Today January 24th in history click read more below to view detail events, deaths, births, Holidays and observances, and video clips in hisotry. Please comments, last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
41 – Gaius Caesar (Caligula), known for his eccentricity and cruel despotism, is assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards. Claudius succeeds his nephew.
1438 – The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa.
1679 – King Charles II of England disbands Parliament.
1742 – Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
1776 – Henry Knox arrives at Cambridge, Massachusetts with the artillery that he has transported from Fort Ticonderoga.
1826 – Mississippi College is founded in Clinton, becoming the first college in the state of Mississippi.
1848 – California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter s Mill near Sacramento.
1857 – The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first full-fledged university in south Asia.
1859 – Political union of Moldavia and Wallachia; Alexandru Ioan Cuza is elected as ruler.
1862 – Bucharest proclaimed capital of Romania.
1878 – The revolutionary Vera Zasulich shoots at Fyodor Trepov, the Governor of Saint Petersburg.
1887 – Battle of Dogali: Abyssinian troops defeat Italians.
1907 – Robert Baden-Powell founds the Boy Scout movement.
1916 – In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.
1918 – The Gregorian calendar introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People s Commissars effective from February 14(NS)
1924 – Petrograd, formerly Saint Petersburg, Russia, is renamed Leningrad.
1927 – Director Alfred Hitchcock releases his first film, The Pleasure Garden, in England.
1936 – Albert Sarraut becomes Prime Minister of France
1943 – World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.
1952 – Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada.
1966 – An Air India Boeing 707 jet crashes on Mont Blanc, on the border between France and Italy, killing 117.
1972 – Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.
1977 – Massacre of Atocha in Madrid, during the Spanish transition to democracy.
1978 – Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 burns up in Earth s atmosphere, scattering debris over Canada s Northwest Territories.
1978 – Rose Dugdale and Eddie Gallagher become the first convicted prisoners to marry in prison in the history of the Republic of Ireland.
1984 – The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.
1986 – Voyager 2 passes within 81,500 km (50,680 miles) of Uranus.
1993 – Turkish journalist and writer Ugur Mumcu is assassinated by a car bomb in Ankara.
1996 – Polish Premier Jozef Oleksy resigns amid charges that he spied for Moscow.
2003 – The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
Births
76 – Hadrian, Roman Emperor (d. 138)
1287 – Richard Aungerville, English bishop (d. 1345)
1444 – Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1476)
1540 – Edmund Campion, English Jesuit (d. 1581)
1638 – Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet (d. 1706)
1670 – William Congreve, English playwright (d. 1729)
1674 – Thomas Tanner, English bishop (d. 1735)
1679 – Christian Wolff, German philosopher (d. 1754)
1705 – Farinelli, Italian castrato (d. 1782)
1712 – King Frederick II of Prussia (d. 1786)
1724 – Frances Brooke, English writer (d. 1789)
1732 – Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, French playwright (d. 1799)
1742 – Anne, Duchess of Cumberland and Strathearn (d. 1808)
1752 – Muzio Clementi, Italian composer (d. 1832)
1754 – Andrew Ellicott, American surveyor (d. 1820)
1763 – Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron, Russian general (d. 1831)
1776 – E.T.A. Hoffmann, German writer (d. 1822)
1779 – Elizabeth Alexeievna (Louise of Baden), Russian tsarina (d. 1826)
1848 – Vasily Surikov, Russian painter (d. 1916)
1862 – Edith Wharton, American writer (d. 1937)
1864 – Marguerite Durand, French feminist leader (d. 1936)
1872 – Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (d. 1943)
1872 – Ethel Turner, Australian author (d. 1958)
1873 – Leon Czolgosz, American anarchist, assassin of U.S. President William McKinley (d. 1901)
1886 – Henry King, American film director (d. 1982)
1888 – Vicki Baum, Austrian writer (d. 1960)
1888 – Ernst Heinkel, German aircraft designer (d. 1958)
1891 – Walter Model, German field marshal (d. 1945)
