Wikipedia:Main Page history/2019 January 24

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Troop ships

Operation Pamphlet (24 January – 27 February 1943) was a World War II convoy that brought the Australian Army's 9th Division home from Egypt. The convoy included five transports, which were protected from Japanese warships by several Allied naval task forces during their trip across the Indian Ocean and along the Australian coastline. The Australian Government had requested an end to the Second Australian Imperial Force's role in the North African Campaign. Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to convince the Australian Prime Minister, John Curtin, to withdraw the request until the Allied victory in North Africa was complete, but Curtin and Allied military leaders in the South West Pacific believed that the veteran division was needed for planned offensive operations in New Guinea. The 9th Division arrived in Australian ports with no losses from enemy action, and went on to make important contributions in New Guinea during late 1943. (Full article...)

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19th-century design for the Rondebosch Fountain

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Harris Wofford

More than a hundred Afghan National Security Forces members are killed in an attack on a military compound in Maidan Shar.
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In Burkina Faso, Prime Minister Paul Kaba Thieba and all members of his cabinet resign from office after a series of terrorist attacks.
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On this day

January 24

Bust of Caligula

41 – Cassius Chaerea and the disgruntled Praetorian Guards murdered Roman emperor Caligula (bust pictured), replacing him with his uncle Claudius.
914 – The Fatimid Caliphate began their first invasion of Egypt.
1915 – First World War: British Grand Fleet ships intercepted and surprised a German High Seas Fleet squadron in the North Sea, sinking a German cruiser and damaging several other vessels.
1989 – American serial killer Ted Bundy was executed via electric chair in Florida after confessing to the murders of 30 young women.
2011 – A suicide bomber killed 37 people at Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow.

Pope Stephen IV (d. 817) · Constance Naden (b. 1858) · August Meyszner (d. 1947)

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Today's featured picture

Gustav III (24 January [O.S. 13 January] 1746 – 29 March 1792) was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. Born in Stockholm as the eldest son of King Adolf Frederick, he married Sophia Magdalena of Denmark in 1766. At the time of his accession, the Swedish Riksdag held more power than the monarchy but was bitterly divided between rival parties. After unsuccessful attempts to mediate, Gustav seized power himself in 1772, changing the constitution in what is considered a coup d'état. Following an attempt to form a league of princes to counter the French Revolution, a conspiracy formed among Swedish nobles and he was shot while attending the opera. He died two weeks later and was succeeded by his son Gustav Adolf.

This picture, titled King Gustav III of Sweden and his Brothers, is a 1771 oil-on-canvas painting by Alexander Roslin. It shows Gustav (seated, left) with his two brothers, Frederick Adolf (standing) and Charles (seated, right). It is now in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.

Painting: Alexander Roslin

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