What Happened on January 24th in History
30 historical events on this date
The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first fully fledged university in South Asia.
The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (CU), is a public state research university located in Kolkata, also known as Calcutta, in West Bengal, India. It has 151...
The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (later named Romania) is formed as a personal union under the rule of Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza.
The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, commonly called United Principalities or Wallachia and Moldavia, was the personal union of the Principality of Moldavia and the Principality of...
Second Boer War: Boers stop a British attempt to break the Siege of Ladysmith in the Battle of Spion Kop.
The Second Boer War, also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the Boer republics over Britain's...
The first Boy Scout troop is organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell.
Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the 20th century.
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.
World War I, or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers. Major areas of conflict included Europe and the...
In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.
Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., 240 U.S. 1 (1916), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court upheld the validity of a tax statute called the Revenue Act of 1913,...
The Gregorian calendar is introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People's Commissars effective February 14 (New Style).
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull Inter gravissimas issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced...
The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, changing the beginning and end of terms for all elected federal offices.
The Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution moved the beginning and ending of the terms of the president and vice president from March 4 to January 20, and of members of Congress from...
Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company starts selling the first canned beer.
The Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company was a brewery in Newark, New Jersey founded by Gottfried Krueger and John Laible in 1858. The company produced Krueger's Special Beer, the first beer to be sold...
The deadliest earthquake in Chilean history strikes Chillán, killing approximately 28,000 people.
The 1939 Chillán earthquake occurred in south-central Chile on 24 January with a surface-wave magnitude of 8.3 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). With a death toll of around 28,000,...
World War II: The Allies bombard Bangkok, leading Thailand, then under Japanese control, to declare war against the United States and United Kingdom.
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major...
World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving US president and the only one to have...
The United Nations General Assembly passes its first resolution to establish the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission.
The United Nations General Assembly is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 80th...
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.
The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution, the Franco-Algerian War, or the Algerian War of Independence, was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front...
Goldsboro B-52 crash: A bomber carrying two H-bombs breaks up in mid-air over North Carolina. The uranium core of one weapon remains lost.
The 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash was an aviation accident that occurred near Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States, on 24 January 1961. A Boeing B-52 Stratofortress carrying two 3.8-megaton Mark 39...
Air India Flight 101 crashes into Mont Blanc.
Air India Flight 101 was a scheduled Air India passenger flight from Bombay to London, via Delhi, Beirut, and Geneva. On the morning of 24 January 1966 at 8:02 CET, on approach to Geneva, the Boeing...
Vietnam War: The 1st Australian Task Force launches Operation Coburg against the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong during wider fighting around Long Bình and Biên Hòa.
The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while...
Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.
Shōichi Yokoi was a Japanese soldier who served as a sergeant in the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during the Second World War and was one of the last four Japanese holdouts to be found after the...
The Atocha massacre occurs in Madrid during the Spanish transition to democracy.
The 1977 Atocha massacre was an attack by right-wing extremists in the center of Madrid on 24 January 1977, which saw the assassination of five labor activists from the Communist Party of Spain...
Soviet satellite Kosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada's Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.
The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. It was the world's...
The Voyager 2 space probe makes its closest approach to Uranus.
Voyager 2 is a space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, as a part of the Voyager program. It was launched on a trajectory towards the gas giants and enabled further encounters with the ice...
About 20,000 protestors march in a civil rights demonstration in Forsyth County, Georgia, United States.
The 1987 Forsyth County protests were a series of civil rights demonstrations held in Forsyth County, Georgia, in the United States. The protests consisted of two marches, held one week apart on...
An Aeroflot Yakovlev Yak-40 crashes at Nizhnevartovsk Airport, killing 27 people.
PJSC Aeroflot – Russian Airlines, commonly known as Aeroflot, is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. Aeroflot is headquartered in the Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, with its...
Japan launches Hiten, the country's first lunar probe, the first robotic lunar probe since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976, and the first lunar probe launched by a country other than Soviet Union or the United States.
The Hiten spacecraft, given the English name Celestial Maiden and known before launch as MUSES-A, part of the MUSES Program, was built by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of Japan...
The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, comparable to interior ministries abroad. Its missions involve...
Cyclone Klaus makes landfall near Bordeaux, France, causing 26 deaths as well as extensive disruptions to public transport and power supplies.
Cyclone Klaus was a European windstorm or cyclone that made landfall over large parts of central and southern France, Spain and parts of Italy in January 2009. The storm was the most damaging since...
At least 35 are killed and 180 injured in a bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport.
The Domodedovo International Airport bombing was a suicide bombing in the international arrival hall of Moscow Domodedovo Airport, in Domodedovsky District, Moscow Oblast, on 24 January 2011.
Former doctor Larry Nassar is sentenced up to 175 years in prison after being found guilty of using his position to sexually abuse female gymnasts.
Lawrence Gerard Nassar is an American convicted serial sex offender and former family medicine osteopathic physician. He served as a team doctor for the United States women's national gymnastics...
An Ilyushin Il-76 crashes in Russia's Korochansky District, killing all 74 people on board.
On 24 January 2024, at around 11:15 MSK, a Russian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane crashed near the Ukrainian border in Russia's Korochansky district in Belgorod Oblast, killing...
At least 70 people are killed and 10 others missing after major landslides in West Java, Indonesia.
On the early morning of January 24, 2026, heavy rains caused major landslides in West Bandung Regency, West Java, Indonesia. The landslide buried at least 53 homes, and killed up to 80 people, and...