24 October

1503     Isabella of Portugal (died 1539)

1537     Jane Seymour (died), English wife of Henry VIII of England (born 1508)

1632     Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch microbiologist (died 1723)

1852     Daniel Webster (died), American lawyer and politician, 14th United States Secretary of State (born 1782)

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.

1901     Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to go over Niagara Falls, in a barrel.

1903     Melvin Purvis (born), American FBI agent (died 1960)

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.

1936     Bill Wyman (born),, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (The Rolling Stones and Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings)

1944     Louis Renault (died), French businessman, co-founded the Renault Company (born 1877)

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     Walt Disney testifies before the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming Disney employees he believes to be communists.

1949     The cornerstone of the United Nations Headquarters is laid.

1971     Jo Siffert (died), Swiss race car driver (born 1936)

1972     Jackie Robinson (died), American baseball player (born 1919)

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.)

1980     The government of Poland legalizes the Solidarity trade union.

1991     Gene Roddenberry (died), American screenwriter and producer, created Star Trek (born 1921)

2003    Concorde makes its last commercial flight.

2005    Rosa Parks (died), American activist (born 1913)

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.

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EO Smith

Interests include biological anthropology, evolution, social behavior, and human behavior. Conducted field research in the Tana River National Primate Reserve, Kenya and on Angaur, Palau, Micronesia, as well as research with captive nonhuman primates at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Institute for Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya.
EO Smith
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