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What happened in history on this day: August 24?
On August 24 in ...
- 79 - Mount Vesuvius erupts, burying the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae in volcanic ash.
- 79 - Pliny the Elder dies.
- 410 - Rome overrun by Visigoths, symbolized fall of Western Roman Empire.
- 1113 - Birth of Geoffrey Plantagenet France, conquered Normandy.
- 1456 - The printing of the Gutenberg Bible is completed.
- 1572 - Saint Bartholomew Massacre: King Charles IX orders massacre of 30,000 Huguenots.
- 1591 - Birth of Robert Herrick England, poet (Gather ye rosebuds) (baptized).
- 1662 - Act of Uniformity requires English to accept book of Common Prayer.
- 1751 - Thomas Colley executed in England for drowning supposed witch.
- 1759 - Birth of Wilbur Wilberforce England, crusaded against slavery.
- 1787 - Birth of James Weddell in Ostend, England; Antarctic explorer (Weddell Sea).
- 1808 - Ferdinand VII is proclaimed King of Spain.
- 1814 - Battle of Bladensburg; British beat Americans, march on Washington, DC, burn presidential residence and main Treasury building in retaliation for Americans burning of the Governor's residence at Fort York. President James Madison orders the building be white-washed to hide the black fire damage.
- 1814 - Death of British commander Sir Edward Pakenham, at Battle of Bladensburg.
- 1816 - Birth of Daniel Gooch; laid first successful transatlantic cables.
- 1848 - The U.S. barque Ocean Monarch is burnt out off the Great Orme, North Wales, with the loss of 178, chiefly emigrants.
- 1853 - First potato chips prepared by Chef George Crum (Saratoga Springs, New York, USA).
- 1854 - National emigration convention meets in Cleveland, Ohio.
- 1861 - The US Treasury Department issues the first US demand note, a $10 note payable in Philadelphia.
- 1869 - The waffle iron is invented.
- 1872 - Birth of Max Beerbohm in England; caricaturist/writer/wit (Saturday Review).
- 1872 - Death of Leona Vicario in Mexico; "Sweet Mother of the Fatherland", aided the Mexican War of Independence.
- 1886 - Birth of William Francis Gibbs; naval architect, designed Liberty ships.
- 1890 - Birth of Duke Kahanamoku in Hawaii; 100m swimmer (Olympic-gold-1912, 1920).
- 1891 - Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera.
- 1894 - Birth of Jean Rhys in the West Indies; writer (Voyage in the Dark).
- 1896 - Birth of Phil Baker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; comedian (Who's Whose).
- 1898 - Birth of Albert Claude in Belgium; physician (Nobel Prize 1974).
- 1898 - Birth of Malcolm Cowley in Belsano, Pennsylvania, USA; author (Flowering of New England).
- 1899 - Birth of Jorge Luis Borges in Argentina; writer of fiction, essays (Labyrinths).
- 1900 - Birth of Preston Foster in Ocean City, New Jersey, USA; actor (Waterfront, Gunslinger).
- 1902 - Birth of Fernand Braudel; French historian (Civilization and Capitalism).
- 1909 - Workers start pouring concrete for the Gatun locks of the Panama Canal.
- 1912 - Birth of Durward Kirby in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; TV announcer (Garry Moore Show).
- 1912 - New York City hold ticker tape parade for Jim Thorpe and victorious US Olympic athletes.
- 1912 - Territory of Alaska is organized.
- 1917 - Birth of Dennis James in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA; wrestling announcer/TV host (PDQ).
- 1922 - First Philadelphia Phillies' player to hit for the cycle (Cy Williams).
- 1922 - Birth of Réne Lévesque; Quebec premier (1976-85).
- 1924 - Birth of Louis Teicher; pianist (Ferrante and Teicher - "Exodus").
- 1927 - Birth of William V Shannon; journalist/ambassador to Ireland (1977-81).
- 1931 - The Labour Government of Ramsay MacDonald resigns in Britain, replaced by a National Government of people drawn from all parties, also under MacDonald.
- 1936 - Australian Antarctic Territory created.
- 1938 - Birth of Mason Williams in Abilene, Texas, USA; writer (Smother Brothers Hour).
- 1939 - Erich Warsitz makes first jet-propelled flight, in a Heinkel He-178 at Rostock-Marienehe, Germany.
- 1942 - The Walt Disney animated feature film Saludos Amigos world premieres in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- 1944 - Birth of Gregory B Jarvis in Detroit, Michigan, USA; astronaut (STS 25).
