41 – Roman EmperorCaligula, known for his eccentricity and sadistic despotism, is assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards. The Guard then proclaims Caligula's uncle Claudius as Emperor
1438 – The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV.
1458 – Matthias Corvinus becomes king of Hungary.
1624 – Afonso Mendes, appointed by Pope Gregory XV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa.
1679 – King Charles II of England dissolves the Cavalier Parliament.
1739 – Peshva warrior Chimnaji Appa defeats Portuguese forces and captures Tarapur Fort, India.
1742 – Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
1758 – During the Seven Years' War the leading burghers of Königsberg submit to Elizabeth of Russia, thus forming Russian Prussia (until 1763)
1817 – Crossing of the Andes: Many soldiers of Juan Gregorio de las Heras are captured during the Action of Picheuta.
1835 – Slaves in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, stage a revolt, which is instrumental in ending slavery there 50 years later.
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 fully fledged university in South Asia.
1862 – Bucharest is proclaimed the capital of Romania.
1878 – The revolutionary Vera Zasulich shoots at Fyodor Trepov, the Governor of Saint Petersburg.
1900 – Second Boer War: Boers stop a British attempt to break the Siege of Ladysmith in the Battle of Spion Kop.
1908 – The first Boy Scout troop is organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell.
1915 – World War One: British Grand Fleet battle cruisers under Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty engage Rear-Admiral Franz von Hipper's battle cruisers in the Battle of Dogger Bank.
1916 – In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.
1918 – The Gregorian calendar is introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People's Commissars effective February 14(NS)
1933 – The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, changing the beginning and end of terms for all elected federal offices.
1939 – The deadliest earthquake in Chilean history strikes Chillán, killing approximately 28,000 people.
1942 – World War II: The Allies bombard Bangkok, leading Thailand, then under Japanese control, to declare war against the United States and United Kingdom.
1943 – World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.
1947 – Greek banker Dimitrios Maximos becomes Prime Minister of Greece.
1955 – The Family of Man, world's most widely seen, best attended photography exhibition opens at MoMA, curated by Edward Steichen.
1960 – Algerian War: Some units of European volunteers in Algiers stage an insurrection known as the "barricades week", during which they seize government buildings and clash with local police.
1961 – Goldsboro B-52 crash: A bomber carrying two H-bombs breaks up in mid-air over North Carolina. The uranium core of one weapon remains lost.
1968 – Vietnam War: The 1st Australian Task Force launches Operation Coburg against the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong during wider fighting around Long Bình and Biên Hòa
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 Kosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada's Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.
1984 – Apple Computer places the Macintoshpersonal computer on sale in the United States.
1986 – Voyager 2 passes within 81,500 kilometres (50,600 mi) of Uranus.
1990 – Japan launches Hiten, the country's first lunar probe, the first robotic lunar probe since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976, and the first lunar probe launched by a country other than Soviet Union or the United States.
1993 – Turkish journalist and writer Uğur Mumcu is assassinated by a car bomb in Ankara.
2003 – The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
2009 – Cyclone Klaus makes landfall near Bordeaux, France, causing 26 deaths as well as extensive disruptions to public transport and power supplies.
2011 – At least 35 die and 180 are injured in a bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport.
2014 – Three bombs explode in Cairo, Egypt, killing at least seven people and injuring over 100 others.
