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.
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 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 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. 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.
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.
2004 - Referenda on a United Nations plan, which proposes to re-unite the island of Cyprus, take place in both the Republic of Cyprus controlled and Turkish controlled parts. Although the Turkish Cypriots vote in favour, the Greek Cypriots reject the proposal.
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, political activist, and death-row inmate
1960 - Paula Yates, British television presenter (d. 2000)
1962 - Stuart Pearce, English Footballer and manager
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 Kos¼ir, Slovenian skier
1973 - Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricketer
1974 - Joseph Bruce, American rapper (Insane Clown Posse)
1975 - Sam Doumit, American actress
1976 - Steve Finnan, Irish footballer
1977 - Eric Balfour, American actor
1977 - Carlos Beltran, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player
1980 - Austin Nichols, American actor.
1981 - C S Martin, Canadian Author, Guitarist, Businessman.
1982 - Kelly Clarkson, American singer
1982 - Shayna Nackoney, Canadian synchronized swimmer
1984 - Tyson Ritter, American singer and bassist (All-American Rejects)
1992 - Timothy McDonnell, Founder of ShopTodayMOBILES and Dominican Support.

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 - 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)
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)

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