Today’s Highlight

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.

On this date

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.

1965: Winston Churchill died in London at age 90.

1978: A nuclear-powered Soviet satellite, Kosmos 954, plunged through Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated, scattering radioactive debris.

1984: Apple Computer began selling its first Macintosh model, which boasted 9-inch monochrome display.

1989: Confessed serial killer Ted Bundy was executed in Florida’s electric chair.

2003: Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge was sworn as the first secretary of the new Department of Homeland Security.

2011: A suicide bomber attacked a Moscow airport, killing 37 people.

2013: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he would lift a ban on women in combat.

2018: Former sports doctor Larry Nassar, who had admitted to molesting some of the nation’s top gymnasts under the guise of medical treatment, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison.

Today’s birthdays

Cajun musician Doug Kershaw is 89. Singer Ray Stevens is 86. Singer Neil Diamond is 84. Singer Aaron Neville is 84. Physicist Michio Kaku is 78. Actor Daniel Auteuil is 75.