Today in History: January 25, NASA Opportunity rover lands on Mars

Today is Sunday, Jan. 25, the 25th day of 2026. There are 340 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 25, 2004, NASA's Opportunity rover landed on Mars and sent its first pictures of the planet to Earth; originally planned as a 90-day mission, the rover remained operational for over 15 years, traveling a total of 28 miles across the planet's surface.

Also on this date:

In 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games opened in Chamonix (shah-moh-NEE'), France.

In 1945, the World War II Battle of the Bulge ended as the German army concluded its final offensive on the Western Front; approximately 19,000 U.S. soldiers were killed during the five-week campaign.

In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan, became the first city to add fluoride to its public water supply.

In 1971, Charles Manson and three of his followers were convicted in Los Angeles of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 slayings of seven people, including actor Sharon Tate.

In 2011, Egyptians began nationwide protests that forced longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak to step down amid the Arab Spring uprisings that swept the Middle East and North Africa.

In 2021, President Joe Biden signed an order reversing a Pentagon policy that largely barred transgender people from military service.

In 2024, Alabama conducted the nation's first execution using nitrogen gas, putting to death Kenneth Eugene Smith for his conviction in the 1988 murder-for-hire killing of a pastor's wife.