Read more about the article Jan 24, 1848: James Marshall finds gold in the American River kicking off the California Gold Rush
“I have found it.”- John Wilson Marshall, the man that first found gold on the banks of the American River, next to infamous Mill that bears John Sutter’s Name. Both men would die penniless, via Wiki Commons

Jan 24, 1848: James Marshall finds gold in the American River kicking off the California Gold Rush

On January 24, 1848: “I have found it!” John Wilson Marshall, a carpenter, called out after finding flakes of gold at a small lumber mill he was helping to build on the banks of the American River in what was still considered a back water outpost in the mountains of Mexican Alta California. It was call heard across the world and started one of the greatest migration of people in history, founded a state, and started a war.

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Read more about the article January 897, Rome: the exhumed corpse of Pope Formosus is put on trial, found guilty
Le Pape Formose et Étienne VII, by Jean-Paul Laurens, 1870 via Wikipedia

January 897, Rome: the exhumed corpse of Pope Formosus is put on trial, found guilty

In January 897 Pope Stephen VII charged controversial Pope Formosus with crimes against the papacy and called for Formusus to stand trial. However, Formosus had been dead for 7 months before the formal accusation. In a horribly misguided bid to gain favor from Formosa’s enemies, Pope Stephen VII moved to disinter Pope Formosus and have the corpse undergo a gruesome ecclesiastic trial, now known as the Cadaver Synod, or in Latin: Synod Horrenda.

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Read more about the article Jan 18, 1803: Giovanni Aldini attempts to reanimate the dead

Jan 18, 1803: Giovanni Aldini attempts to reanimate the dead

Giovanni Aldini galvanizes the corpse of an executed criminal. “…the experiments I did on the hanged criminal did not aim at reanimating the cadaver, but only to acquire a practical knowledge as to whether galvanism can be used as an auxiliary, and up to which it can override other means of reanimating a man under such circumstances….” Giovanni Aldini, 1804

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Read more about the article Jan 15, 1919: Boston Great Molasses Flood kills 21, injures 150

Jan 15, 1919: Boston Great Molasses Flood kills 21, injures 150

It was an uncharacteristically balmy day on January 15th, 1919. Policeman Frank McManus was patrolling the city’s industrial North End when he glanced up Commercial St. After taking a split second to truly register what he was seeing, he frantically called it in. An immense wave of darkness up to 20 ft. tall was pouring down upon the city at a terrifying 35 miles per hour. A cheap, untested structure that leaked from day one, the second-rate molasses tank had burst. 2.3 million gallons of syrupy ruination was barrelling down in what would become known as one of the most freakishly grotesque disasters of the 20th century.

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Read more about the article Jan 10, 1863: The London Underground opens with gas-lit, steam-powered trains between Paddington & Farrington
1863: Commuters waving their hats in the air as they pass Portland Road station during a trial trip on the London Metropolitan Underground railway. Cassell's 'Old and London New'. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Jan 10, 1863: The London Underground opens with gas-lit, steam-powered trains between Paddington & Farrington

On this day in 1863, the London Underground opened with gas-lit, steam-powered trains between Paddington & Farrington; a novel solution and much anticipated remedy to the commuter congestion suffocating business in the city.

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Read more about the article Jan 4, 1903: Topsy the Elephant Publicly Executed

Jan 4, 1903: Topsy the Elephant Publicly Executed

On January 4, 1903 Topsy the elephant was executed through a combination of strangulation, poison, and a liberal application of the new technology of electric current. A terrifying film made the event infamous, leading to confusion over whether this was part of the epic battle between Thomas Edison and Nicola Tesla known as the "War of the Currents" .

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