Posted by Paul Callighan on Jan 29, 2021
January 24, 1848 – The California gold rush begins in the Sierra Nevada foothills with the accidental discovery of the precious metal during construction of a sawmill near the town of Coloma.
 
January 25, 1959 – An American Airlines Boeing 707 made the first scheduled transcontinental flight from California to New York.
 
January 27, 1967 – Astronauts “Gus” Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed as fire erupted inside their Apollo 1 spacecraft during a launch simulation test at Cape Kennedy, Florida.
 
January 28, 1986 – The U. S. Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 74 seconds into its flight killing the seven-member crew including teacher Christa McAuliffe, who was to be the first ordinary citizen in space.