Welcome to Today In History for Thursday, April 24, 2025.
On this day in history...
- 0858 - Nicolaas I succeeds Benedict III as pope
- 1061 - Halley's Comet sparks English monk to predict country'll be destroyed
- 1185 - Battle at Danoura: Yoshitsune Minamoto's fleet beats imperial fleet
- 1288 - Jews of Yroyes France are accused of ritual murder
- 1311 - Gen Malik Kafur returns to Delhi after campaign in South India
- 1364 - Pope Urbabus V names John V van Virneburg as bishop of Utrecht
- 1524 - Duke of Bourbon drives admiral Bonnivet out of Milan
- 1547 - Battle of Mhlberg: Emperor Karel V vs ruler Johan F the Brave
- 1558 - Queen Mary Stuart of Scotland marries French crown prince Fran‡ois
- 1570 - Battles between Spanish troops & followers of sultan Suleiman
- 1596 - Pacificatie of Ireland drawn
- 1704 - "Boston News-Letter," 1st successful newspaper in US, forms
- 1762 - Russia & Prussia signs peace treaty
- 1792 - "La Marseillaise" composed by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle
- 1800 - Library of Congress establishes with $5,000 allocation
- 1801 - 1st performance of Joseph Haydn's oratorio "Die Jahreszeiten"
- 1823 - EugŠne Scribes "Le Menteur V‚ridique," premieres in Paris
- 1833 - Jacob Evert & George Dulty patent soda fountain
- 1833 - Patent granted for 1st soda fountain
- 1854 - Austria's Franz Joseph I marries Elisabeth A E "Sissi"
- 1863 - Skirmish at Okolona/Birmingham, Mississippi (Grierson's Raid)
- 1865 - Fire alarm & police telegraph system put into operation (SF)
- 1867 - Black demonstrators stage ride-ins on Richmond Va streetcars
- 1871 - Opera "Aida" is produced (Cairo)
- 1872 - Volcano Vesuvius erupts
- 1877 - Last federal occupying troops withdraw from south (New Orleans)
- 1877 - Russia declares war on Turkey through Romania
- 1880 - Amateur Athletic Association, governing body for men's athletics in England & Wales, is founded in Oxford, England
- 1883 - 28 Surinamers depart to Amsterdam World's Fair
- 1884 - National Medical Association of Black physicians organizes (Atlanta)
- 1888 - Eastman Kodak forms
- 1891 - Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "Final Problem"
- 1894 - French cyclist Henri Desgrange rides 100km in world record 2:39:18
- 1894 - Phillies Lave Cross hits for cycle vs Bkln Dodgers
- 1895 - Joshua Slocum completes around-the-world voyage in 11-m boat
- 1897 - 1st reporter, William Price (Wash Star), assigned to White House
- 1898 - Spain declares war on US rejecting ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba
- 1898 - US fleet under commodore Dewey sails from Hong Kong to Philippines
- 1899 - Transvaal British Uitlanders ask Queen Victoria for aid
- 1900 - Passing of Andrew Halliday, cable car pioneer
- 1901 - 1st AL game, Chic beats Cleve Blues 8-2, 3 other games rained out
- 1905 - 1st-class Cricket debut of Jack Hobbs, Surrey v Gentlemen (18 & 28)
- 1905 - Senators execute a triple-play & beat Yankees 4-3
- 1908 - Mr & Mrs Jacob Murdock become 1st to travel across US by car, they leave LA in a Packard & arrive in NYC in 32d-5h-25m
- 1909 - Harry Hillman & Lawson Robertson run 100m 3-legged race in 11 seconds
- 1910 - German Catholic youth movement Quickborn forms
- 1915 - German army fires chloroform gas in Ieper
- 1915 - Massacre of Armenians by Turks starts (Armenian Martyrs Day)
- 1915 - Pitts' Frank Allen no-hits St Louis (Federal League), 2-0
- 1916 - Easter rebellion of Irish against British occupation begins
- 1917 - Yankee lefty George Mogridge no-hits Red Sox 2-1 at Fenway
- 1920 - British Mandate over Palestine goes into effect (lasts 28 years)
- 1920 - Polish troops attack Ukraine
- 1921 - 1st municipal elections for men & women in Belgium
- 1923 - Colonel Jacob Schick patents Schick shavers
