TODAY HISTORY LESSON: JANUARY 24
0041 Shortly after declaring himself a god, Caligula is assassinated by two Praetorian tribunes.
1076 Synod of Worms German King Henry IV fires Pope Gregory VII
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.
1835 Slaves stage a rebellion in Brazil to end slavery
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.
1899 Rubber heel for boots or shoes patented by American Humphrey O’Sullivan
1908 Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell publishes “Scouting for Boys” as a manual for self-instruction in outdoor skills and self-improvement. The book becomes the inspiration for the Scout Movement.
1911 U.S. Cavalry is sent to preserve the neutrality of the Rio Grande during the Mexican Civil War.
1922 Eskimo Pie patented by Christian K Nelson of Iowa (not an Eskimo)
1924 The Russian city of St. Petersburg was renamed Leningrad. The name has since been changed back to St. Petersburg.
1946 The UN establishes the International Atomic Energy Commission.
1972 The U.S. Supreme Court struck down laws that denied welfare benefits to people who had resided in a state for less than a year.
1980 In a rebuff to the Soviets, the U.S. announces intentions to sell arms to China.
1984 Apple Computer Inc unveils its revolutionary Macintosh personal computer
1986 Voyager Two space probe passes within 51,000 miles of Uranus.
1988 1st WWF Royal Rumble – Jim Duggan wins
1990 Japan launches its first lunar probe
2000 The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Missouri law that limited the contributions that individuals could donate to a candidate during a single election.
2002 The U.S. Congress began a hearing on the collapse of Enron Corp.
2003 The Department of Homeland Security, under Tom Ridge, became a cabinet department.
REFERENCE: history.net, onthisday.com, thepeopleshistory.com, timeanddate.com, scopesys.com, on-this-day.com
