April 24: Encyclopedia - April 24

April 24

April 24 is the 114th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (115th in leap years). There are 251 days remaining.

April 24 - Events

• 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 $5,000 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.
• 1898 - Spanish-American War: Spain declares war on the United States.
• 1913 - The skyscraper Woolworth Building in New York City was opened.
• 1916 - Easter Uprising begins: The Irish Republican Brotherhood led by nationalist Patrick Pearse start a rebellion in Ireland.
• 1940 - 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 - The 17th century Swedish ship Vasa is salvaged.
• 1963- Marriage of Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Kent to Angus James Bruce Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey in London.
• 1964 - Mexico becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
• 1967 - Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1.
• 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 British Commonwealth, 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.
• 1982 - In Harrogate, United Kingdom, Nicole wins the twenty-seventh Eurovision Song Contest for Germany singing "Ein bißchen Frieden" (A little bit of peace).
• 1984 - Apple Computer unveils its Apple IIc portable computer.
• 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.
• 1994 - The world's largest lollipop weighing 3,011 pounds (1,366 kg) is made in Denmark
• 1995 - The last Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 rolls off the assembly line.
• 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.

April 24 - Births

• 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)
• 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)
• 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)
• 1914 - William Castle, American film director and producer (d. 1977)
• 1916 - Lou Thesz, American professional wrestler (d. 2002)
• 1922 - J.D. Cannon, American actor
• 1924 - Sir Clement Freud, British writer, radio personality, and politician
• 1926 - Thorbjörn Fälldin, Prime Minister of Sweden
• 1927 - Alan MacDiarmid, New Zealand chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1930 - Jerome Callet, American musician
• 1930 - Richard Donner, American film director and producer
• 1934 - Shirley MacLaine, American actress and author
• 1936 - Jill Ireland, British actress (d. 1990)
• 1937 - Joe Henderson American jazz saxophonist
• 1940 - Sue Grafton, American author
• 1941 - John Williams, Australian guitarist
• 1942 - Richard M. Daley, American politician
• 1942 - Barbra Streisand, American singer, actress, and director
• 1952 - Jean-Paul Gaultier, French fashion designer
• 1953 - Eric Bogosian, American actor and writer
• 1954 - Mumia Abu-Jamal, American journalist and political activist
• 1960 - Paula Yates, British television presenter (d. 2000)
• 1964 - Cedric the Entertainer, American comedian and actor
• 1964 - Djimon Hounsou, Benin-born actor
• 1968 - Stacy Haiduk, American actress
• 1972 - Chipper Jones, baseball player
• 1972 - Jure Košir, Slovenian skier
• 1973 - Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricketer
• 1974 - Joseph Bruce, American rapper (Insane Clown Posse)
• 1976 - Steve Finnan, Irish footballer
• 1977 - Eric Balfour, American actor
• 1977 - Carlos Beltran, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player
• 1982 - Kelly Clarkson, American singer
• 1984 - Tyson Ritter, American singer and bassist (All-American Rejects)

April 24 - Deaths

• 624 - Mellitus, third Archbishop of Canterbury
• 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 - 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)
• 1942 - Karin Boye, Swedish author (b. 1900)
• 1942 - Lucy Maude Montgomery, Canadian author (b. 1874)
• 1947 - Willa Cather, American writer (b. 1873)
• 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)

April 24 - Holidays and observances

• Easter Sunday 1791, 1859, 2011.
• Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day
• Republic Day in the Gambia (1970)
• The feast day of the following in the Roman Catholic Church:
  • Saint Egbert of Northumbria
  • Fidelis of Sigmaringen
  • Honorius
  • Deodatus
  • Wilfrid of York
• 24-hour comics day
• World Day for Laboratory Animals Link http://www.animalaid.org.uk/news/2005/0504wdla.htm

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "April 24", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki