On this date in history:

(2004) Launched in mid-2003, the six-wheeled robotic rover Opportunity landed on Mars this day in 2004 and—like its twin rover, Spirit, which had landed on January 3—analyzed rocks and soils and relayed pictures back to Earth. (2003) The U.S. Department of Homeland Security  came into being as Tom Ridge was sworn in as the agency’s first secretary. (1993) American lawyer and civil rights activist Thurgood Marshall, who was the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court (1967–91), died at age 84. (1989) American serial killer Ted Bundy—who confessed to murdering 30 women, though many believe the number to be much higher—was executed at age 42. (1984) Steve Jobs introduced Apple‘s revolutionary computer Macintosh, two days after the groundbreaking commercial “1984” aired before a national TV audience and heralded the product’s impending release. (1940) American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, who wrote pop songs for other musicians before launching a successful solo recording career, was born. (1940) The Grapes of Wrath, the acclaimed adaptation of John Steinbeck‘s  classic novel, had its world premiere; the character Tom Joad‘s soliloquy on the poor, reflecting his empathy for their plight, remains one of the most famous scenes in film history. (1908) The first Boy Scout troop was organized by Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell in England. (1862) Edith Wharton, an American author best known for her stories and novels about upper-class society, was born. (1848) Carpenter James Wilson Marshall found nuggets of gold in California’s American River near the site of a sawmill he was building for John Sutter, ushering in a gold rush. (1556) An earthquake in Shensi (Shaanxi) province, China, killed 830,000 people. (41 CE) The Roman emperor Caligula was murdered at the Palatine Games by Cassius Chaerea (a tribune of the Praetorian Guard), Cornelius Sabinus, and others.