upper-class society, was born in New York, New York. [Test your knowledge of famous writers.]