On January 24, 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in California. The mine pictured here is unidentified, but was probably located in California’s Sierra Nevada gold mining district.

On January 23, 1964, this act was approved by President Lyndon B. Johnson, renaming the planned National Cultural Center to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as a “living memorial” to the slain president.

On January 22, 1944, the Allies began their assault of Anzio, Italy during World War II. Pictured on the Anzio beachhead are members of the 99th Fighter Squadron of the Army Air Forces, an African American unit.

After shattering the traditional bottle of champagne across the bow of the USS Nautilus, First Lady Mamie Eisenhower and others gathered at the Electric Boat Yard of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on January 21, 1954, watched as the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine slipped into the Thames River. The submarine became the first commissioned [...]

On January 20, 1961, President John F. Kennedy delivered his inaugural address in which he announced that “we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.”

This telegram, written by German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann and received by the German Ambassador to Mexico on January 19, 1917, is a coded message sent to Mexico, proposing a military alliance against the United States. The obvious threats to the United States contained in the telegram inflamed American public opinion against Germany and helped [...]

In this secret message of January 18, 1803, President Jefferson asked Congress for $2,500 to explore the West–all the way to the Pacific Ocean. At the time, the territory did not belong to the United States. Congress agreed to fund the expedition that would be led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.