24th April

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

Events

• 1184 BC - Greeks enter Troy using the Trojan Horse (traditional).
• 1061 - Halley's Comet spotted.
• 1704 - The first regular newspaper in the United States, the Boston, Massachusetts New-Letter, is published.
• 1792 - "La Marseillaise" (French national anthem) is composed.
• 1800 - The United States Library of Congress established.
• 1814 - British troops burn Washington, DC
• 1846 - The beginning of the Mexican-American War.
• 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 - Woolworth Building opening ceremony.
• 1915 - The Armenian Genocide begins
• 1916 - Easter Uprising in Ireland
• 1925 - John Scopes taught Darwin's theory of evolution, leading to the Scopes monkey trial.
• 1940 - World War II: Operation Demon: The United Kingdom begins evacuating Greece
• 1961 - The salvage of the famous Swedish ship HMS Wasa
• 1963- Marriage of Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Kent to Angus James Bruce Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey in London.
• 1967 - Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1
• 1968 - Mauritius becomes a member state of the United Nations
• 1970 - The first Chinese satellite is launched.
• 1970 - The Gambia becomes a republic
• 1975 - The Baader-Meinhof Gang blow up the West German embassy in Stockholm
• 1980 - An American attempt to rescue the American hostages held in Tehran ends with eight American servicemen dead and no hostages freed
• 1981 - Introduction of the first IBM PC.
• 1984 - Apple Computer unveils its Apple IIc portable computer
• 1990 - The Hubble space telescope is launched by Space Shuttle Discovery
• 1990 - Gruinard island is officially declared free of anthrax after 48 years of quarantine
• 1993 - An IRA bomb devastates City of London
• 1996 - United States: The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 is introduced

Births

• 1533 - William I of Orange, Dutch uprise leader and national "father" († 1584)
• 1815 - Anthony Trollope, English novelist († 1882)
• 1856 - Henri Philippe Pétain, French soldier and statesman († 1951)
• 1873 - Theodor Körner, general and politician († 1957)
• 1876 - Erich Raeder, commander in chief of the German navy
• 1878 - Jean Crotti, Swiss artist († 1958)
• 1882 - Hugh Dowding, Scottish fighter pilot († 1970)
• 1883 - Jaroslav Hasek, Czech author († 1923)
• 1889 - Sir Stafford Cripps, British politician († 1952)
• 1896 - Benjamin Whorf, American linguist († 1941)
• 1904 - Willem de Kooning, Dutch painter († 1997)
• 1905 - Robert Penn Warren, writer, Pulitzer Prize winner, first American Poet Laureate († 1989)
• 1906 - William Joyce, Irish-British fascist propagandist, writer and traitor († 1946)
• 1914 - Justin Wilson, Cajun humorist, chef, writer († 2001)
• 1914 - William Castle, director, producer († 1977)
• 1924 - Sir Clement Freud, British writer, radio personality and politician
• 1926 - Thorbjörn Fälldin, Prime Minister of Sweden
• 1930 - Jerome Callet, musician
• 1930 - Richard Donner, director, producer
• 1934 - Shirley MacLaine, actress and author
• 1940 - Sue Grafton, author
• 1942 - Richard M. Daley, politician
• 1942 - Barbra Streisand, singer, actress, director
• 1952 - Jean-Paul Gaultier, fashion designer
• 1953 - Eric Bogosian, actor, writer
• 1954 - Jerry Seinfeld, actor, comedian
• 1954 - Mumia Abu-Jamal, journalist and political activist
• 1962 - Jeff Minter, computer games programmer
• 1964 - Cedric the Entertainer, comedian, actor
• 1964 - Djimon Hounsou, actor
• 1973 - Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricket player
• 1982 - Kelly Clarkson, singer, winner of the first American Idol competition

Deaths

• 1731 - Daniel Defoe, English writer (* circa 1660)
• 1736 - Eugene of Savoy, French-Austrian general (* 1663)
• 1924 - Granville Stanley Hall, psychologist (* 1844)
• 1938 - George Grey Barnard, sculptor (* 1863)
• 1942 - Lucy Maude Montgomery, Canadian author (* 1874)
• 1947 - Willa Cather, writer (* 1873)
• 1965 - Louise Dresser, actress
• 1967 - Vladimir Komarov, cosmonaut on Soyuz 1 (* 1927)
• 1974 - Bud Abbott, actor, comedian (* 1895)
• 1982 - Ville Ritola, Finnish athlete (* 1896)
• 1986 - Wallis Simpson, mistress and wife of The Duke of Windsor (* 1896)

Holidays and observances

April 23 - April 25 - March 24 - May 24 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By