- 1946 - Birth of Richard "Dick" N Richards in Key West, Florida, USA; US Navy/astronaut (STS-28, 41, sk:50).
- 1947 - Birth of Anne Archer in Los Angeles, California, USA; actress (Too Scared to Scream, Fatal Attraction).
- 1949 - Birth of Anna L Fisher in Saint Albans, New York, USA; MD/astronaut (STS 51-A).
- 1949 - Birth of Joe Regalbuto in Brooklyn, New York, USA; actor (Knots Landing, Frank - Murphy Brown).
- 1949 - North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established.
- 1954 - In the USA, the Communist Control Act is passed, at height of McCarthyism.
- 1954 - International Amateur Athletic Federation recognizes Red China.
- 1956 - First non-stop transcontinental helicopter flight arrives in Washington DC.
- 1956 - Birth of Gerry Cooney; heavyweight boxer (Olympics-1980).
- 1958 - Birth of Steve Guttenberg in Brooklyn, New York, USA; actor (Police Academy, Short Circuit).
- 1959 - Hiram L Fong sworn in as first Chinese-American senator while Daniel K Inouye sworn in as first Japanese-American Republican (both from Hawaii).
- 1960 - A world-record low temperature (-88 degrees Celsuis, -127 degrees Fahrenheit) is measured in Vostok, Antarctica.
- 1960 - 60 people die when bus plunges off bridge into Turvo River, Brazil.
- 1961 - Birth of Cal Ripken Junior; all-star shortstop (Baltimore Orioles).
- 1961 - Former German leader Johannes Vorster becomes South Africa's Minister of Justice.
- 1962 - Birth of Mary E Weber in Cleveland, Ohio, USA; PhD/astronaut.
- 1963 - First 200-metre freestyle swim under two minutes (Don Schollander 1:58).
- 1963 - Birth of John Bush; heavy metal rocker (Armoured Saint - "Can U Deliver").
- 1963 - John Pennel is first to pole-vault 17 feet.
- 1964 - Second Mayor's Trophy Game, New York Yankees beat New York Mets 6-4.
- 1964 - Birth of Pebbles; rocker (Girlfriend).
- 1965 - Birth of Marlee Matlin in Illinois, USA; deaf actress (Children of a Lesser God - Academy Award, The West Wing).
- 1966 - USSR launches Luna 11 for orbit around Moon.
- 1967 - Amanda Randolph, actress (Danny Thomas, Amos n Andy), dies at age 65.
- 1967 - Liberian flag designed.
- 1968 - France explodes its first hydrogen bomb, thus becoming the world's fifth nuclear power.
- 1970 - Bomb kills one at University of Wisconsin's Army Math Research Center in Madison.
- 1972 - 8th Mayor's Trophy Game, New York Yankees beat New York Mets 2-1.
- 1972 - Gordie Howe and Jean Beliveau inducted in Hockey Hall of Fame.
- 1973 - Billy Greene, actor (Burton - One Man's Family), dies at age 76.
- 1975 - San Francisco Giants' player Ed Halick no-hits New York Giants, 6-0.
- 1975 - Tampa Bay Rowdies beat Portland 2-0 for NASL cup.
- 1976 - Soyuz 21 returns to Earth.
- 1979 - NFL fans (60,916) choose old New England Patriots' logo over new.
- 1979 - Hanna Reitsch dies in Frankfurt, Germany. Reitsch was an aviator who became the first German woman to gain a captain's license, the first woman helicopter pilot, the first woman test pilot, and the first woman to be awarded the Iron Cross (1942).
- 1979 - Ghana recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
- 1981 - Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life for John Lennon's murder.
- 1983 - The Old Philadelphia Arena is destroyed by arson.
- 1983 - Jack Somack, actor (Ball Four, Stockard Channing Show), dies at age 64.
- 1984 - Birth of Yesung; Korean singer (Super Junior).
- 1984 - Pat Bradley set the LPGA record for 9 holes with a 28 at Denver, Colorado.
- 1987 - Announcement of possible Martian tornadoes.
- 1988 - Max Shulman, author (Dobie Gillis, Tender Trap), dies at age 69.
- 1989 - Record-setting baseball player Pete Rose agrees to a lifetime ban from the sport following allegations of illegal gambling, thereby preventing his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
- 1989 - Indonesia's first privately owned television station, Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia, (RCTI) begins broadcasting.
- 1990 - Northern Ireland writer Brian Keenan is released from Lebanon after being held hostage for nearly five years.
- 1990 - Iraqi troops surround American and other embassies in Kuwait City.
