Today In History

Today in History: Tuesday, January  24, 2017
AP Highlight in History:
On Jan. 24, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter’s Mill in northern California, sparking the gold rush of ’49.
On this date in:
1908 The first Boy Scout troop was organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell.
1924 The Russian city of St. Petersburg was renamed Leningrad in honor of late revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin.
1943 President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill concluded a wartime conference in Casablanca, Morocco.

AP Photo

1965 Former British Prime Minister 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.
1986 The Voyager 2 space probe swept past Uranus, coming within 50,679 miles of the seventh planet from the sun.
1987 Gunmen in Lebanon kidnapped educators Alann Steen, Jesse Turner, Robert Polhill and Mitheleshwar Singh. (All were later released.)
1989 Confessed serial killer Ted Bundy was executed in Florida’s electric chair.
1993 Retired Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall died at age 84.
1995 The prosecution gave its opening statement in the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
2003 The new federal Department of Homeland Security officially opened as Tom Ridge was sworn in as secretary.
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.
Today’s Birthdays:
Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond turns 76 years old today.

AP Photo/Dan Steinberg

Name Profession Age
Ray Stevens Country singer 78
Aaron Neville Singer 76
Yakov Smirnoff Comedian 66
Jools Holland Rock musician (Squeeze) 59
Nastassja Kinski Actress 58
Mary Lou Retton Olympic gold-medal gymnast 49
Matthew Lillard Actor 47
Tatyana Ali Actress, singer 38
Mischa Barton Actress (“The O.C.”) 31
Actor Ed Helms (“The Office,” “The Daily Show”) turns 43 years old today.

AP Photo/Dan Steinberg

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