April 24
is the 114th day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar (115th in
leap years). There are 251 days remaining.
*
1184 BC -
Greeks enter
Troy using the
Trojan Horse (traditional).
*
1704 - The first regular
newspaper in the
United States, the
Boston, Massachusetts New-Letter, is published.
*
1800 - The
United States Library of Congress is established when
President John Adams signs legislation to appropriate to purchase "such books as may be necessary for the use of
Congress".
*
1862 -
American Civil War: A
flotilla commanded by
Union Admiral David Farragut passes two
Confederate forts on the
Mississippi River on its way to capture
New Orleans, Louisiana.
*
1863 - The
Keyesville Massacre: a
massacre of 53
Native American men from the
Tehachapi tribe in
Keyesville, California.
*
1877 -
Russo-Turkish War, 1877"1878: Russia declares war on
Ottoman Empire.
*
1907 -
Hersheypark, founded by
Milton S. Hershey, for the exclusive use of his employees is opened.
*
1913 - The
skyscraper Woolworth Building in
New York City was opened.
*
1915 - The
Armenian Genocide began when the
Young Turks undertook the systematic annihilation of
Armenian intellectuals and entrepreneurs within the city of
Constantinople and later the entire
Armenian population of the
Ottoman Empire.
*
1916 -
Easter Rising begins: The
Irish Republican Brotherhood led by
nationalists Patrick Pearse,
James Connolly, and
Joseph Plunkett start a rebellion in
Ireland.
*
1941 -
World War II:
Operation Demon – The
United Kingdom begins evacuating
Greece.
*
1953 -
Winston Churchill is knighted by
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
*
1955 -
Bandung Conference ends: Twenty-nine non-aligned nations of
Asia and
Africa finish a meeting that condemned
colonialism,
racism, and the
Cold War.
*
1961 -
Bob Dylan earned a $50 session fee for playing
harmonica on
Harry Belafonte's "
Midnight Special." It was his recording debut.
*
1961 - The
17th century Swedish ship
Vasa is
salvaged.
*
1963 - Marriage of
Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Kent to
Angus Ogilvy at
Westminster Abbey in
London.
*
1964 -
Mexico becomes a signatory to the
Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
*
1965 - Civil war breaks out in the
Dominican Republic when civilians lead by some members of the armed forces, including Colonel
Francisco Caamaño, overthrow the
triumvirate that was in power since the
coup d'état on
Juan Bosch, who was legally elected president in 1963.
*
1967 -
Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in
Soyuz 1, when the
parachute fails to open. He was the first human to die during a space mission.
* 1967 -
Vietnam War:
American General William Westmoreland says in a news conference that the enemy had "gained support in the
United States that gives him hope that he can win politically that which he cannot win militarily."
*
1968 -
Mauritius becomes a member state of the
United Nations.
*
1970 - The first
Chinese satellite,
Dong Fang Hong I, is launched.
* 1970 -
The Gambia becomes a
republic within the
Commonwealth of Nations, with
Dawda Jawara as the first
President.
*
1975 - The
Baader-Meinhof Gang blow up the
West German embassy in
Stockholm.
*
1980 - Eight
U.S. servicemen died in
Operation Eagle Claw as they attempted to end the
Iran hostage crisis.
*
1981 - The first
IBM PC is introduced.
*
1990 -
STS-31: The
Hubble Space Telescope is launched by the
Space Shuttle Discovery.
* 1990 -
Gruinard Island,
Scotland, is officially declared free of
anthrax after 48 years of
quarantine.
*
1991 -
Freddie Stowers is awarded the
posthumous Medal of Honor for which he had been recommended in
1918.
*
1993 - An
IRA bomb devastates the
Bishopsgate area of
City of London.
*
1996 - In the
United States, the
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 is introduced.
*
2004 -
US lifts
economic sanctions imposed on
Libya, 18 years previously as a reward for its cooperation in eliminating
weapons of mass destruction.
*
2005 -
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is
inaugurated as the 265th
Pope of the
Roman Catholic Church taking the name
Pope Benedict XVI.
