This Day in History – October 24, 2011

1590 John White, The governor of the second Roanoke Colony, returns to England after an unsuccessful search for the “lost” colonists. 1836 The match is patented 1851 William Lassell discovers the moons Umbriel and Ariel orbiting Uranus. 1857 Sheffield F.C., the world’s first football club, is founded in Sheffield, England. 1861 The First Transcontinental Telegraph line across the United States is completed, spelling the end for the 18-month-old Pony Express. 1871 Mob in LA hangs 18 Chinese 1889 Softball rules adopted by Mid Winter Indoor Baseball League 1901 Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. 1903 1st trotter to run a mile under 2 minutes (Lou Dillon 1:58.1) 1903 George Sutton becomes billiard champ 1911 Orville Wright remains in the air 9 minutes and 45 seconds in a Wright Glider at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. 1926 Harry Houdini’s last performance, which is at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit, Michigan. 1929 “Black Thursday” stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange. 1931 The George Washington Bridge opens to public traffic. 1939 Nylon stockings go on sale for 1st time (Wilmington Delaware) 1940 40 hour work week goes into effect (Fair Labor Standards of 1938) 1940 Japan eliminates US terms (strike, play ball) from baseball 1945 Founding of the United Nations 1946 A camera on board the V-2 No. 13 rocket takes the first photograph of earth from outer space. 1947 Series of forest fires burn $30 million of timber (New England States) 1947 Walt Disney testifies to the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming Disney employees he believes to be communists. 1949 The cornerstone of the United Nations Headquarters is laid. 1951 United Nations publishes its 1st postage stamps 1954 Dwight D. Eisenhower pledges United States support to South Vietnam 1957 The USAF starts the X-20 Dyna-Soar program. 1960 Nedelin catastrophe: An R-16 ballistic missile explodes on the launch pad at the Soviet Union’s Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility, killing over 100. Among the dead is Field Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin, whose death is reported to have occurred in a plane crash 1964 Northern Rhodesia gains independence from the United Kingdom and becomes the Republic of Zambia (Southern Rhodesia remained a colony) 1973 Heavy fog causes 65 car collision killing 9 on NJ Turnpike 1973 John Lennon sues US govt to admit the FBI is tapping his phone 1973 Yom Kippur War ends 1977 Veterans Day is observed on the fourth Monday in October for the seventh and last time. (The holiday is once again observed on November 11 beginning the following year.) 1979 Guinness Book of Records presents Paul McCartney with a rhodium disc 1984 Steffi Graf plays her 1st pro tennis match 1986 Nezar Hindawi is sentenced to 45 years in prison, the longest sentence handed down by a British court, for the attempted bombing on an El Al flight at Heathrow. After the verdict, the United Kingdom breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, claiming that Hindawi is helped by Syrian officials. 1989 Rev Jim Bakker is sentenced to 50 years for fraud 1990 Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti reveals to the Italian parliament the existence of Gladio, the Italian “stay-behind” clandestine paramilitary NATO army. 2002 Police arrest spree killers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, ending the Beltway sniper attacks in the area around Washington, DC. 2003 Concorde makes its last commercial flight. 2005 Hurricane Wilma makes landfall in Florida resulting in 35 direct 26 indirect fatalities and causing $20.6B USD in damage. 2008 “Bloody Friday” saw many of the world’s stock exchanges experience the worst declines in their history, with drops of around 10% in most indices.]]]]> ]]>