April 24

April 24

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April 24

Events
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Deaths
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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.

Shuttle mission STS-31 lifts off, carrying Hubble into orbit.

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 Ko?ir, 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