January 24
Activity of the day
Today is . . .
- Belly laugh day
- National compliment day in the U.S.
- Feast of St Francis of Sales, patron saint of authors and journalists
On this day . . .
- Gold is first discovered in California (1848)
- The first Boy Scout troop is organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell (1908)
- Conscription is introduced in Britain (1916)
- The Russian city of St. Petersburg is renamed Leningrad (1924)
- Beer in cans is first sold in Virginia, USA (1935)
- French film director François Truffaut's "Jules et Jim" opens in Paris (1962)
- The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale (1984)
- The O.J. Simpson "trial of the century" begins (1995)
- The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation (2003)
Births
- Hadrian, Roman Emperor (AD76)
- Frederick the Great, King of Prussia (1712)
- Ernest Borgnine, American actor (1917)
- Desmond Morris, English zoologist (1928)
- Neil Diamond, American singer songwriter (1941)
- Sharon Tate, American actress (1943)
- Warren Zevon, American musician (1947)
- John Belushi, American actor (1949)
- Daniel Auteuil, French actor (1950)
- Jools Holland, English musician (1958)
- Nastassja Kinski, German film actress (1961)
Deaths
- Caligula, Roman emperor, assassinated (AD41)
- Amadeo Modigliani, Italian sculptor and painter (1920)
- Winston Churchill, British prime minister (1965)
- George Cukor, American film director (1983)
- L. Ron Hubbard, American writer and founder of Scientology (1986)
- Chris Penn, American actor (2006)