1615 Thomas Rolfe (born), American son of Pocahontas (died 1675)
1649 King Charles I of England is beheaded.
1649 Charles I of England (died) (born 1600)
1661 Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England is ritually executed two years after his death, on the anniversary of the execution of the monarch he himself deposed.
1697 Johann Joachim Quantz (born), German flute player and composer (died 1773)
1703 The Forty-seven Ronin, under the command of Ōishi Kuranosuke, avenge the death of their master.
1720 Charles De Geer (born), Swedish entomologist (died 1778)
1790 The first boat specializing as a lifeboat is tested on the River Tyne.
1806 The original Lower Trenton Bridge (also called the Trenton Makes the World Takes Bridge), which spans theDelaware River between Morrisville, Pennsylvania and Trenton, New Jersey, is opened.
1820 Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica.
1822 Franz Ritter von Hauer (born), Austrian geologist (died 1899)
1826 The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world’s first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north West coast of Wales, is opened.
1835 In the first assassination attempt against a President of the United States, Richard Lawrence attempts to shoot president Andrew Jackson, but fails and is subdued by a crowd, including several congressmen.
1836 Betsy Ross (died) , American seamstress, designed the American Flag (born 1752)
1847 Yerba Buena, California is renamed San Francisco.
1858 The first Hallé concert is given in Manchester, England, marking the official founding of The Hallé orchestra as a full-time, professional orchestra.
1858 Coenraad Jacob Temminck (died) , Dutch zoologist (born 1778)
1862 The first American ironclad warship, the USS Monitor is launched.
1882 Franklin D. Roosevelt (born), American politician, 32nd President of the United States (died 1945)
1908 Mahatma Gandhi is released from prison by Jan C. Smuts after been tried and sentenced to 2 months in jail earlier in the month. On the same day 40 years later in 1948 Gandhiji is assassinated.
1911 The destroyer USS Terry makes the first airplane rescue at sea saving the life of James McCurdy 10 miles from Havana, Cuba.
1911 The Canadian Naval Service becomes the Royal Canadian Navy.
1912 Barbara W. Tuchman (born), American historian and author (died 1989)
1913 The British House of Lords rejects the Irish Home Rule Bill.
1917 Paul Frère (born), Belgian race car driver and journalist (died 2008)
1922 Dick Martin (born), American comedian, actor, and director (died 2008)
1925 Douglas Engelbart (born), American computer scientist, invented the computer mouse (died 2013)
1925 Dorothy Malone (born), American actress
1926 Barbara La Marr (died) , American actress (born 1896)
1930 Gene Hackman (born), American actor and author
1933 Adolf Hitler is sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.
1934 Frank Nelson Doubleday (died) , American publisher, founded the Doubleday Publishing Company (born 1862)
1936 Patrick Caulfield (born), English painter (died 2005)
1937 Vanessa Redgrave (born), English actress
1937 Boris Spassky (born), Russian chess player
1941 Dick Cheney (born), American politician, 46th Vice President of the United States
1942 World War II: Japanese forces invade the island of Ambon in the Dutch East Indies.
1942 Marty Balin (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and KBC Band)
1943 World War II: Second day of the Battle of Rennell Island. The USS Chicago is sunk and a U.S. destroyer is heavily damaged by Japanesetorpedoes.
1944 World War II: The Battle of Cisterna, part of Operation Shingle, begins in central Italy.
1944 World War II: American troops land on Majuro.
1945 World War II: The Wilhelm Gustloff, overfilled with refugees, sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine, leading to the deadliest known maritime disaster, killing approximately 9,400 people.
1947 Steve Marriott (born), English singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (Humble Pie and The Small Faces) (died 1991)
1948 Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known for his non-violent freedom struggle, is assassinated by Pandit Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist.
1948 Orville Wright (died) , American aviation pioneer (born 1871)
1951 Phil Collins (born), English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (Genesis, Brand X, and Flaming Youth)
1951 Ferdinand Porsche (died) , Austrian-German engineer and businessman, founded Porsche (born 1875)
1956 American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.’s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
1962 Manuel de Abreu (died) , Brazilian physician (born 1894)
1964 Ranger program: Ranger 6 is launched.
1964 In a bloodless coup, General Nguyen Khanh overthrows General Duong Van Minh’s military junta in South Vietnam.
1969 The Beatles’ last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police.
1971 Carole King’s Tapestry album is released to become the longest charting album by a female solo artist and sell 24 million copies worldwide.
1972 Bloody Sunday: British Paratroopers kill fourteen unarmed civil rights/anti internment marchers in Northern Ireland.
1974 Christian Bale (born), English actor
1975 The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is established as the first United States National Marine Sanctuary.
1982 Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called “Elk Cloner”.
1982 Lightnin’ Hopkins (died) , American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1912)
1989 The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan closes.
1994 Péter Lékó becomes the youngest chess grand master.
1995 Workers from the National Institutes of Health announce the success of clinical trials testing the first preventive treatment for sickle-cell disease.
1995 Gerald Durrell (died) , Indian-English zookeeper, author, and television host (born 1925)
2010 Bernard Arcand (died) , Canadian anthropologist and author (born 1945)
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
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- Alternative Facts and Science - 24 January, 2017