September 24......

September 24 is the 267th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (268th in leap years). There are 98 days remaining.

EVENTS

● 622 - Muhammad completes his hegira from Mecca to Medina.

● 1493 - Christopher Columbus departs on his second expedition to the New World.

● 1664 - The Netherlands surrenders New Amsterdam to England.

● 1789 - The United States Supreme Court and the position of Attorney General are established.

● 1789 - The United States Post Office Department is established.

● 1841 - The Sultan of Brunei cedes Sarawak to Britain.

● 1852 - The first airship is displayed.

● 1869 - "Black Friday": Gold prices plummet as Financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk tried to corner the gold market, sending Wall Street into a panic and leaving thousands of investors in financial ruin.

● 1890 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounces polygamy.

● 1903 - Edmund Barton steps down as Prime Minister of Australia and is succeeded by Alfred Deakin.

● 1906 - U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower the nation's first National Monument.

● 1948 - The Honda Motor Company is founded.

● 1950 - Forest fires black out the sun over portions of Canada and New England. A Blue moon (in the astronomical sense) is seen as far away as Europe.

● 1955 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a heart attack while on vacation in Denver. (And the country held its breath afraid Nixon would end up President.)

● 1957 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends United States National Guard troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation.

● 1957 - The Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0.

● 1960 - The USS Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched at Newport News, VA.

● 1962 - United States court of appeals orders the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith.

● 1968 - ''60 Minutes'' premiered on CBS.

● 1969 - A trial began for the ''Chicago Eight,'' who were accused of inciting riots at the 1968 Democratic national convention.

● 1973 - Guinea-Bissau declares its independence from Portugal.

● 1975- First Britons conquer Everest; Dougal Haston and Doug Scott become the first Britons to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain.

● 1976- Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was sentenced to seven years in prison for her part in a 1974 bank robbery.

● 1976- White rule in Rhodesia to end; The Rhodesian Government agrees to introduce black majority rule to the country within two years.

● 1980- Iraq bombs Iran as hostilities increase; Iraqi planes bomb and set on fire Iran's Kharg Island crude oil export terminal.

● 1988 - Summer Olympics: Ben Johnson beats Carl Lewis and Linford Christie in 100 metres sprinting in a record time of 9.79 seconds at the Seoul Olympics. (Johnson would later be disqualified in a high profile case of doping in sports.)

● 1991 - The album ''Nevermind'' by Nirvana was released.

● 1992 - Mellor resigns over sex scandal; David Mellor resigns as heritage minister, blaming his departure on a constant barrage of hostile stories in the tabloid press.

● 1994 - National League for Democracy is formed by Aung San Suu Kyi and various people to help fight against dictatorship of Myanmar.

● 1995- Israel and the PLO agreed to sign a pact at the White House ending nearly three decades of Israeli occupation of West Bank cities.

● 1996 - The United States and the world's other major nuclear powers signed a treaty to end all testing and development of nuclear weapons.

● 1998 - Redesigned $20 bills meant to be harder to counterfeit went into circulation.

● 1999 - Kip Kinkel, 17, abandoned an insanity defense and pleaded guilty to killing his parents and two classmates at his school in Springfield, OR.

● 2001 - President George W. Bush froze the assets of 27 suspected terrorists and terrorist groups.

● 2002 - British Prime Minister Tony Blair asserted that Iraq had a growing arsenal of chemical and biological weapons and planned to use them, as he unveiled an intelligence dossier to a special session of Parliament.

● 2003 - The Republican-controlled Texas Legislature adopted a redistricting plan favoring the GOP after four turbulent months, three special legislative sessions and two Democratic walkouts.

● 2005 - Hurricane Rita makes landfall in the United States, devastating Beaumont, Texas, portions of southwestern Louisiana and causing more flooding in New Orleans.

BIRTHS

● 15 - Vitellius, Roman Emperor (d. 69)

● 1301 - Ralph Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, English soldier (d. 1372)

● 1501 - Gerolamo Cardano, Italian mathematician (d. 1576)

● 1534 - Guru Ram Das, fourth Sikh Guru (d. 1581)

● 1564 - William Adams, British navigator (d. 1620)

● 1583 - Albrecht von Wallenstein, Bohemian statesman and general in the Thirty Years' War (d. 1634)

● 1625 - Johan de Witt, Dutch statesman and political leader of Holland (1653-72) (d. 1672)

● 1705 - Leopold Josef Graf Daun, Austrian field marshal (d. 1766)

● 1717 - Horace Walpole, British novelist and politician (d. 1797)

● 1724 - Sir Arthur Guinness, Irish brewer (d. 1803)

● 1739 - Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin, Russian statesman (d. 1791)

● 1755 - John Marshall, American congressman, secretary of state and 4th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1835)