1895 – Eugen Roth, German writer (d. 1976)
1898 – Cliff Heathcote, American baseball player (d. 1939)
1901 – Harry Calder, South African cricketer (d. 1995)
1902 – E. A. Speiser, American Bible scholar (d. 1965)
1905 – J. Howard Marshall, American billionaire (d. 1995)
1907 – Maurice Couve de Murville, French politician (d. 1999)
1909 – Martin Lings, English Islamic scholar (d. 2005)
1909 – Ann Todd, English actress (d. 1993)
1910 – Granny D, Doris Haddock, American activist
1913 – Norman Dello Joio, American composer
1915 – Robert Motherwell, American painter (d. 1991)
1916 – Jack Brickhouse, American sports broadcaster (d. 1998)
1917 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor
1918 – Oral Roberts, American evangelist
1919 – Coleman Francis, American film director
1920 – Jerry Maren, American actor
1922 – Charles Socarides, American psychiatrist (d. 2005)
1925 – Maria Tallchief, American ballerina
1926 – Georges Lautner, French director and screenwriter
1927 – Sir Patrick Macnaghten, 11th Baronet, British aristocrat (d. 2007)
1928 – Desmond Morris, British anthropologist
1928 – Michel Serrault, French actor (d. 2007)
1934 – Stanislaw Grochowiak, Polish poet (d. 1976)
1935 – Eric Ashton, English rugby league footballer (d. 2008)
1936 – Doug Kershaw, American musician
1939 – Ray Stevens, American musician
1941 – Neil Diamond, American singer
1941 – Aaron Neville, American singer
1942 – Gary Hart, American professional wrestling manager and wrestler (d. 2008)
1943 – Subhash Ghai, Indian film director
1943 – Sharon Tate, American actress and Manson murder victim (d. 1969)
1944 – Klaus Nomi, German singer (d. 1983)
1945 – D. Todd Christofferson, LDS apostle
1945 – John Garamendi, American politician
1946 – Michael Ontkean, Canadian actor
1947 – Masashi Ozaki, Japanese golfer
1947 – Warren Zevon, American musician (d. 2003)
1948 – Michael Des Barres, British actor and rock singer
1949 – John Belushi, American actor (d. 1982)
1950 – Daniel Auteuil, French actor
1950 – Benjamin Urrutia, Ecuadorian-born American writer
1951 – Yakov Smirnoff, Ukrainian-born American comedian
1954 – Jo Gartner, Austrian racing driver (d. 1986)
1956 – Hanne Krogh, Norwegian singer (Bobbysocks)
1956 – Lounès Matoub, a famous Berber Kabyle singer (d. 1998)
1957 – Adrian Edmondson, British comedian
1958 – Neil Allen, American baseball player
1958 – Jools Holland, British musician
1959 – David Mills, American author
1959 – Vic Reeves, English comedian
1961 – Guido Buchwald, German football player
1961 – Nastassja Kinski, German-born actress
1961 – Vince Russo, American writer
1961 – William Van Dijck, Belgian athlete
1963 – Martyn Grimley, English field hockey player
1963 – Arnold Vanderlyde, Dutch boxer
1965 – Mike Awesome, American professional wrestler (d. 2007)
1965 – Carlos Saldanha, Brazilian film director
1966 – Jimeoin, Northern Irish comedian
1967 – Mark Kozelek, American singer/songwriter (Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon)
1967 – Phil LaMarr, American voice actor
1967 – John Myung, American musician (Dream Theater)
1968 – Michael Kiske, German musician
1968 – Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast
1969 – Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Icelandic actor
1970 – Matthew Lillard, American actor
1971 – Cory Bailey, American baseball player
1971 – Andrea Mackris, American television producer
1972 – Naoshi Mizuta, Japanese composer
1972 – Ulla Werbrouck, Belgian judoka and politician
1974 – Ed Helms, American actor
1975 – Rónald Gómez, Costa Rican footballer
1976 – Shae-Lynn Bourne, Canadian ice dancer with Victor Kraatz
1976 – Cindy Pieters, Belgian cyclist
1979 – Tatyana Ali, American actress and singer
1979 – Tom Kostopoulos, Canadian ice hockey player
1980 – Rocky Boiman, American football player
1980 – Nicole Marie Lenz, American actress
1981 – Travis Hanson, American baseball player
1983 – Shaun Maloney, Scottish footballer
1983 – Scott Speed, American race car driver
1984 – Scott Kazmir, American baseball player
1984 – Witold Kieltyka, Polish drummer (Decapitated) (d. 2007)
1986 – Mischa Barton, English-born American actress
1986 – Raviv Ullman, Israeli-born American actor
Deaths
41 – Caligula, Emperor of Rome (b. 12)
772 – Pope Stephen III (b. 720)
1002 – Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 980)
1125 – David IV of Georgia (b. 1073)
1366 – Alfonso IV of Aragon (b. 1299)