Births[]
76 – Hadrian, Roman emperor (d. 138)
1287 – Richard de Bury, English bishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (d. 1345)
1444 – Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Italian husband of Bona of Savoy (d. 1476)
1540 – Edmund Campion, English priest and martyr (d. 1581)
1638 – Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and politician, Lord Chamberlain of Great Britain (d. 1706)
1670 – William Congreve, English playwright and poet (d. 1729)
1674 – Thomas Tanner, English bishop (d. 1735)
1679 – Christian Wolff, German philosopher and academic (d. 1754)
1709 – Dom Bédos de Celles, French monk and organist (d. 1779)
1712 – Frederick the Great, Prussian king (d. 1786)
1732 – Pierre Beaumarchais, French playwright and financier (d. 1799)
1742 – Anne, Duchess of Cumberland and Strathearn (d. 1808)
1746 – Gustav III of Sweden (d. 1792)
1749 – Charles James Fox, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (d. 1806)
1752 – Muzio Clementi, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1832)
1754 – Andrew Ellicott, American soldier and surveyor (d. 1820)
1763 – Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron, French-Ukrainian general and politician (d. 1831)
1776 – E. T. A. Hoffmann, German jurist, author, and composer (d. 1822)
1843 – Josip Stadler, Croatian archbishop (d. 1918)
1848 – Vasily Surikov, Russian painter (d. 1916)
1858 – Constance Naden, English poet and philosopher (d. 1889)
1862 – Edith Wharton, American author and poet (d. 1937)
1864 – Marguerite Durand, French actress, journalist, and activist (d. 1936)
1866 – Jaan Poska, Estonian lawyer and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1920)
1872 – Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (d. 1943)
1872 – Morris Travers, English chemist and academic (d. 1961)
1886 – Henry King, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
1888 – Vicki Baum, Austrian author and screenwriter (d. 1960)
1888 – Ernst Heinkel, German engineer and businessman, founded the Heinkel Aircraft Manufacturing Company (d. 1958)
1889 – Charles Hawes, American historian and author (d. 1923)
1891 – Walter Model, German field marshal (d. 1945)
1895 – Eugen Roth, German poet and songwriter (d. 1976)
1898 – Cliff Heathcote, American baseball player (d. 1939)
1900 – Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ukrainian-American geneticist and biologist (d. 1975)
1901 – Harry Calder, South African cricketer (d. 1995)
1901 – Edward Turner, English engineer (d. 1973)
1902 – Ephraim Avigdor Speiser, Ukrainian-American archaeologist and scholar (d. 1965)
1905 – J. Howard Marshall, American lawyer and businessman (d. 1995)
1907 – Maurice Couve de Murville, French soldier and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1999)
1909 – Martin Lings, English author and scholar (d. 2005)
1909 – Ann Todd, English actress and producer (d. 1993)
1910 – Doris Haddock, American political activist (d. 2010)
1911 – Muir Mathieson, Scottish conductor and composer (d. 1975)
1912 – Frederick Ashworth, American admiral (d. 2005)
1913 – Norman Dello Joio, American organist and composer (d. 2008)
1913 – Ray Stehr, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1983)
1915 – Vítězslava Kaprálová, Czech composer and conductor (d. 1940)
1915 – Robert Motherwell, American painter and academic (d. 1991)
1916 – Jack Brickhouse, American sportscaster (d. 1998)
1916 – Rafael Caldera, Venezuelan lawyer and politician, 65th President of Venezuela (d. 2009)
1916 – Arnoldo Foà, Italian actor and director (d. 2014)
1916 – Gene Mako, Hungarian-American tennis player and actor (d. 2013)
2013 – Miroslav Janů, Czech footballer and manager (b. 1959)
2013 – Richard G. Stern, American novelist, short story writer (b. 1928)
2013 – Jim Wallwork, English sergeant and pilot (b. 1919)
2014 – Shulamit Aloni, Israeli lawyer and politician, 11th Israeli Minister of Education (b. 1928)
2014 – Lisa Daniely, English actress (b. 1929)
2014 – Rafael Pineda Ponce, Honduran academic and politician (b. 1930)
2015 – Link Byfield, Canadian journalist and author (b. 1951)
2015 – Otto Carius, German lieutenant and pharmacist (b. 1922)
2015 – Joe Franklin, American radio and television host (b. 1926)
2015 – Frances Lennon, English painter and illustrator (b. 1912)
2016 – Jimmy Bain, Scottish bass player and songwriter (b. 1947)
2016 – Fredrik Barth, German-Norwegian anthropologist and academic (b. 1928)
2016 – Yvonne Chouteau, Native American ballerina (One of the Five Moons) (b. 1929)
2016 – Marvin Minsky, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1927)
2016 – Henry Worsley, English colonel and explorer (b. 1960)
Holidays and observances[]
Christian feast day:
Cadoc (Wales)
Felician of Foligno
Francis de Sales
Pratulin Martyrs (Greek Catholic Church)
January 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest day on which Saturday of Souls can fall, while February 27 (or 28 during Leap Year) is the latest; observed 57 days before Easter. (Eastern Orthodox)
Feast of Our Lady of Peace (Roman Catholic Church), and its related observances:
Feria de Alasitas (La Paz)
Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day (International observance)
Unification Day (Romania)
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to January 24.