● 1801 - Mikhail Vasilievich Ostrogradsky, Ukrainian scientist (d. 1862)

● 1802 - Adolphe d'Archiac, French paleontologist and geologist (d. 1868)

● 1817 - Ramon de Campoamor y Campoosorio, Spanish poet and philosopher (d. 1901)

● 1837 - Mark Hanna, American industrialist and political kingmaker (d. 1904)

● 1857 - Richard Mansfield, German-born actor (d. 1907)

● 1870 - Georges Claude, French chemist and inventor (d. 1960)

● 1871 - Lottie Dod, English athlete (d. 1960)

● 1878 - C. F. Ramuz, Swiss writer (d. 1947)

● 1884 - Hugo Schmeisser, German weapons designer (d. 1953)

● 1884 - Gustave Garrigou, French cyclist (d. 1963)

● 1890 - Sir A. P. Herbert, British humorist, barrister, novelist, playwright, poet and politician (d. 1971)

● 1890 - Mike González, baseball player (d. 1977)

● 1892 - Adélard Godbout, premier of Québec (d. 1956)

● 1894 - Tommy Armour, Anglo-American golfer (d. 1968)

● 1895 - André Frédéric Cournand, French Nobel Laureate (d. 1988)

● 1896 - F. Scott Fitzgerald, was born in St. Paul, MN, famed American novelist and short story writer of the Jazz Age (d. 1940)

● 1898 - Howard Walter Florey, Nobel Laureate (d. 1968)

● 1899 - Sir William Dobell, Australian portrait artist (d. 1970)

● 1900 - Ham Fisher, American cartoonist (d. 1955)

● 1900 - Stephen Bechtel, American construction engineer; founded Bechtel Corp. (d. 1989)

● 1905 - Severo Ochoa, Spanish Nobel Prize-winning biochemist and molecular biologist (1959) (d. 1993)

● 1909 - Gerard Ciołek, Polish architect (d. 1966)

● 1911 - Konstantin Chernenko, Soviet premier (d. 1985)

● 1912 - Don Porter, American actor (d. 1997)

● 1918 - Audra Lindley, American actress (d. 1997)

● 1919 - Dayton Allen, American actor and comedian (d. 2004)

● 1921 - Jim McKay, American sports commentator

● 1923 - Louis Edmonds, American actor (d. 2001)

● 1923 - Fats Navarro, American jazz trumpet player (d. 1950)

● 1924 - Theresa Merritt, American actress (d. 1998)

● 1924 - Nina Bocharova, Soviet gymnast

● 1924 - Sheila MacRae, Actress

● 1925 - Autar Singh Paintal, Indian medical scientist (d. 2004)

● 1929 - Edward M. Lawson, Canadian politician

● 1930 - John W. Young, American astronaut

● 1931 - Anthony Newley, British actor and singer (d. 1999)

● 1932 - Svetlana Beriosova, Lithuanian-born prima ballerina (d. 1998)

● 1932 - Dominique Michel, French Canadian comedian

● 1934 - Manfred Wörner, German politician and diplomat (d. 1994)

● 1934 - Tommy Anderson, Scottish footballer

● 1936 - Jim Henson, American puppeteer; creator of the Muppets (d. 1990)

● 1940 - Barbara Allbut, Singer (The Angels)

● 1941 - Linda McCartney, American singer (d. 1998)

● 1941 - John Mackey, National Football League player

● 1942 - Ilkka "Danny" Lipsanen, Finnish singer

● 1942 - Gerry Marsden, English singer (Gerry and the Pacemakers)

● 1942 - Phyliss ''Jiggs'' Allbut, Singer (The Angels)

● 1945 - Lou Dobbs, American journalist

● 1946 - "Mean" Joe Greene, American football player and Hall of Fame member

● 1946 - Lars Emil Johansen, Prime Minister of Greenland

● 1947 - Erik Hivju, Norwegian actor

● 1948 - Gordon Clapp, American actor (''NYPD Blue'')

● 1948 - Phil Hartman, Canadian actor (d. 1998)

● 1950 - Alan Colmes, American talk show host

● 1951 - Pedro Almodóvar, Spanish movie director

● 1952 - Mark Sandman, American musician (d. 1999)

● 1952 - Joseph Kennedy II, Former congressman

● 1955 - Riccardo Illy, Italian politician

● 1956 - Hubie Brooks, baseball player

● 1958 - Kevin Sorbo, American actor

● 1959 - Steve Whitmire, American voice actor

● 1961 - Allen Bestwick, Nascar Broadcaster

● 1961 - John Logan, American screenwriter

● 1962 - Nia Vardalos, Canadian Actress-screenwriter (''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'')

● 1962 - Jack Dee, British comedian

● 1962 - Cedric Dent, R&B singer (Take 6)