1376 – Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel, English military leader
1473 – Conrad Paumann, German composer
1595 – Ferdinand II of Austria (b. 1529)
1626 – Samuel Argall, English adventurer and naval officer (b. 1580)
1639 – Georg Jenatsch, Swiss politician (b. 1596)
1666 – Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer (b. 1588)
1709 – George Rooke, English admiral (b. 1650)
1769 – François de Chevert, French general (b. 1695)
1856 – Rabbi Yechezkel of Kuzmir, Polish Hasidic leader (b. 1775)
1877 – Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist (b. 1796)
1882 – Levi Boone, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1808)
1883 – Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (b. 1812)
1895 – Lord Randolph Churchill, British politician (b. 1849)
1911 – David Graham Phillips, American journalist and novelist (b. 1867)
1918 – George Arthur Crump, Founder of the Pine Valley Golf Club in Clementon NJ (b. 1871)
1920 – Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1884)
1924 – Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b. 1894)
1932 – Alfred Yarrow, English shipbuilder (b. 1842)
1939 – Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician and nutritionist (b. 1867)
1943 – John Burns, English politician (b. 1858)
1948 – Maria Mandel, Camp Leader at Auschwitz (b. 1912)
1948 – Arthur Liebehenschel, Commandant at Auschwitz concentration camp (b. 1901)
1955 – Ira Hayes, American World War II hero (b. 1923)
1960 – Edwin Fischer, Swiss pianist and conductor (b. 1886)
1961 – Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American swimmer and inventor (b. 1884)
1962 – Stanley Lord, captain of the SS Californian the night of the Titanic disaster (b. 1877)
1962 – André Lhote, french painter.
1965 – Winston Churchill, soldier, politician, historian, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Nobel laureate (b. 1874)
1966 – Homi J. Bhabha, Indian physicist (b. 1909)
1970 – Caresse Crosby, American poet (b. 1891)
1971 – Bill W., American co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (b. 1895)
1973 – J. Carrol Naish, American actor (b. 1897)
1973 – Masao Ohba, world champion Japanese boxer (b. 1949)
1975 – Larry Fine, American actor and comedian (b. 1902)
1978 – Herta Oberheuser, German doctor (b. 1911)
1980 – Lil Dagover, Dutch-born German actress, (b. 1887)
1982 – Alfredo Ovando Candía, Bolivian president and dictator (b. 1918)
1983 – George Cukor, American film director (b. 1899)
1986 – L. Ron Hubbard, American writer and founder of Scientology (b. 1911)
1986 – Flo Hyman, American volleyball player (b. 1954)
1986 – Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (b. 1921)
1988 – Werner Fenchel, German mathematician (b. 1905)
1989 – Ted Bundy, American serial killer (b. 1946)
1989 – George Knudson, Canadian golfer (b. 1937)
1990 – Madge Bellamy, American actress (b. 1899)
1991 – John M. Kelly, Irish politician and academic (b. 1931)
1992 – Ken Darby, American composer, arranger and conductor (b. 1909)
1992 – Ricky Ray Rector, American murderer (b. 1950)
1993 – Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1908)
1993 – Ugur Mumcu, Turkish journalist and writer (b. 1942)
1994 – Yves Navarre, French writer (b. 1940)
1998 – Walter D. Edmonds, American author (b. 1903)
2000 – Bobby Duncum, Jr., American professional wrestler (b. 1965)
2002 – Peter Gzowski, Canadian broadcaster, writer and reporter (b. 1934)
2002 – Elie Hobeika, Lebanese Forces militia commander (b. 1956)
2003 – Gianni Agnelli, Italian auto executive (b. 1921)
2004 – Leônidas da Silva, Brazilian footballer (b. 1913)
2005 – June Bronhill, Australian singer (b. 1929)
2005 – Vladimir Savchenko, Ukrainian writer (b. 1933)
2005 – Chalkie White, English rugby union coach (b. 1929)
2006 – Fayard Nicholas, American tap dancer, one-half of The Nicholas Brothers (b. 1914)
2006 – Schafik Handal, Salvadoran politician
2006 – Chris Penn, American actor (b. 1965)
2007 – Krystyna Feldman, Polish actress (b. 1916)
2007 – Guadalupe Larriva, Ecuadorian politician (b. 1956)
2007 – Emiliano Mercado del Toro, World s Oldest Military Veteran (b. 1891)
2008 – Randy Salerno, co-anchor of Chicago s CBS 2 News (b. 1963)
Holidays and observances
Roman Empire – first day of the Sementivae in honor of Ceres and Terra
Roman Catholic Church – Feasts of St. Francis de Sales and Our Lady of Peace
January 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Wales – Saint Cadoc
