On this day: January 24

Events on January 24

• 41 Roman emperor Caligula was murdered by Cassius Chaerea and other members of the Praetorian Guard, who proclaimed Claudius to be the new emperor. Wikipedia
• 771 Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat dedicated a 65-ton stele, the largest stone known to be quarried by the Maya civilization, at his city of Quiriguá. Wikipedia
• 914 The Fatimid Caliphate began their first invasion of Egypt, against the Abbasids, which eventually ended in failure. Wikipedia
• 1438 The Council of Basel suspends Pope Eugene IV. Wikipedia
• 1458 The Estates unanimously proclaimed 14-year-old Matthias Corvinus King of Hungary after being persuaded to do so by his uncle Michael Szilágyi. Wikipedia
• 1536 King Henry VIII of England suffers an accident while jousting, leading to a brain injury that historians say may have influenced his later erratic behaviour and possible impotence. Wikipedia
• 1742 Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor. Wikipedia
• 1848 James W. Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California, leading to the California gold rush. Wikipedia
• 1857 The University of Calcutta was established as the first modern university in the Indian subcontinent. Wikipedia
• 1859 The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (later named Romania) is formed as a personal union under the rule of Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza. Wikipedia
• 1908 The first Boy Scout troop is organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell. Wikipedia
• 1913 Greek military aviators Michael Moutoussis and Aristeidis Moraitinis performed the first naval air mission in history, with a Farman MF.7 hydroplane. Wikipedia
• 1915 World War I: British Grand Fleet battle cruisers under Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty engage Rear-Admiral Franz von Hipper's battle cruisers in the Battle of Dogger Bank. Wikipedia
• 1933 The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, changing the beginning and end of terms for all elected federal offices. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca. Wikipedia
• 1960 Algerian War: Some units of European volunteers in Algiers stage an insurrection known as the "barricades week", during which they seize government buildings and clash with local police. Wikipedia
• 1961 A Boeing B-52 Stratofortress carrying two Mark 39 nuclear weapons broke up in mid-air near Goldsboro, North Carolina; one bomb was recovered intact, the other disintegrated. Wikipedia
• 1968 Vietnam War: The 1st Australian Task Force launched Operation Coburg against the North Vietnamese army and the Viet Cong. Wikipedia
• 1972 Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi was found in the jungles of Guam, where he had been hiding since the end of World War II. Wikipedia
• 1977 Spanish transition to democracy: Neo-fascists attacked an office in Madrid, killing five people and injuring four others. Wikipedia
• 1978 The Soviet nuclear-powered satellite Kosmos 954 burned up during atmospheric reentry, scattering radioactive debris across Canada's Northwest Territories. Wikipedia
• 1986 The Voyager 2 space probe makes its closest approach to Uranus. Wikipedia
• 1987 About 20,000 protestors marched in a civil rights demonstration in Forsyth County, Georgia, United States. Wikipedia
• 1990 Japan launched the Hiten spacecraft, the first lunar probe launched by a country other than the Soviet Union or the United States. Wikipedia
• 2003 The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation. Wikipedia
• 2011 At least 35 are killed and 180 injured in a bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport. Wikipedia

Born on January 24

• 76 Hadrian, Roman emperor (died 138) Wikipedia
• 1679 Christian Wolff, German philosopher and academic (died 1754) Wikipedia
• 1712 Frederick the Great, Prussian king (died 1786) Wikipedia
• 1732 Pierre Beaumarchais, French playwright and financier (died 1799) Wikipedia
• 1746 Gustav III of Sweden (died 1792) Wikipedia
• 1776 E. T. A. Hoffmann, German jurist, author, and composer (died 1822) Wikipedia
• 1848 Vasily Surikov, Russian painter (died 1916) Wikipedia
• 1862 Edith Wharton, American novelist and short story writer (died 1937) Wikipedia
• 1891 Walter Model, German field marshal (died 1945) Wikipedia
• 1917 Ernest Borgnine, American actor (died 2012) Wikipedia
• 1940 Joachim Gauck, German pastor and politician, 11th President of Germany Wikipedia
• 1941 Dan Shechtman, Israeli chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1941 Neil Diamond, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Wikipedia
• 1943 Sharon Tate, American model and actress (died 1969) Wikipedia
• 1947 Michio Kaku, American physicist and academic Wikipedia
• 1949 John Belushi, American actor and screenwriter (died 1982) Wikipedia
• 1950 Daniel Auteuil, French actor, director, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1953 Moon Jae-in, South Korean politician, 19th President of South Korea Wikipedia
• 1961 Nastassja Kinski, German-American actress and producer Wikipedia
• 1961 Guido Buchwald, German footballer and manager Wikipedia
• 1970 Matthew Lillard, American actor Wikipedia
• 1987 Luis Suárez, Uruguayan footballer Wikipedia

Died on January 24

• 41 Caligula, Roman emperor (born 12) Wikipedia
• 817 Pope Stephen IV (born 770) Wikipedia
• 1125 David IV (born 1073) Wikipedia
• 1895 Lord Randolph Churchill, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1849) Wikipedia
• 1920 Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (born 1884) Wikipedia
• 1965 Winston Churchill, English statesman, soldier, and writer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1874) Wikipedia
• 1966 Homi J. Bhabha, Indian physicist and academic (born 1909) Wikipedia
• 1983 George Cukor, American director and producer (born 1899) Wikipedia
• 1986 L. Ron Hubbard, American religious leader and author, founded the Church of Scientology (born 1911) Wikipedia
• 1989 Ted Bundy, American serial killer (born 1946) Wikipedia
• 1993 Thurgood Marshall, American lawyer and jurist, 32nd United States Solicitor General (born 1908) Wikipedia
• 2004 Leônidas, Brazilian footballer and manager (born 1913) Wikipedia
• 2014 Shulamit Aloni, Israeli lawyer and politician, 11th Israeli Minister of Education (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2016 Marvin Minsky, American computer scientist and academic (born 1927) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Babylas of Antioch Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Exuperantius of Cingoli Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Felician of Foligno Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Francis de Sales Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Marie Poussepin Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Pratulin Martyrs (Greek Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: January 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Day of the Unification of the Romanian Principalities (Romania) Wikipedia
• Feast of Our Lady of Peace (Roman Catholic Church), and its related observances: Feria de Alasitas (La Paz) Wikipedia
• Uttar Pradesh Day (Uttar Pradesh, India) Wikipedia
• National Girl Child Day (India) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “January 24” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/January 24” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “January 24” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for January 24 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.