● 1964 - Rafael Palmeiro, Cuban-born MLB baseball player

● 1966 - Michael J. Varhola, American author

● 1966 - Bernard Gilkey, baseball player

● 1969 - Shawn "Clown" Crahan, American musician (Slipknot)

● 1969 - Donald DeGrate, Jr., American music producer

● 1969 - Marty Mitchell, Country musician (Ricochet)

● 1969 - Megan Ward, Actress

● 1971 - Kevin Millar, Baltimore Orioles designated hitter

● 1971 - Marty Cintron, Singer-musician (No Mercy)

● 1973 - Eddie George, American football player

● 1976 - Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, American professional wrestler

● 1978 - Wietse van Alten, Dutch archer

● 1978 - Tarek Saab, American TV show contestant

● 1980 - John Arne Riise, Norwegian footballer

● 1980 - Sabrine Maui, Filipino pornstar

● 1982 - Morgan Hamm, American Olympic gymnast

● 1982 - Paul Hamm, American gymnast

● 1988 - Kyle Sullivan, Actor

DEATHS

● 366 - Pope Liberius

● 768 - Pippin the Short, King of the Franks (b. 714)

● 1054 - Hermannus Contractus, scholar (b. 1013)

● 1143 - Agnes of Germany, daughter of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1072)

● 1143 - Pope Innocent II

● 1180 - Manuel I Comnenus, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1118)

● 1213 - Gertrude of Merania, wife of Andrew II of Hungary (murdered) (b. 1185)

● 1275 - Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford, Constable of England (b. 1208)

● 1435 - Isabeau of Bavaria, wife of Charles VI of France (bc. 1370)

● 1494 - Poliziano, Italian humanist (b. 1454)

● 1541 - Paracelsus, Swiss alchemist (b. 1493)

● 1545 - Albert of Mainz, archbishop and elector of Mainz (b. 1490)

● 1605 - Manuel Mendes, Portuguese composer (bc. 1547)

● 1621 - Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, Polish military commander (b. 1560)

● 1646 - Duarte Lobo, Portuguese composer (bc. 1565)

● 1707 - Vicenzo da Filicaja, Italian poet (b. 1642)

● 1732 - Emperor Reigen of Japan (b. 1654)

● 1742 - Johann Matthias Hase, German scientist (b. 1684)

● 1802 - Alexander Radishchev, Russian writer (b. 1749)

● 1834 - Pedro I of Brazil, Emperor of Brazil (b. 1798)

● 1904 - Niels Ryberg Finsen, Danish physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1860)

● 1923 - Sheila MacRae, Singer, actress (b. 1862)

● 1930 - William A. MacCorkle, Governor of West Virginia (b. 1857)

● 1933 - Mike Donlin, baseball player (b. 1878)

● 1933 - Alice Muriel Williamson, British novelist (b. 1869)

● 1938 - Lev Schnirelmann, Russian mathematician (b. 1900)

● 1939 - Carl Laemmle, German film producer (b. 1867)

● 1945 - Hans Geiger, German physicist (b. 1882)

● 1948 - Warren William, American actor (b. 1894)

● 1975 - Earle Cabell, Texas politician (b. 1906)

● 1981 - Patsy Kelly, American actress (b. 1910)

● 1982 - Sarah Churchill, British actress (b. 1914)

● 1984 - Neil Hamilton, American actor (b. 1899)

● 1991 - Children's author Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss (b. 1904)

● 1991 - Peter Bellamy, Folk Singer (b. 1944)

● 1993 - Bruno Pontecorvo, Italian physicist (b. 1913)

● 1993 - Ian Stuart Donaldson, British musician (b. 1957)

● 2002 - Mike Webster, National Football League player (b. 1952)

● 2003 - Rosalie Allen, American singer and disc jockey (b. 1924)

● 2003 - Edward Said, Palestinian-born literary critic (b. 1935)

● 2003 - Anthony Durante, American wrestler (b. 1967)

● 2003 - Lyle Bettger, American acresss (b. 1915)

● 2004 - Françoise Sagan, French writer (b. 1935)

● 2005 - Tommy Bond, American actor (b. 1926)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Late Roman Empire - start of the indiction year (at least since the time of Bede)

● Bhutan - Blessed Rainy Day (in 2006)

● In ancient Latvia, the third day of Mikeli, and the only day of the year during which men proposed to their prospective wives.

● Catholic Calendar: Our Lady of Mercy

● Also see September 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

● Guinea-Bissau - Independence Day (declared, from Portugal, 1973)

● New Caledonia - Territorial Day

● South Africa - Heritage Day.

● Barcelona, Spain - La Mercè the festival for Barcelona's patron saint. A lot of art and musical activities.

● Trinidad and Tobago - Republic Day (1976)

● French Republican Calendar - Châtaigne (Chestnut) Day, third day in the Month of Vendémiaire


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

The BBC Take on the day

On this day in the New York Times