Shimla, Jan 24
2003
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security came into being as Tom Ridge was sworn in as the agency’s first secretary.
1993
American lawyer and civil rights activist Thurgood Marshall, who was the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court (1967–91), died at age 84.
1989
American serial killer Ted Bundy—who confessed to murdering 30 women, though many believe the number to be much higher—was executed at age 42.
1984
Steve Jobs introduced Apple’s revolutionary computer Macintosh, two days after the groundbreaking commercial “1984” aired before a national TV audience and heralded the product’s impending release.
1941
American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, who wrote pop songs for other musicians before launching a successful solo recording career, was born.
1940
The Grapes of Wrath, the acclaimed adaptation of John Steinbeck’s classic novel, had its world premiere; the character Tom Joad’s soliloquy on the poor, reflecting his empathy for their plight, remains one of the most famous scenes in film history.
1908
The first Boy Scout troop was organized by Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell in England.
1862
Edith Wharton, an American author best known for her stories and novels about upper-class society, was born.
1848
Carpenter James Wilson Marshall found nuggets of gold in California’s American River near the site of a sawmill he was building for John Sutter, ushering in a gold rush.
1556
An earthquake in Shensi (Shaanxi) province, China, killed 830,000 people.
41
The Roman emperor Caligula was murdered at the Palatine Games by Cassius Chaerea (a tribune of the Praetorian Guard), Cornelius Sabinus, and others.
