January 24 is:
Beer Can Appreciation Day
Compliment Day
Connecticut colony organized under Fundamental Orders in 1639.
Anniversary of the discovery of gold in California in 1848. James W. Marshall found gold at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento, starting the famous Gold Rush which brought 300,000 people to California, called “forty-niners”. The sudden influx of gold into the money supply reinvigorated the American economy, and the sudden population increase allowed California to go rapidly to statehood, in the Compromise of 1850.
1902 Denmark sold Virgin Islands to USA for $25 million in gold. The Virgin Islands are divided between the United States and the United Kingdom. The U.S.Virgin Islands consist of 4 larger islands: St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John and Water Island, and some 50 smaller islets and cays. The total area of the U.S.Virgin Islands is 133 square miles.
On January 24, 1922 “Eskimo Pie” patented by Christian K Nelson of Iowa, an immigrant from Denmark. Originally called “I-Scream Bars”. The name Eskimo Pie was suggested by the wife of Russell Stover, a local chocolate producer. The dessert received its current name (Edy’s Pie) in 2020 when Dreyer’s chose to drop the Eskimo Pie name, saying that Eskimo is a derogatory term.
The Russian city of St. Petersburg was renamed Leningrad January 24, 1924 in honor of late revolutionary leader, Vladimir Lenin. The name reverted to St. Petersburg in 1991.
1933 – The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, changing the beginning and end of terms for all elected federal offices.
Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
Section 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
Section 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
On Jan. 24, 1965 Winston Churchill died in London at age 90.
1984 – The first Apple Macintosh went on sale.
2003 – The United States Department of Homeland Security officially began operation. It currently employs 240,000 people.