295 BC The first temple to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, is dedicated by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges during the Third Samnite War.
43 BCGaius Julius Cadaesar Octavianus, later known as Augustus, compels the Roman Senate to elect him Consul.
14 Augustus (died), Roman emperor (born 63 BC)
1342 Catherine of Bohemia (born) (died 1395)
1561 18-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, returns to Scotland after spending 13 years in France.
1570 Salamone Rossi (born), Italian violinist and composer (died 1630)
1612 The “Samlesbury witches”, three women from the Lancashire village of Samlesbury, England, are put on trial, accused of practicing witchcraft, one of the most famous witch trials in British history.
1646 John Flamsteed (born), English astronomer (died 1719)
1662 Blaise Pascal (died), French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (born 1623)
1692 Salem witch trials: in Salem, Province of Massachusetts Bay, five people, one woman and four men, including a clergyman, are executed after being convicted of witchcraft.
1743 Madame du Barry (born), French mistress of Louis XV of France (died 1793)
1753 Johann Balthasar Neumann (died), German engineer and architect, designed Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers (born 1687)
1768 Saint Isaac’s Cathedral is founded in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
1782 American Revolutionary War: Battle of Blue Licks – the last major engagement of the war, almost ten months after the surrender of the British commander Charles Cornwallis following the Siege of Yorktown.
1812 War of 1812: American frigate USS Constitution defeats the British frigate HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada earning the nickname “Old Ironsides”.
1835 Tom Wills (born), Australian cricketer and umpire, co-founded Australian rules football (died 1880)
1839 The French government announces that Louis Daguerre’s photographic process is a gift “free to the world”.
1843 C. I. Scofield (born), American minister and theologian (died 1921)
1848 California Gold Rush: the New York Herald breaks the news to the East Coast of the United States of the gold rush in California (although the rush started in January).
1854 The First Sioux War begins when United States Army soldiers kill Lakota chief Conquering Bear and in return are massacred.
1861 First ascent of Weisshorn, fifth highest summit in the Alps.
1862 American Indian Wars: during an uprising in Minnesota, Lakota warriors decide not to attack heavily-defended Fort Ridgely and instead turn to the settlement of New Ulm, killing white settlers along the way.
1870 Bernard Baruch (born), American businessman and philanthropist (died 1965)
1871 Orville Wright (born), American pilot, inventor, and businessman, co-founded the Wright Company (died 1948)
1878 Manuel L. Quezon (born), Filipino politician, 2nd President of the Philippines (died 1944)
1883 Coco Chanel (born), French fashion designer, founded the Chanel Company (died 1971)
1895 American Frontier murderer and outlaw John Wesley Hardin is killed by an off-duty policeman in a saloon in El Paso, Texas.
1902 Ogden Nash (born), American poet and author (died 1971)
1904 Maurice Wilks (born), English automotive and aeronautical engineer, and was chairman of the Rover Company (died 1963)
1909 The first automobile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
1915 Ring Lardner, Jr. (born), American journalist and screenwriter (died 2000)
1919 Afghanistan gains full independence from the United Kingdom.
1919 Malcolm Forbes (born), American publisher (died 1990)
1921 Gene Roddenberry (born), American screenwriter and producer (died 1991)
1923 Vilfredo Pareto (died), Italian sociologist and economist (born 1845)
1928 Walter Massey (born), Canadian actor
1929 Ion N. Petrovici (born), Romanian-German neurologist
1931 Bill Shoemaker (born), American jockey (died 2003)
1933 Debra Paget (born), American actress and singer
1934 Renée Richards (born), American tennis player and ophthalmologist
1934 The creation of the position Führer is approved by the German electorate with 89.9% of the popular vote.
1934 The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio.
1939 Ginger Baker (born), English drummer and songwriter (Cream, Blind Faith, Blues Incorporated, and Atomic Rooster)
1940 Jill St. John (born), American actress
1942 Fred Thompson (born), American actor, lawyer, and politician
1943 Billy J. Kramer (born), English singer
1944 World War II: Liberation of Paris Paris, France rises against German occupation with the help of Allied troops.
1945 Ian Gillan (born), English singer-songwriter (Deep Purple, Episode Six, Gillan, and WhoCares)
1946 Bill Clinton (born), American politician, 42nd President of the United States
1948 Tipper Gore (born), American author and photographer, co-founded the Parents Music Resource Center
1951 John Deacon (born), English bass player and songwriter (Queen)
1956 Adam Arkin (born), American actor, director, and producer
1959 Blind Willie McTell (died), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1901)
1960 Cold War: in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Soviet Union for espionage.
1960 Sputnik program: Korabl-Sputnik 2 the Soviet Union launches the satellite with the dogs Belka and Strelka, 40 mice, 2 rats and a variety of plants.
1965 Kyra Sedgwick (born), American actress and producer
1968 Mark McGuinn (born), American singer-songwriter
1975 Mark Donohue (died), American race car driver and engineer (born 1937)
1977 Groucho Marx (died), American comedian, actor, and singer (born 1890)
1979 Dorsey Burnette (died), American singer-songwriter (The Rock and Roll Trio) (born 1932)
1980 Otto Frank (died), German-Swiss businessman (born 1889)
1983 Reeva Steenkamp (born), South African model (died 2013)
1987 Nico Hülkenberg (born), German race car driver
1989 Radio Caroline, the offshore pirate station in the North Sea, is raided by British and Dutch governments.
1991 Crown Heights riot: Black groups target Hasidic Jews on the streets of Crown Heights in New York, New York for three days, after two black children were hit by a car driven by a Hasidic man.
1991 Dissolution of the Soviet Union, August Coup: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Ukraine.
1994 Linus Pauling (died), American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1901)
1999 In Belgrade, Yugoslavia, tens of thousands of Serbians rally to demand the resignation of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milošević.
2003 A Hamas planned suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem, Israel kills 23 Israelis, seven of them children, in the Shmuel HaNavi bus bombing.
2005 The first-ever joint military exercise between Russia and China, called Peace Mission 2005 begins.
2008 LeRoi Moore (died), American saxophonist and songwriter (Dave Matthews Band) (born 1961)
2009 Don Hewitt (died), American television producer, created 60 Minutes (born 1922)
2010 Operation Iraqi Freedom ends, with the last of the United States brigade combat teams crossing the border to Kuwait.
2012 Tony Scott (died), English-American director and producer (born 1944)
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
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- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017