- 1991 - Abel Kivlat, US 1500m runner (Olympic-silver-1912), dies at age 99.
- 1991 - Bernard Castro, patented convertible couch, dies at age 87.
- 1991 - Gorbachev resigns as head of USSR Communist Party.
- 1991 - Ukraine declares independence from the USSR.
- 1992 - (to August 28) Hurricane Andrew hits South Florida and dissipates over the Tennessee valley when it merges with a storm system; 23 are killed.
- 1994 - Jeffrey Katzenberg resigns from the Walt Disney Company.
- 1995 - Microsoft releases the Windows 95 operating system. This is the first consumer Windows version that does not require MS-DOS pre-installed. New features include integrated TCP/IP stack, dial-up networking, and long filenames. The software comprises over 11 million lines of code. The US$250 million publicity campaign includes US$12 million for the rights to the "Start Me Up" song by the Rolling Stones. This is the biggest marketing extravaganza for a consumer product ever. First day sales total about 300,000 copies.
- 1996 - Microsoft releases Windows NT 4.0, with graphical user interface similar to that of Windows 95. The software comprises 16.5 million lines of code. Code-name during development was Cairo.
- 1998 - E.G. Marshall, American actor (The Defenders, Nixon, Absolute Power), dies at age 88 (born 1910).
- 2003 - Birth of Alexandre Coste, son of Albert II, Prince of Monaco.
- 2003 - Death of the East German author, Herbert Otto. Among his noted works are: Zeit der Störche (Time of the Storks), and the novel Der Traum vom Elch (The Dream of the Moose).
- 2004 - Two airliners in Russia, carrying a total of 89 passengers, crash within minutes of each other after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, leaving no survivors. Authorities suspect suicide attacks by rebels from Chechnya to be the cause of the crashes.
- 2006 - The International Astronomical Union defines 'planet' at its 26th General Assembly, demoting Pluto to the status of 'dwarf planet' more than 70 years after its discovery.
- 2007 - (to September 2) The 2007 World Championships in Athletics was held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan.
- 2007 - Death of Abdul Rahman Arif, fourth President of Iraq (born 1916).
- 2008 - In Beijing, China, the Games of the XXIX Olympiad close, with the Olympic flag being handed to London mayor Boris Johnson, for the 2012 Games in England. Official cost of the games: US$2.2 billion, plus US$40 billion on preparation of infrastructure and cleaning the environment. China won 51 gold, more than any other country for the first time.
- 2008 - An aircraft crashes in Guatemala, killing 10, including four Americans on a humanitarian mission.
- 2009 - The publisher of Reader's Digest in the US files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, carrying out its plan to cut debt and transfer ownership to a group of lenders.
- 2009 - The month-long "cash for clunkers" program in the US ends, with $2.9 billion spent by the US government in rebates on 690,000 low-efficiency vehicles. The top trade-in was the four-wheel-drive Ford Explorer; top new purchase was Toyota Corolla.
- 2010 - US military in Iraq cuts its strength to 50,000 troops.
- 2011 - Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple.
- 2016 - Magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes northeast of Rome, Italy, killing over 247 people.
- 2016 - Turkey sends tanks, warplanes, special forces soldiers into neighbor Syria to fight Daesh in Jarablus.
- 2018 - In Massachusetts, USA, the state's first true casino opens, MGM Springfield, with 23 poker tables, 2550 slot machines, and 120 gaming tables. The casino has 125,000 square feet of gaming space, and cost nearly $1 billion to build. Location is 80 miles west of Boston.
- 2018 - Scott Morrison succeeds Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister of Australia following a Liberal Party leadership ballot.
- 2020 - Death of Pascal Lissouba, 6th President and 2nd Prime Minister of the Republic of Congo (born 1931).
- 2021 - (to September 5) The 2020 Summer Paralympics are held in Tokyo, Japan. They were originally scheduled for 25 August-6 September 2020, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 2021 - Death of Hissène Habré, 1st Prime Minister and 5th President of Chad (born 1942).
- 2022 - General election in Angola, won by ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (51%) over the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (44%).
- 2022 - Death of Len Dawson at age 87 in Kansas City, Kansas, USA; football player (quarterback (Kansas City Chiefs), Pro Football Hall of Fame, Super Bowl IV Most Valuable Player).
- 2022 - Death of Joe E. Tata at age 85 of Alzheimer's disease in Woodland Hills, California, USA; character actor (Beverly Hills, 90210 TV show).
- 2023 - Death of Arleen Sorkin at age 67; actor (Days of Our Lives TV show).
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