- 1923 - General harbor strike begins in NYC
- 1925 - 88øF highest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in April
- 1928 - Fathometer, which measures underwater depth, patented
- 1929 - 1st non-stop England to India flight takes-off
- 1929 - Thorvald Stauning becomes premier of Denmark
- 1932 - German national election (NSDAP 36.3% in Prussia)
- 1933 - 1st major league to get 4 consecutive doubles in 9 inn (Dick Bartell)
- 1938 - Lindenheuvel soccer team forms
- 1941 - British army begins evacuation of Greece
- 1941 - Dutch Prince Bernhard becomes an RAF pilot
- 1942 - Luftwaffe bombs Exeter
- 1944 - 1st Boeing B-29 arrives in China "over the Hump"
- 1944 - RAF bombs Munich
- 1944 - United Negro College Fund incorporates
- 1945 - Albert B "Happy" Chandler is named 2nd baseball commissioner
- 1945 - Delegates of 46 countries gather in SF (to discuss UN)
- 1946 - 11 players Tinker, Evers, Chance, Burkett, McCarthy, Waddell, Plank, Walsh, Chesbro, Griffith, & McGinnity are named to Hall of Fame
- 1949 - 3rd Tony Awards: Death of a Salesman & Kiss Me Kate win
- 1950 - "Peter Pan" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 320 performances
- 1950 - Independent republic of South Molukkas declared
- 1950 - Pres Truman denies there are communists in US govt
- 1951 - Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Sacramento Women's Golf Invitational Open
- 1953 - Winston Churchill knighted by Queen Elizabeth II
- 1954 - 1st American, civilian pilot, P.R. Holden, wounded in Indochina
- 1954 - Australia & USSR break diplomatic relations
- 1954 - WSEE TV channel 35 in Erie, PA (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1955 - Conference of Bandung against colonialism/for self determination, ends
- 1955 - Gaullists lose elections in France
- 1955 - KFDM TV channel 6 in Beaumont, TX (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1955 - KMAU (now KGMV) TV channel 3 in Wailuku, HI (CBS) begins broadcasting
- 1956 - AL ump Frank Umont is 1st to wear glasses in a regular season game
- 1957 - Chic Cub pitchers walk NL record 9 Reds in 5th inning
- 1958 - Lee Walls hits 3 HRS, as Cubs beat Dodgers 15-2
- 1959 - Neth Dance Theater opens (Rudi of Dantzig & Cut Flier)
- 1959 - WICD TV channel 15 in Champaign, IL (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1960 - 14th Tony Awards: Miracle Worker & Fiorello! win
- 1960 - Heavy earthquake strikes South Persia, 500 killed
- 1960 - Louise Suggs wins LPGA Civitan Golf Open
- 1960 - Record 4 grand slams hit today
- 1961 - JFK accepts "sole responsibility" following Bay of Pigs
- 1961 - Vasa, which sunk on her maiden voyage in 1628, is raised
- 1962 - 1st Lockheed A-12 is taxi tested
- 1962 - MIT sends TV signal by satellite for 1st time: CA to MA
- 1962 - Sandy Koufax's 2nd 18-strikeout game
- 1963 - 17th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat LA Lakers, 4 games to 2
- 1963 - English princess Alexandra marries sir Angus Ogilvy
- 1963 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1965 - "Comedy in Music-Opus 2" closes at John Golden NYC after 192 perfs
- 1965 - Military coup under Donald Reid Cabral in Dominican Republic
- 1965 - NY Met Casey Stengel wins his 3,000 game as manager
- 1966 - Atlanta Braves win NL-record 18 straight home games (17 in Milwaukee)
- 1966 - Carol Mann wins LPGA Peach Blossom Golf Invitational
- 1967 - 21st NBA Championship: Phila 76ers beat SF Warriors, 4 games to 2
- 1968 - ABC Masters Bowling Tournament won by Pete Tountas
- 1968 - Leftist students take over Columbia University, NYC
- 1968 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- 1969 - Gen Lin Piao succeeds Mao, is seriously wounded
- 1969 - Lebanese army in battle with Palestinians