*
2006 - King of Nepal,
King Gyanendra gives into the demands of the protesters and restores the parliament that he dissolved in
2002.
*
1533 -
William I of Orange (d.
1584)
*
1580 -
Vincent de Paul, French saint (d.
1660)
*
1706 -
Giovanni Battista Martini, Italian musician (d.
1780)
*
1718 -
Nathaniel Hone, Irish-born painter (d.
1784)
*
1743 -
Edmund Cartwright, British inventor (d.
1823)
*
1815 -
Anthony Trollope, English novelist (d.
1882)
*
1845 -
Carl Spitteler, Swiss writer,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1924)
*
1856 -
Henri Philippe Pétain, French soldier and statesman (d.
1951)
*
1876 -
Erich Raeder, German naval commander (d.
1960)
*
1878 -
Jean Crotti, Swiss artist (d.
1958)
*
1882 -
Hugh Dowding, Scottish fighter pilot (d.
1970)
*
1889 - Sir
Stafford Cripps, British politician (d.
1952)
*1889 -
Lyubov Popova, Russian painter (d.
1924)
*
1896 -
Benjamin Whorf, American linguist (d.
1941)
*
1897 -
Manuel Ávila Camacho,
President of Mexico (d.
1955)
*
1899 -
Oscar Zariski, Russian-born mathematician (d.
1986)
*
1904 -
Willem de Kooning, Dutch painter (d.
1997)
*
1905 -
Robert Penn Warren, American poet (d.
1989)
*
1906 -
William Joyce, Irish fascist (d.
1946)
*
1907 -
William Sargant, British psychiatrist (d.
1988)
*
1908 -
Marceline Day, American actress (d.
2000)
*
1914 -
William Castle, American film director and producer (d.
1977)
*
1916 -
Lou Thesz, American professional wrestler (d.
2002)
*
1922 -
J.D. Cannon, American actor (d.
2005)
*
1924 - Sir
Clement Freud, British writer, radio personality, and politician
*
1926 -
Thorbjörn Fälldin,
Prime Minister of Sweden*
1930 -
Jerome Callet, American musician
*1930 -
Richard Donner, American film director and producer
*
1933 -
Claire Davenport, British actress (d.
2002)
*1933 -
Helmuth Lohner, Austrian actor
*
1934 -
Shirley MacLaine, American actress and author
*
1936 -
Jill Ireland, British actress (d.
1990)
*
1937 -
Joe Henderson American jazz saxophonist (d.
2001)
*
1940 -
Sue Grafton, American author
*
1941 -
John Williams, Australian guitarist
*
1942 -
Richard M. Daley, American politician
*1942 -
Barbra Streisand, American singer, actress, and director
*
1945 -
Doug Clifford, American drummer (
Creedence Clearwater Revival)
*
1952 -
Jean-Paul Gaultier, French fashion designer
*
1953 -
Eric Bogosian, American actor and writer
*
1954 -
Mumia Abu-Jamal, American journalist, political activist, and death-row inmate
*1954 -
Captain Sensible, British guitarist (
The Damned)
*
1955 -
John de Mol, Dutch media tycoon
*
1957 -
David J, British musician
*1957 -
Boris Williams, British musician (
The Cure)
*
1960 -
Paula Yates, British television presenter (d.
