Today in History: January 24, gold discovered at Sutter’s Mill in California

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Today is Saturday, Jan. 24, the 24th day of 2026. There are 341 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 24, 1848, James W. Marshall found a gold nugget at Sutter’s Mill in northern California, a discovery that sparked the California gold rush.

Also on this date:

In 1835, a major slave rebellion began in Bahia, Brazil, leading to the deaths of dozens of enslaved people in clashes with troops, police and armed civilians in the provincial capital of Salvador. The uprising was seen as influential in helping to bring about an end to slavery in the country decades later.

In 1945, Associated Press war correspondent Joseph Morton was among a group of captives executed by German soldiers at the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in Austria.

In 1965, Winston Churchill died in London at age 90.

In 1978, a nuclear-powered Soviet satellite, Kosmos 954, plunged through Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated, scattering radioactive debris over parts of northern Canada.

In 1984, Apple Computer began selling its first Macintosh model, which boasted a built-in 9-inch monochrome display, a clock rate of 8 megahertz and 128k of RAM.

In 1989, confessed serial killer Ted Bundy was executed in Florida’s electric chair.

In 2003, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge was sworn as the first secretary of the new Department of Homeland Security.

In 2011, a suicide bomber attacked Moscow’s busiest airport, killing 37 people; Chechen separatists claimed responsibility.

In 2013, President Barack Obama’s Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the lifting of a ban on women serving in direct ground combat roles.

In 2018, former sports doctor Larry Nassar, who had admitted to molesting some of the United States' top gymnasts for years under the guise of medical treatment, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison.

In 2023, a farmworker killed seven people in back-to-back shootings in a case of “workplace violence” at two Northern California mushroom farms. It marked the state's third mass killing in just over a week.

Today’s birthdays: Cajun musician Doug Kershaw is 90. Singer-songwriter Ray Stevens is 87. Singer-songwriter Neil Diamond is 85. Singer Aaron Neville is 85. Physicist Michio Kaku is 79. Actor Daniel Auteuil is 76. Comedian Yakov Smirnoff is 75. Actor William Allen Young is 72. Musician Jools Holland is 68. Actor Nastassja Kinski is 65. Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Mary Lou Retton is 58. Actor Matthew Lillard is 56. Musician Beth Hart is 54. Actor Ed Helms is 52. Actor-comedian Kristen Schaal is 48. Actor Tatyana Ali is 47. Actor Carrie Coon is 45. Actor and rapper Daveed Diggs is 44. Actor Mischa Barton is 40. NFL coach Sean McVay is 40. Soccer player Luis Suárez is 39. Actor Callan McAuliffe is 31. Singer Johnny Orlando is 23.