24 th January

41 AD Roman Emperor Caligula was murdered.

1848 John Marshall discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill, California.

1899 Edward John Phelps said, “The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything else.”

1935 Canned beer first went on sale in the U. S.

1985 The space shuttle Discovery was launched in the NASA program’s first secret military flight.

Being declared a leader does not mean people will automatically obey orders or follow your cause. Effective leaders inspire their peers and followers through sound judgment and good example. It was a lesson that one leader did not learn in his lifetime and, subsequently, few people mourned his death. On this day in 41 ad, the Roman emperor Gaius was murdered by two of his own Praetorian guards. Gaius’ nickname was Caligula—or Little Boot—because he was fond of dressing up in soldier’s uniforms, though in the end, he led no one. Not content to be emperor, the twenty-eight-year-old Caligula had just declared himself a god but his generals, troops, and subjects did not agree. They had been terrorized by Caligula’s cruelty and depravity throughout his brief, four-year reign.

The lure of gold is a potent force. It enticed European explorers to brave the unknown on both American continents, Africa, and Australia. Today, the prospect of gold attracts nations to claim portions of land near the north and south poles. A landmark gold discovery was made on this day in 1848. John W. Marshall found gold in a mill race of the American River at Sutter’s Mill, California. When word got out, thousands of people headed west to seek their fortunes. The ’49er gold rush opened the rest of the American

Wilderness from the Montana mountains to the Mexican deserts. It set the groundwork for the arrival of what we now laughingly call civilization. A few decades later, the Yukon’s gold lured men and women to battle the frigid, northwest wilderness.

The basis of growth and progress is the need to dare and to do without fear of making a mistake. In 1899, lawyer diplomat Edward John Phelps made a speech on this day in which he said, “The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.”

A great, modern-day convenience first went on sale in Richmond, Virginia, on this date in 1935. It changed the way men relax. This invention meant more wives were saved from abandonment in the evenings by errant spouses. Children were no longer sent off to the local saloon to fill their father’s pail. Why? Because canned beer first went on sale in the U. S.

Not all discoveries become public knowledge as quickly as John Marshall’s gold strike at Sutter’s Mill, California, did on this day in 1848. In fact, on this very day in 1985, the space shuttle Discovery's mission—the NASA space program’s first secret military flight—was launched.