2000)
*
1962 -
Stuart Pearce, English footballer and manager
*1962 -
Steve Roach, Australian rugby player
*
1963 -
Billy Gould, American musician (
Faith No More)
*
1964 -
Cedric the Entertainer, American comedian and actor
*1964 -
Djimon Hounsou, Benin-born actor
*
1968 -
Stacy Haiduk, American actress
*1968 -
Hashim Thaci, Kosovan politician
*
1971 -
Mauro Pawlowski, Belgian guitarist and singer (
Evil Superstars and
dEUS)
*
1972 -
Chipper Jones, baseball player
*1972 -
Jure Košir, Slovenian skier
*1972 -
Rab Douglas, Scottish footballer
*
1973 -
Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricketer
*
1974 -
Comedy Dave, British television host
*1974 -
Joseph Bruce, American rapper (
Insane Clown Posse)
*
1975 -
Sam Doumit, American actress
*
1976 -
Steve Finnan, Irish footballer
*
1977 -
Carlos Beltran, Puerto Rican
Major League Baseball player
*1977 -
Siarhiej Bałachonaŭ, Belarusian writer
*
1978 -
Eric Balfour, American actor
*
1980 -
Austin Nichols, American actor
*
1982 -
Kelly Clarkson, American singer
*1982 -
Shayna Nackoney, Canadian synchronized swimmer
*
1984 -
Tyson Ritter, American singer and bassist (
All-American Rejects)
*
1985 -
Kaori Nazuka, Japanese voice actress
*
624 -
Mellitus, third
Archbishop of Canterbury*
709 -
Wilfrid, English archbishop and saint
*
1338 - Marquis
Theodore I of Montferrat (b.
1291)
*
1342 -
Pope Benedict XII (b.
1285)
*
1656 -
Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (b.
1561)
*
1731 -
Daniel Defoe, English writer (b.
1660)
*
1736 -
Prince Eugene of Savoy, French-born Austrian general (b.
1663)
*
1779 -
Eleazar Wheelock, American founder of Dartmouth College (b.
1711)
*
1852 -
Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet (b.
1783)
*
1891 -
Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, Prussian field marshal (b.
1800)
*
1924 -
G. Stanley Hall, American psychologist (b.
1844)
*
1938 -
George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (b.
1863)
*
1939 -
Louis Trousselier, French cyclist (b.
1881)
*
1942 -
Karin Boye, Swedish author (b.
1900)
* 1942 -
Lucy Maude Montgomery, Canadian author (b.
1874)
*
1944 -
William Stephens, U.S. political figure (b.
1859)
*
1947 -
Willa Cather, American writer (b.
1873)
*1947 -
Hans Biebow, German war criminal (b.
1902)
*
1960 -
Max von Laue, German physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1879)
*
1964 -
Gerhard Domagk, German bacteriologist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (declined) (b.
1895)
*
1965 -
Louise Dresser, American actress (b.
1878)
*
1967 -
Vladimir Komarov, cosmonaut (b.
1927)
*
1974 -
Bud Abbott, American actor and comedian (b.
1895)
*
1980 -
Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer (b.
1904)
*
1982 -
Ville Ritola, Finnish athlete (b.
1896)
*
1986 -
Wallis Simpson, American wife of
Edward, Duke of Windsor (b.
1896)
*
1993 -
Oliver Tambo, South African activist and politician (b.
1917)
*
1997 -
Pat Paulsen, American comedian and politician (b.
1927)
* 1997 -
Eugene Stoner, American engineer and weapons designer (b.
1922)
*
2001 -
Al Hibbler, American singer (b.
1915)
*
2004 -
Estée Lauder, American cosmetics entrepreneur (b.
1906)
*
2005 -
Ezer Weizman,
President of Israel (b.
1924)
* 2005 -
Fei Xiaotong, Chinese sociologist (b.
1910)
*
2006 -
Steve Stavro, Canadian businessman and sports team owner (b.
1927)
* 2006 -
Moshe Teitelbaum, Hassidic rabbi (b.
1914)
*
2006 -
Brian Labone, English footballer (b.
1940)
*
Genocide Remembrance Day in
Armenia.
*
Republic Day in
The Gambia (
1970).
*
Newman's Day.
*
24-Hour Comics Day.
*
in the
Greek Orthodox Church:
St. George the Megalomartyr.
in the
Roman Catholic Church:
*Saint Alexander (died 178)
*
Saint Deodatus*
Saint Egbert of Northumbria*
Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen*
Saint Honorius*
Saint Maria-Euphrasia Pelletier (d.1868)
*
BBC: On This Day*
Epic Idiot: On This DayApril 23 -
April 25 -
March 24 -
May 24 –
listing of all days
