On Jan. 24, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget at Sutter’s Mill in northern California, a discovery that led to the gold rush of ’49.

In 1908, the first Boy Scout troop was organized in England by Robert Baden-Powell.

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

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

In 1989, confessed serial killer Ted Bundy was executed.

In 1993, retired Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall died in Bethesda, Md., at age 84.