What Happened on October 24?

All

events

births

deaths

holidays

EVENTS ON OCTOBER 24

Danish West Indies

Year: 1900

U.S. Government announces plans to buy Danish West Indies for $7 million.

Annie Edson Taylor

Year: 1901

Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

First Sino-Japanese War

Year: 1894

First Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Jiuliancheng: Under the command of General Yamagata Aritomo, the Imperial Japanese Army covertly crosses the Yalu River into Qing territory and launches an assault on the fortifications at Hushan.

Henry Parkes

Year: 1889

Henry Parkes delivers the Tenterfield Oration, effectively starting the federation process in Australia.

Shinpūren rebellion

Year: 1876

Shinpūren rebellion: Upset at the Westernisation of Meiji Japan and the abolition of the Tokugawa feudal hierarchy, the Keishintō, a group of extremist Shinto former samurai, launch a surprise attack against the Meiji government in Kumamoto Prefecture.

Normanton incident

Year: 1886

Normanton incident: As the British merchant vessel Normanton sinks off the coast of Japan, her European officers appear to commandeer the ship's lifeboats for themselves, leaving her Asian crew and passengers to die and conjuring significant political outrage in Japan.

1902 eruption of Santa María

Year: 1902

Guatemala's Santa María volcano begins to erupt, becoming the third-largest eruption of the 20th century.

Wright brothers

Year: 1911

Orville Wright remains in the air for nine minutes and 45 seconds in a glider at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

Harry Houdini

Year: 1926

Harry Houdini's last performance takes place at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit.

Wall Street crash of 1929

Year: 1929

"Black Thursday" on the New York Stock Exchange, the first day of the panic in the markets that contributes to the Great Depression.

BIRTHS ON OCTOBER 24

Kray twins

Year of birth: 1933

Reginald Kray, English gangster (died 2000)

Sammy Petrillo

Year of birth: 1934

Sammy Petrillo, American actor (died 2009)

Margie Masters

Year of birth: 1934

Margie Masters, Australian golfer (died 2022)

Kray twins

Year of birth: 1933

Ronald Kray, English gangster (died 1995)

Norman Rush

Year of birth: 1933

Norman Rush, American author and educator

Pierre-Gilles de Gennes

Year of birth: 1932

Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2007)

Stephen Covey

Year of birth: 1932

Stephen Covey, American author and educator (died 2012)

John G. Cramer

Year of birth: 1934

John G. Cramer, American physicist and author

Mark Tully

Year of birth: 1935

Mark Tully, Indian-English journalist and author

Jimmy Dawkins

Year of birth: 1936

Jimmy Dawkins, American singer and guitarist (died 2013)

DEATHS ON OCTOBER 24

Jo Siffert

Year of death: 1971

Jo Siffert, Swiss race car driver and motorcycle racer (born 1936)

Chuck Hughes

Year of death: 1971

Chuck Hughes, NFL player died during a game (born 1943)

Carl Ruggles

Year of death: 1971

Carl Ruggles, American composer (born 1876)

Claire Windsor

Year of death: 1972

Claire Windsor, American actress (born 1892)

Jackie Robinson

Year of death: 1972

Jackie Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster (born 1919)

Richard Hofstadter

Year of death: 1970

Richard Hofstadter, American historian and author (born 1916)

Behçet Kemal Çağlar

Year of death: 1969

Behçet Kemal Çağlar, Turkish poet and politician (born 1908)

G. E. Moore

Year of death: 1958

G. E. Moore, English philosopher and academic (born 1873)

Yaroslav Halan

Year of death: 1949

Yaroslav Halan, Ukrainian playwright and publicist (born 1902)

Yevgeny Ostashev

Year of death: 1960

Yevgeny Ostashev, the test pilot of rocket, participant in the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, Lenin Prize winner, Candidate of Technical Sciences (born 1924)