History of 24 October
1901 – Daredevil Anna Edson Taylor became the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel. She was 63 years old.
1929 – In the U.S., investors dumped more than 13 million shares on the stock market. The day is known as “Black Tuesday.”
1931 – The upper level of the George Washington Bridge opened for traffic between New York and New Jersey.
1939 – Nylon stockings were sold to the public for the first time in Wilmington, DE.
1940 – In the U.S., the 40-hour workweek went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
1945 – The United Nations (UN) was formally established less than a month after the end of World War II. The Charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and by a majority of other signatories.
1948 – The term “cold war” was used for the first time. It was in a speech by Bernard Baruch before the Senate War Investigating Committee.
1949 – The cornerstone for the U.N. Headquarters was laid in New York City.
1960 – All remaining American-owned property in Cuba was nationalized. The process of nationalizing all U.S. and foreign-owned property in Cuban had begun on August 6, 1960.
1962 – During the Cuban Missile Crisis, U.S. military forces went on the highest alert in the postwar era in preparation for a possible full-scale war with the Soviet Union. The U.S. blockade of Cuba officially began on this day.
1969 – Richard Burton bought his wife Elizabeth Taylor a 69-carat Cartier diamond ring for $1.5 million. Burton presented the ring to Taylor several days later.
1986 – Britain broke off relations with Syria after a Jordanian was convicted in an attempted bombing. The evidence in the trial led to the belief that Syria was involved in the attack on the Israeli jetliner.
1992 – The Toronto Blue Jays became the first non-U.S. team to win the World Series.
2001 – The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation that gave police the power to secretly search homes, tap all of a person’s telephone conversation and track people’s use of the Internet.
2001 – The U.S. stamp “United We Stand” was dedicated.
2001 – NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft successfully entered orbit around Mars.
2002 – Microsoft Corp. and Walt Disney Co. announced the release of an upgraded MSN Internet service with Disney content. Disney movies, music, and books
2003 – In London, the last commercial supersonic Concorde flight landed.
2004 – Arsenal Football Club loses to Manchester United, ending a row of unbeaten matches at 49 matches, which is the record in the Premier League.
2005 – Hurricane Wilma makes landfall in Florida, resulting in 35 direct and 26 indirect fatalities and causing $20.6B USD in damage.
2007 – Change 1, the first satellite in the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, is launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
2008 – “Bloody Friday” saw many of the world’s stock exchanges experience the worst declines in their history, with drops of around 10% in most indices.
2014 – The China National Space Administration launches an experimental lunar mission, Change 5-T1, which will loop behind the Moon and return to Earth.
2015 – A driver crashes into the Oklahoma State Homecoming parade, killing four people and injuring 34.
2016 – A French surveillance aircraft flying to Libya crashes on takeoff in Malta, killing all five people on board.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Kemal Aslan, Turkish footballer
- 1981 – Sebastián Bueno, the Argentinian footballer
- 1981 – Fredrik Mikkelsen, Norwegian guitarist, and composer
- 1981 – Tila Tequila, Singaporean-American model, actress, and singer
- 1981 – Alfred Vargas, Filipino actor, and politician
- 1982 – Fairuz Fauzy, Malaysian race car driver
- 1982 – Macay McBride, American baseball player
- 1983 – Adrienne Bailon, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
- 1983 – Chris Colabello, American baseball player
- 1983 – Hernán Garin, the Argentinian footballer
- 1983 – Michael Gordon, Australian rugby league player
- 1983 – Brian Vickers, American race car driver
- 1984 – Lougee Basabas, Filipino singer-songwriter
- 1984 – Jonas Gustavsson, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1984 – Kaela Kimura, Japanese singer-songwriter
- 1985 – Robert Cornthwaite, English-Australian footballer
- 1985 – Matthew Robinson, Australian snowboarder (d. 2014)
- 1985 – Wayne Rooney, English footballer
- 1985 – Oscar Wendt, Swedish footballer
- 1986 – Drake, Canadian rapper and actor
- 1986 – John Ruddy, English footballer
- 1987 – Anthony Vanden Borre, Belgian footballer
- 1987 – Charlie White, American figure skater
- 1988 – Mitch Inman, Australian rugby player
- 1988 – Christopher Linke, German race walker
- 1988 – Demont Mitchell, Bahamian footballer
- 1989 – Will Bruin, American footballer
- 1989 – Anderson Conceição, Brazilian footballer
- 1989 – Eric Hosmer, American baseball player
- 1989 – PewDiePie, Swedish YouTuber
- 1989 – Eliza Taylor, Australian actress
- 1990 – Peyton Siva, American basketball player
- 1990 – Mohammed Jahfali, Saudi Arabia international footballer
- 1990 – Jake Knott, American football linebacker
- 1990 – Elijah Greer, American male middle-distance runner
- 1990 – Danilo Petrucci, Italian motorcycle racer
- 1990 – İlkay Gündoğan, German footballer
- 1991 – Torstein Andersen Aase, Norwegian footballer
- 1991 – Bojan Dubljević, Montenegrin basketball player
- 1992 – Marrion Gomez, Filipino actor, singer, and dancer
- 1993 – Nabil Jeffri, Malaysian race car driver
- 1994 – Krystal, American-South Korean singer, dancer, and actress
- 1994 – Tereza Martincová, a Czech tennis player
- 1994 – Jalen Ramsey, American football player
- 1995 – Vincent Leuluai, Australian rugby league player
- 1996 – Kyla Ross, American gymnast
- 1997 – Claudia Fragapane, English gymnast
- 1998 – Daya, American singer