| 41 |
|
Shortly after declaring himself a god, Caligula is assassinated by two Praetorian tribunes. |
| 1458 |
|
Matthias Corvinus, the son of John Hunyadi, is elected king of Hungary. |
| 1639 |
|
Representatives from three Connecticut towns band together to write the Fundamental Orders, the first constitution in the New World. |
| 1722 |
|
Czar Peter the Great caps his reforms in Russia with the "Table of Rank" which decrees a commoner can climb on merit to the highest positions. |
| 1848 |
|
Gold is discovered by James Wilson Marshall at his partner Johann August Sutter's sawmill on the South Fork of the American River, near Coloma, California. |
| 1903 |
|
U.S. Secretary of State John Hay and British Ambassador Herbert create a joint commission to establish the Alaskan border. |
| 1911 |
|
U.S. Cavalry is sent to preserve the neutrality of the Rio Grande during the Mexican Civil War. |
| 1915 |
|
The German cruiser Blücher is sunk by a British squadron in the Battle of Dogger Bank. |
| 1927 |
|
British expeditionary force of 12,000 is sent to China to protect concessions at Shanghai. |
| 1931 |
|
The League of Nations rebukes Poland for the mistreatment of a German minority in Upper Silesia. |
| 1945 |
|
A German attempt to relieve the besieged city of Budapest is finally halted by the Soviets. |
| 1946 |
|
The UN establishes the International Atomic Energy Commission. |
| 1951 |
|
Indian leader Nehru demands that the UN name Peking as an aggressor in Korea. |
| 1965 |
|
Winston Churchill dies from a cerebral thrombosis at the age of 90. |
| 1980 |
|
In a rebuff to the Soviets, the U.S. announces intentions to sell arms to China. |
| 1982 |
|
A draft of Air Force history reports that the U.S. secretly sprayed herbicides on Laos during the Vietnam War. |
| Born on January 24 |
| 1712 |
|
Frederick II (the Great), King of Prussia, noted for his social reforms and leading Prussia in military victories. |
| 1732 |
|
Pierre de Beaumarchais, French dramatist (The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro). |
| 1862 |
|
Edith Wharton, U.S. novelist who wrote Ethan Frome and The Age of Innocence. |
Loading ...
