April 24

Events

• 1479 BC - Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty).
• 1184 BC - Greeks enter Troy using the Trojan Horse (traditional).
• 1558 - Mary Queen of Scots marries the Dauphin of France, François, at Notre Dame de Paris.
• 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 USD 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.
• 1877 - Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878: Russia declares war on Ottoman Empire.
• 1898 - The Spanish-American War: The United States declare war on Spain.
• 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 is opened.
• 1915 - The Armenian Genocide begins with a massacre of hundreds of prominent Armenians in Constantinople (now Istanbul).
• 1916 - Easter Rising begins: The Irish Republican Brotherhood led by nationalists Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, and Joseph Plunkett start a rebellion in Ireland.
• 1916 - Ernest Shackleton and five men of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition launch a lifeboat from uninhabited Elephant Island in the Southern Ocean to organise a rescue for ice-trapped ship Endurance.
• 1918 - First tank-to-tank combat, at Villers-Bretonneux, France, when three British Mark IVs met three German A7Vs.
• 1926 - The Treaty of Berlin under which Germany and the Soviet Union each pledged neutrality in the event of an attack on the other by a third party for the next five years.
• 1953 - Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
• 1955 - The Bandung Conference ends: Twenty-nine non-aligned nations of Asia and Africa finish a meeting that condemns 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 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 Colonel Francisco Caamaño, overthrows the triumvirate that was in power since the coup d'état against Juan Bosch.
• 1967 - Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1, when the parachute fails to open. He is 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 takes 13 hostages at theWest German embassy in Stockholm.
• 1980 - Eight U.S. servicemen die in Operation Eagle Claw as they attempt to end the Iran hostage crisis.
• 1990 - STS-31: The Hubble Space Telescope is launched by the Space Shuttle Discovery.
• 1990 - Gruinard Island, Scotland, is officially declared free of the anthrax disease after 48 years of quarantine.
• 1991 - Freddie Stowers is awarded the posthumous Medal of Honor for which he had been recommended in 1918.
• 1993 - The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act comes into force establishing Panchayati Raj system in India.
• 1993 - An IRA bomb devastates the Bishopsgate area of London.
• 1996 - In the United States, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 is introduced.
• 2004 - The United States 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 Gyanendra of Nepal gives into the demands of protesters and restores the parliament that he dissolved in 2002.
• 2007 - Iceland announces that Norway will shoulder the defense of Iceland during peacetime.