- 1969 - Paul McCartney says their is no truth to rumors he is dead
- 1969 - US B-52's drop 3,000 ton bombs at Cambodian boundary
- 1970 - China PR launches its 1st satellite transmitting song "East is Red"
- 1970 - Gambia becomes a republic within Commonwealth
- 1970 - Senegal adopts constitution
- 1971 - "Frank Merriwell" opens/closes at Longacre Theater NYC for 1 perf
- 1971 - Soyuz 10 returns to Earth
- 1974 - Dutch women hockey team becomes world champion
- 1974 - NFL grants franchise to Tampa Bay Bucaneers
- 1975 - Penguins 1-Isles 4-Quarterfinals-series tied at 3-3
- 1975 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1977 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA American Defender Golf Tournament
- 1978 - Angels Nolan Ryan strikes out 15 Mariners, 20th time he has 15 in game
- 1979 - Rhodesian bishop Muzorewa wins general election
- 1980 - US military operation to save 52 hostages in Iran, fails, 8 die
- 1981 - Bill Shoemaker wins his 8,000th race, 2000 more than any other jockey
- 1981 - IBM-PC computer introduced
- 1981 - San Antonio blocks 20 Golden State shots to set NBA reg game record
- 1981 - US ends grain embargo against USSR
- 1982 - 150 Khomeini followers assault student dormitory in West Germany
- 1982 - Cards win 12th game in a row; 7-4 over Phillies
- 1982 - Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Mike Durbin
- 1983 - "Show Boat" opens at Uris Theater NYC for 73 performances
- 1983 - Austrian socialist party loses parliamentary election
- 1983 - Hollis Stacy wins LPGA S&H Golf Classic
- 1984 - Oiler's Wayne Gretzky is 3rd to score on a Stanley Cup penalty shot
- 1985 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Carolyn Lizer for "Yin"
- 1987 - Howard Stern holds a free speech rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza NYC
- 1988 - Rosie Jones wins LPGA USX Golf Classic
- 1989 - 10s of thousands of students strikes in Beijing China
- 1989 - Massachusetts declares today "New Kids on the Block Day"
- 1990 - Brian Friel's "Dancing at Lughnasa," premieres in Dublin
- 1990 - Security law violator Michael Milken pleads guilty to 6 felonies
- 1990 - US 66th manned space mission STS 31 (Discovery 10) launches into orbit
- 1990 - West & East Germany agree to merge currency & economies on July 1st
- 1991 - 26th Academy of Country Music Awards: Garth Brooks
- 1992 - "Man of La Mancha" opens at Marquis Theater NYC for 108 performances
- 1992 - David Bowie marries model Iman in Switzerland
- 1992 - George Steinbrenner drops his suits against baseball
- 1992 - Vinson Pike fined œ1000 for distributing obscene computer pictures
- 1993 - 1000 kg heavy IRA car bomb explodes in London, killing 1
- 1993 - ABC news analyst Jeff Greenfield weds Karen Gannett
- 1993 - Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by George Branham
- 1994 - "Broken Glass" opens at Booth Theater NYC for 73 performances
- 1994 - "Flowering Peach" closes at Lyceum Theater NYC after 41 performances
- 1994 - Actress Kelly Preston (26) weds actor Lou Diamond Phillips (32)
- 1994 - Armando Calder¢n Sol wins El Salvador presidential election
- 1994 - Bomb attack in center of Johannesburg, 9 killed
- 1994 - David Robinson scores ties 7th highest total in the NBA - 71
- 1994 - NY Rangers sweep NY Islanders in NHL playoffs
- 1995 - Court orders Darryl Strawberry to pay back $350,000 in taxes
- 1995 - Dow Jones Index hits record 4303.98
- 1995 - Package bomb, linked to Unabomber, blows up killing Gilbert B Murray
- 1996 - "Jack-Night on Town with John Barrymore" opens at Belasco for 12 perf
- 1996 - 31st Academy of Country Music Awards: Shania Twain
- 1996 - Highest scoring baseball game in 17 years - Twins 24, Tigers 11
- 1997 - "Steel Peer," opens at Richard Rodgers Theater NYC for 76 performances