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April 24

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

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.
• 1918 - First tank-to-tank combat, at Villers-Bretonneux, France, when three British Mark IVs met three German A7Vs.
• 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 blows up the West 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 Prize 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, Scottish fighter pilot (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)
• 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 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, African actor
• 1965 - Son Chang Min, South Korean actor
• 1966 - Pierre Brassard, Quebec humorist and actor
• 1966 - Alessandro Costacurta, Italian footballer
• 1967 - Omar Vizquel, American 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 fast bowler
• 1971 - Mauro Pawlowski, Belgian guitarist and singer
• 1972 - Rab Douglas, Scottish footballer
• 1972 - Nicolas Gill, French Canadian judoka
• 1972 - Chipper Jones, 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, Belarus 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
• 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
• 1991 - Ryan Phillips, Canadian musician
• 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
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada