Today is Friday, Jan. 24, the 24th day of 2025. There are 341 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Jan. 24, 1848, James W. Marshall found a gold nugget at Sutter’s Mill in northern California, a discovery that sparked the California gold rush.
Also on this date:
In 1945, Associated Press war correspondent Joseph Morton was among a group of captives executed by German soldiers at the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in Austria.
In 1965, Winston Churchill died in London at age 90.
In 1978, a nuclear-powered Soviet satellite, Kosmos 954, plunged through Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated, scattering radioactive debris over parts of northern Canada.
In 1984, Apple Computer began selling its first Macintosh model, which boasted a built-in 9-inch monochrome display, a clock rate of 8 megahertz and 128k of RAM.
In 1989, confessed serial killer Ted Bundy was executed in Florida’s electric chair.
In 2003, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge was sworn as the first secretary of the new Department of Homeland Security.
In 2011, a suicide bomber attacked Moscow’s busiest airport, killing 37 people; Chechen separatists claimed responsibility.
In 2013, President Barack Obama’s Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the lifting of a ban on women serving in combat.
In 2018, former sports doctor Larry Nassar, who had admitted to molesting some of the nation’s top gymnasts for years under the guise of medical treatment, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison.
Today’s birthdays:
- Cajun musician Doug Kershaw is 89.
- Singer-songwriter Ray Stevens is 86.
- Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond is 84.
- Singer Aaron Neville is 84.
- Physicist Michio Kaku is 78.
- Actor Daniel Auteuil is 75.
- Comedian Yakov Smirnoff is 74.
- Actor William Allen Young is 71.
- Musician Jools Holland is 67.
- Actor Nastassja Kinski is 64.
- Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Mary Lou Retton is 57.
- Actor Matthew Lillard is 55.
- Musician Beth Hart is 53.
- Actor Ed Helms is 51.
- Actor-comedian Kristen Schaal is 47.
- Actor Tatyana Ali is 46.
- Actor Carrie Coon is 44.
- Actor Daveed Diggs is 43.
- Actor Mischa Barton is 39.
- NFL coach Sean McVay is 39.
- Soccer player Luis Suárez is 38.