✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 24th day of the year

January 24

A look at January 24 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Joachim Gauck and Gong Lijiao, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

♒ZodiacAquarius ◈BirthstoneGarnet ❀Birth flowerCarnation
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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2003

    United States Department of Homeland Security

    The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.

    United States federal executive
  2. 1990

    Hiten (spacecraft)

    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.

    1990 Japanese lunar probe
  3. 1987

    1987 Forsyth County protests

    About 20,000 protestors march in a civil rights demonstration in Forsyth County, Georgia, United States.

    Civil rights demonstrations in
  4. 1972

    Shoichi Yokoi

    Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.

    Japanese World War II
  5. 1968

    Vietnam War

    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.

    1955–1975 war in Southeast
  6. 1943

    Franklin D. Roosevelt

    World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.

    President of the United
  7. 1942

    World War II

    World War II: The Allies bombard Bangkok, leading Thailand, then under Japanese control, to declare war against the United States and United Kingdom.

    1939–1945 global conflict
  8. 1915

    World War I

    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.

    1914–1918 global conflict
  9. 1857

    University of Calcutta

    The University of Calcutta is formally founded as the first fully fledged university in South Asia.

    Public university in Kolkata,
  10. 41

    AD 41

    Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.

    Calendar year
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Famous birthday twins

Born on January 24

Joachim Gauck

b. 1940

German pastor and politician, 11th President of Germany

Gong Lijiao

b. 1989

Chinese shot putter

Moon Jae-in

b. 1953

South Korean politician, 19th President of South Korea

John Belushi

b. 1949

American actor and screenwriter

AD 76

b. 76

Roman emperor

Luis Suárez

b. 1987

Uruguayan footballer

Matthew Lillard

b. 1970

American actor

Frederick the Great

b. 1712

Prussian king

Deaths

  • 2015Otto Carius, German lieutenant and pharmacist
  • 2007Krystyna Feldman, Polish actress
  • 1983George Cukor, American director and producer
  • 1965Winston Churchill, English statesman, soldier, and writer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1125David IV, of Georgia
  • 41AD 41, Roman emperor

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Babylas of Antioch
  • —Christian feast day: Exuperantius of Cingoli
  • —Christian feast day: Felician of Foligno
  • —Christian feast day: Francis de Sales
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Marie Poussepin
  • —Christian feast day: Pratulin Martyrs (Greek Catholic Church)
  • —Christian feast day: January 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • —Day of the Unification of the Romanian Principalities (Romania)

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