Births

• 1533 - William I of Orange (d. 1584)
• 1581 - Vincent de Paul, French saint (d. 1660)
• 1620 - John Graunt, English statistician and founder of the science of demography (d. 1674)
• 1706 - Giovanni Battista Martini, Italian musician (d. 1780)
• 1718 - Nathaniel Hone, Irish-born painter (d. 1784)
• 1743 - Edmund Cartwright, British inventor (d. 1823)
• 1784 - Peter Vivian Daniel, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1860)
• 1815 - Anthony Trollope, English novelist (d. 1882)
• 1845 - Carl Spitteler, Nobel laureate (d. 1924)
• 1856 - Henri Philippe Pétain, French soldier and statesman (d. 1951)
• 1876 - Erich Raeder, German naval commander (d. 1960)
• 1876 - Ioannis Georgiadis, Greek fencer (d. 1960)
• 1878 - Jean Crotti, Swiss artist (d. 1958)
• 1882 - Hugh Dowding, commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain (d. 1970)
• 1887 - Denys Finch Hatton, English big-game hunter (d. 1931)
• 1889 - 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)
• 1903 - José Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the Falange (d. 1936)
• 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 actor (d. 2000)
• 1914 - William Castle, American film director and producer (d. 1977)
• 1914 - Justin Wilson, American Cajun chef and humorist (d. 2001)
• 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
• 1924 - Ruth Kobart, American actor and singer (d. 2002)
• 1926 - Thorbjörn Fälldin, Prime Minister of Sweden
• 1929 - Dr.Rajkumar, Kannada actor
• 1930 - Jerome Callet, American musician
• 1930 - Richard Donner, American film director and producer
• 1933 - Patricia Bosworth, American actor, journalist, writer and biographer
• 1933 - Claire Davenport, British actress (d. 2002)
• 1933 - Alan Eagleson, Canadian ice hockey agent and promoter
• 1933 - Helmuth Lohner, Austrian actor
• 1933 - Freddie Scott, American singer (d. 2007)
• 1934 - Shirley MacLaine, American actor 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 and actor
• 1943 - Richard Sterban, American singer
• 1945 - Doug Clifford, American drummer
• 1945 - Robert Knight, American singer
• 1945 - Doug Riley, Canadian musician (d. 2007)
• 1945 - Dick Rivers, French singer and actor
• 1947 - Claude Dubois, Quebec singer and songwriter
• 1947 - Josep Borrell Fontelles, Former President of the European Parliament
• 1947 - Roger D. Kornberg, American chemist, Nobel-prized
• 1948 - Paul Cellucci, 69^th Governor of Massachusetts and former United States Ambassador to Canada
• 1949 - Véronique Sanson, French singer and songwriter
• 1952 - Jean-Paul Gaultier, French fashion designer
• 1953 - Eric Bogosian, American actor and writer
• 1954 - Mumia Abu-Jamal, American death-row inmate
• 1954 - Captain Sensible, British guitarist
• 1955 - John de Mol, Dutch media businessman
• 1957 - David J, British musician
• 1957 - Boris Williams, British musician
• 1958 - Valery Lantratov, Russian ballet dancer
• 1958 - Brian Paddick, British former deputy assistant commissioner and most senior openly gay police officer
• 1959 - Malcolm Oastler, Australian engineer
• 1959 - Dave Ridgway, Canadian football player
• 1960 - Paula Yates, British television presenter (d. 2000)
• 1962 - Stuart Pearce, English footballer and manager
• 1962 - Steve Roach, Australian rugby league footballer
• 1963 - Paula Frazer, American singer/songwriter
• 1963 - Billy Gould, American musician
• 1963 - Mano Solo, French singer
• 1963 - Tõnu Trubetsky, Estonian musician
• 1964 - Cedric the Entertainer, American comedian and actor
• 1964 - Djimon Hounsou, Beninese actor
• 1965 - Son Chang Min, South Korean actor
• 1966 - Pierre Brassard, Quebec humorist and actor
• 1966 - Alessandro Costacurta, Italian footballer
• 1967 - Omar Vizquel, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1968 - Stacy Haiduk, American actress
• 1968 - Todd Jones, American baseball player
• 1968 - Yuji Nagata, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1968 - Hashim Thaci, Kosovan politician
• 1969 - Elias Atmatsidis, Greek footballer
• 1969 - Melinda Clarke, American actress
• 1969 - Viveca Paulin, Swedish actress
• 1970 - Damien Fleming, Australian cricketer
• 1971 - Mauro Pawlowski, Belgian guitarist and singer
• 1972 - Rab Douglas, Scottish footballer
• 1972 - Nicolas Gill, Canadian judoka
• 1972 - Chipper Jones, American baseball player
• 1972 - Jure Košir, Slovenian skier
• 1973 - Eric Snow, American basketball player
• 1973 - Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricketer
• 1973 - Gabby Logan, British television presenter
• 1974 - Joseph Bruce, American rapper
• 1974 - Kristie Krabe, American stage actress
• 1974 - Derek Luke, American actor
• 1974 - Eric Kripke, American television writer, director and producer
• 1974 - Brian Marshall, American bassist
• 1974 - Dave Vitty, British radio personality
• 1975 - Sam Doumit, American actress
• 1976 - Steve Finnan, Irish footballer
• 1977 - Siarhey Balakhonau, Belarusian writer
• 1977 - Carlos Beltran, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1978 - Eric Balfour, American actor
• 1978 - Kim Hyun-ju, Korean actress
• 1978 - Stella Damasus Aboderin, Nigerian actress
• 1979 - Laurentia Tan, Singaporean Paralympic equestrienne
• 1980 - Fernando Arce, Mexican footballer
• 1980 - Austin Nichols, American actor
• 1981 - Taylor Dent, American tennis player
• 1982 - Kelly Clarkson, American singer
• 1983 - Princess Iman bint Al Hussein of Jordan
• 1984 - Tyson Ritter, American musician
• 1987 - Kristopher Letang, Canadian hockey player
• 1987 - Jan Vertonghen, Belgian footballer
• 1994 - Austin Rogers, American actor
• 1998 - Ryan Newman, American actress

Deaths

• 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)
• 1622 - Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Swiss friar, martyr, and saint (b. 1577)
• 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 Maud Montgomery, Canadian author (b. 1874)
• 1944 - William Stephens, U.S. political figure (b. 1859)
• 1945 - Ernst-Robert Grawitz, German physician (b. 1899)
• 1947 - Willa Cather, American writer (b. 1873)
• 1947 - Hans Biebow, German war criminal (by execution; 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)
• 1975 - Pete Ham, Welsh musician and frontman of Badfinger (b. 1947)
• 1980 - Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer (b. 1904)
• 1982 - Ville Ritola, Finnish athlete (b. 1896)
• 1983 - Rolf Stommelen, German race car driver (b. 1943)
• 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)
• 2001 - Leon Sullivan, African-American civil rights leader and pastor (b. 1922)
• 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)

Holidays and observances

• Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.
• Australia - Kapyong Day a day of remembrance for Korean War veterans, named after the Battle of Kapyong in 1951
• The Gambia - Republic Day in (1970).

in the Roman Catholic Church:

• Saint Egbert of Northumbria
• Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen
• Saint Honorius

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada