January 24
41 - Roman emperor Gaius Caesar, better known as Caligula (meaning Little Boot), was murdered.
1742 - Charles VII was elected Holy Roman Emperor during the War of the Austrian Succession.
1848 - Gold was first discovered in California, in Sutter's Mill. When President James K. Polk announced the news in December, the gold rush began.
1908 - Robert Baden-Powell organized the first Boy Scout troop in England.
1924 - The Russian city of St. Petersburg was renamed Leningrad in honor of late revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin.
1939 - At least 28,000 people were killed by an earthquake that devastated the city of Chillan in Chile.
1942 - The Roberts Commission placed much of the blame for America's lack of preparedness for Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on Rear Adm. Husband E. Kimmel and Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short, the Navy and Army commanders.
1943 - The Casablanca Conference with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill concluded.
1965 - Winston Churchill died in London at age 90.
1972 - The Supreme Court struck down laws that denied welfare benefits to people who had resided in a state for less than a year.
1972 - Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi was discovered in Guam, having spent 28 years hiding in the jungle thinking World War II was still going on.
1986 - The Voyager II space probe passes within 51,000 miles of Uranus.
1989 - Confessed serial killer Ted Bundy was executed in Florida's electric chair.
1993 - Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American member of the U.S. Supreme Court, died at age 84.
1995 - The prosecution gave its opening statement in the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
2003 - The Department of Homeland Security became a Cabinet-level department. Tom Ridge was named the first Secretary of Homeland Security.
2004 - NASA's Opportunity rover landed on Mars three weeks after its identical twin, Spirit.
2008 - French bank Societe Generale announced it had uncovered a $7.14 billion fraud by a single futures trader.
2011 - Jared Lee Loughner pleaded not guilty in Phoenix to federal charges he'd tried to kill U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and two of her aides in a Tucson shooting rampage that had claimed six lives.
2013 - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the lifting of a ban on women serving in combat.
Birthdays
23 - Callan McAuliffe (actor)
32 - Mischa Barton (actress)
34 - Justin Baldoni (actor)
36 - Daveed Diggs (rapper)
39 - Tatyana Ali (actress)
40 - Kristen Schaal (actress)
41 - Michelle Hunziker (model)
44 - Ed Helms (actor)
47 - Kenya Moore (actress)
48 - Matthew Lillard (actor)
50 - Mary Lou Retton (gymnast)
77 - Neil Diamond (singer)
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Today in Sports History - January 24
1947 - NFL adds fifth official (back judge) and allows sudden death overtime in playoffs (overtime wasn't used for the first time until 1958).
1955 - The rules committee of major league baseball announced a plan to strictly enforce the rule that required a pitcher to release the ball within 20 seconds after taking his position on the mound.
1964 - CBS purchases the television rights for the 1964 and 1965 NFL seasons for $28.2 million.
1973 - Warren Spahn is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1980 - Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon purchase the New York Mets for an estimated $21.1 million. The price tag is the highest amount ever paid for a baseball franchise at the time.
1982 - The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 26-21 in Detroit to win Super Bowl XVI. San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana was named MVP.
1984 - ABC paid a record $386 million for the television rights for the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary.
2006 - Mario Lemieux retired from playing in the NHL for the last time. He had previously retired and came back from cancer, a heart problem, agonizing back pain, a rare bone infection, a self-imposed one-season layoff and, five years earlier, from the boredom of retirement.
2013 - Tom Benson, owner of the New Orleans Hornets announced he was changing the name of the franchise from Hornets to Pelicans.
41 - Roman emperor Gaius Caesar, better known as Caligula (meaning Little Boot), was murdered.
1742 - Charles VII was elected Holy Roman Emperor during the War of the Austrian Succession.
1848 - Gold was first discovered in California, in Sutter's Mill. When President James K. Polk announced the news in December, the gold rush began.
1908 - Robert Baden-Powell organized the first Boy Scout troop in England.
1924 - The Russian city of St. Petersburg was renamed Leningrad in honor of late revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin.
1939 - At least 28,000 people were killed by an earthquake that devastated the city of Chillan in Chile.
1942 - The Roberts Commission placed much of the blame for America's lack of preparedness for Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on Rear Adm. Husband E. Kimmel and Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short, the Navy and Army commanders.
1943 - The Casablanca Conference with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill concluded.
1965 - Winston Churchill died in London at age 90.
1972 - The Supreme Court struck down laws that denied welfare benefits to people who had resided in a state for less than a year.
1972 - Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi was discovered in Guam, having spent 28 years hiding in the jungle thinking World War II was still going on.
1986 - The Voyager II space probe passes within 51,000 miles of Uranus.
1989 - Confessed serial killer Ted Bundy was executed in Florida's electric chair.
1993 - Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American member of the U.S. Supreme Court, died at age 84.
1995 - The prosecution gave its opening statement in the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
2003 - The Department of Homeland Security became a Cabinet-level department. Tom Ridge was named the first Secretary of Homeland Security.
2004 - NASA's Opportunity rover landed on Mars three weeks after its identical twin, Spirit.
2008 - French bank Societe Generale announced it had uncovered a $7.14 billion fraud by a single futures trader.
2011 - Jared Lee Loughner pleaded not guilty in Phoenix to federal charges he'd tried to kill U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and two of her aides in a Tucson shooting rampage that had claimed six lives.
2013 - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the lifting of a ban on women serving in combat.
Birthdays
23 - Callan McAuliffe (actor)
32 - Mischa Barton (actress)
34 - Justin Baldoni (actor)
36 - Daveed Diggs (rapper)
39 - Tatyana Ali (actress)
40 - Kristen Schaal (actress)
41 - Michelle Hunziker (model)
44 - Ed Helms (actor)
47 - Kenya Moore (actress)
48 - Matthew Lillard (actor)
50 - Mary Lou Retton (gymnast)
77 - Neil Diamond (singer)
==============================
Today in Sports History - January 24
1947 - NFL adds fifth official (back judge) and allows sudden death overtime in playoffs (overtime wasn't used for the first time until 1958).
1955 - The rules committee of major league baseball announced a plan to strictly enforce the rule that required a pitcher to release the ball within 20 seconds after taking his position on the mound.
1964 - CBS purchases the television rights for the 1964 and 1965 NFL seasons for $28.2 million.
1973 - Warren Spahn is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1980 - Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon purchase the New York Mets for an estimated $21.1 million. The price tag is the highest amount ever paid for a baseball franchise at the time.
1982 - The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 26-21 in Detroit to win Super Bowl XVI. San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana was named MVP.
1984 - ABC paid a record $386 million for the television rights for the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary.
2006 - Mario Lemieux retired from playing in the NHL for the last time. He had previously retired and came back from cancer, a heart problem, agonizing back pain, a rare bone infection, a self-imposed one-season layoff and, five years earlier, from the boredom of retirement.
2013 - Tom Benson, owner of the New Orleans Hornets announced he was changing the name of the franchise from Hornets to Pelicans.
