January 24 - Events

Events

• 41 – Roman Emperor Caligula, known for his eccentricity and cruel 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 as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa.
• 1679 – King Charles II of England dissolves the Cavalier Parliament.
• 1742 – Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1817 – Crossing of the Andes: Many soldiers of Juan Gregorio de las Heras were 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.
• 1859 – Political and state union of Moldavia and Wallachia; Alexandru Ioan Cuza is elected as Domnitor in bouth Principalities.
• 1862 – Bucharest is proclaimed 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.
• 1911 – Japanese anarchist Shūsui Kōtoku is hanged for treason in a case now considered a miscarriage of justice.
• 1916 – In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, 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)
• 1939 – The deadliest earthquake in Chilean history strikes Chillán.
• 1942 – World War II: The Allies bombard Bangkok, leading Thailand 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.
• 1946 – The United Nations General Assembly passes its first resolution to establish the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission.
• 1947 – Greek banker Dimitrios Maximos becomes Prime Minister of Greece.
• 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 – 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.
• 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, 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 – The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.
• 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.
• 1996 – Polish Premier Józef Oleksy resigns amid charges that he spied for Moscow.
• 2003 – The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
• 2009 – The storm Klaus makes landfall near Bordeaux, France. It subsequently would cause 26 deaths as well as extensive disruptions to public transport and power supplies.
• 2011 – At least 35 died and 180 injured in a bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo airport.