Today in History
Today is Tuesday, Oct. 24, the 297th day of 2023. There are 68 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Oct. 24, 1945, the United Nations officially came into existence as its charter took effect.
On this date:
In 1537, Jane Seymour, the third wife of England’s King Henry VIII, died 12 days after giving birth to Prince Edward, later King Edward VI.
In 1861, the first transcontinental telegraph message was sent by Chief Justice Stephen J. Field of California from San Francisco to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C., over a line built by the Western Union Telegraph Co.
In 1940, the 40-hour work week went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
In 1952, Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower declared in Detroit, “I shall go to Korea” as he promised to end the conflict. (He made the visit over a month later.)
In 1962, a naval quarantine of Cuba ordered by President John F. Kennedy went into effect during the missile crisis.
In 1972, Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who’d broken Major League Baseball’s modern-era color barrier in 1947, died in Stamford, Connecticut, at age 53.
In 1991, “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry died in Santa Monica, California, at age 70.
In 1992, the Toronto Blue Jays became the first non-U.S. team to win the World Series as they defeated the Atlanta Braves in Game 6.
In 1996, TyRon Lewis, 18, a Black motorist, was shot to death by police during a traffic stop in St. Petersburg, Florida; the incident sparked rioting. (Officer James Knight, who said that Lewis had lurched his car at him several times, knocking him onto the hood, was cleared by a grand jury and the Justice Department.)
In 2002, authorities apprehended John Allen Muhammad and teenager Lee Boyd Malvo near Myersville, Maryland, in the Washington-area sniper attacks. (Malvo was later sentenced to life in prison. Muhammad was sentenced to death and executed in 2009.)
In 2005, civil rights icon Rosa Parks died in Detroit at age 92.
In 2012, Hurricane Sandy roared across Jamaica and headed toward Cuba, before descending on the eastern United States.
In 2017, Fats Domino, the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer whose hits included “Blueberry Hill” and “Ain’t That a Shame,” died in Louisiana at age 89.
In 2021, heavily protected crews in Washington state worked to destroy the first nest of so-called murder hornets discovered in the United States.
In 2022, actor Leslie Jordan, a comedy and drama standout on TV series including “Will & Grace” and “American Horror Story,” died at age 67.
Today’s Birthdays: Rock musician Bill Wyman is 87. Actor F. Murray Abraham is 84. Movie director-screenwriter David S. Ward is 78. Actor Kevin Kline is 76. Congressman and former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume (kwah-EE’-see oom-FOO’-may) is 75. Actor Doug Davidson is 69. Actor B.D. Wong is 63. Actor Zahn McClarnon is 57. Singer Michael Trent (Americana duo Shovels & Rope) is 46. Rock musician Ben Gillies (Silverchair) is 44. Singer-actor Monica Arnold is 43. Actor-comedian Casey Wilson is 43. R&B singer, actor and TV personality Adrienne Bailon Houghton is 40. Actor Tim Pocock is 38. R&B singer-rapper-actor Drake is 37. Actor Shenae Grimes is 34. Actor Eliza Taylor is 34. Actor Ashton Sanders (Film: “Moonlight”) is 28. Olympic gold medal gymnast Kyla Ross is 27. Actor Hudson Yang is 20.
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