August 24
79 - Mount Vesuvius erupts and buries the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum; an estimated 20,000 people were killed.
1572 - More than 70,000 French Protestants, or Huguenots, were killed in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in Paris.
1814 - The British set fire to the White House and the Capitol when they invaded Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812.
1821 - Mexico gained independence from Spain with the Treaty of Cordoba.
1857 - The New York branch of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Co. failed, sparking the Panic of 1857.
1932 - Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly nonstop across the United States, traveling from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, in just over 19 hours.
1949 - The North Atlantic Treaty went into effect.
1954 - The Communist Control Act went into effect, virtually outlawing the Communist Party in the United States.
1968 - France became the world's fifth nuclear power as it detonated a hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific.
1970 - A bomb planted by anti-war extremists exploded at the University of Wisconsin's Army Math Research Center in Madison, killing a researcher.
1981 - Mark David Chapman was sentenced in New York to 20 years to life in prison for the murder of rock musician John Lennon.
1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as general secretary of the Communist Party after a failed coup attempt against him.
1992 - Hurricane Andrew struck Florida, causing more than $30 billion in damage.
2001 - Tom Green, a Mormon fundamentalist with five wives and 30 children, was sentenced by a court in Provo, Utah, to five years in prison for his conviction on four counts of bigamy and one count of failure to pay child support.
2003 - The Justice Department reported the U.S. crime rate in 2002 was the lowest since studies began in 1973.
2006 - The International Astronomical Union declared that Pluto was no longer a planet, demoting it to the status of a "dwarf planet."
2007 - A judge in Inverness, Florida, sentenced John Evander Couey to death for kidnapping 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, raping her and burying her alive.
2007 - James Ford Seale, a reputed Ku Klux Klansman, was sentenced to three life terms for his role in the 1964 abduction and murder of two black teenagers in Mississippi.
2011 - Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple Inc; he was succeeded by Tim Cook.
2016 - Astronaut Jeffrey Williams, commander of the International Space Station, marked a U.S. record-breaking 521st day in orbit, a number accumulated over four flights. (Upon his return to earth 13 days later, Williams had logged a grand total of 534 days in space).
2019 - Police in Aurora, Colorado, responding to a report of a suspicious person, used a chokehold to subdue Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man; he suffered cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital and was later declared brain dead and taken off life support. (Three officers were placed on leave but returned to the force after prosecutors found insufficient evidence to support charging them.)
2020 - Republicans formally nominated President Donald Trump for a second term on the opening day of a scaled-down convention; during a visit to the convention city of Charlotte, North Carolina, Trump told delegates that “the only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election.”
2020 - Citing “significant errors” in jury selection, California’s Supreme Court overturned the death sentence for Scott Peterson but let his murder conviction stand in the killing of his pregnant wife.
Birthdays
23 - Sofia Richie (model)
26 - Justine Skye (singer)
33 - Rupert Grint (actor)
35 - Arian Foster (football player)
37 - Blake Berris (actor)
38 - Mika (singer)
40 - Chad Michael Murray (actor)
43 - Beth Riesgraf (actress)
45 - Alex O'Loughlin (actor)
48 - Carmine Viovinazzo (actress)
48 - James D'Arcy (actor)
48 - Dave Chappelle (TV host/actor/comedian)
51 - David Gregory (broadcast journalist)
56 - Reggie Miller (basketball player)
56 - Marlee Matlin (actress)
59 - Major Garrett (news correspondent)
59 - Craig Kilborn (TV host)
60 - Jared Harris (actor)
61 - Cal Ripken Jr. (baseball player)
63 - Steve Guttenberg (actor)
64 - Stephen Fry (actor)
66 - Kevin Dunn (actor)
72 - Joe Regalbuto (actor)
74 - Anne Archer (actress)
76 - Vince McMahon (professional wrestling executive)
=============================================
Today in Sports History - August 24
1963 - John Pennel pole-vaulted 17 feet and 3/4 inches becoming the first to break the 17-foot barrier.
1945 - Cleveland Indians star pitcher Bob Feller returns from service in the U.S. Navy and strikes out 12.
1972 - Gordie Howe and Jean Beliveau are inducted into the Ice Hockey Hall of Fame.
1975 - Davey Lopes of the Los Angeles Dodgers set a major league baseball record when he stole his 38th consecutive base.
1989 - Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti banned Pete Rose from MLB for life for betting on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds.
2006 - Jerry Rice signs a one-day contract with the San Francisco 49ers and officially retires from football.
2007 - The NFL suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick for his involvement in dogfighting.
2008 - On the final day of the Beijing Games, Kobe Bryant hit two 3-pointers in a big fourth quarter to help the United States defeat Spain 118-107 and win the men’s basketball gold medal for the first time since 2000.
79 - Mount Vesuvius erupts and buries the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum; an estimated 20,000 people were killed.
1572 - More than 70,000 French Protestants, or Huguenots, were killed in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in Paris.
1814 - The British set fire to the White House and the Capitol when they invaded Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812.
1821 - Mexico gained independence from Spain with the Treaty of Cordoba.
1857 - The New York branch of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Co. failed, sparking the Panic of 1857.
1932 - Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly nonstop across the United States, traveling from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, in just over 19 hours.
1949 - The North Atlantic Treaty went into effect.
1954 - The Communist Control Act went into effect, virtually outlawing the Communist Party in the United States.
1968 - France became the world's fifth nuclear power as it detonated a hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific.
1970 - A bomb planted by anti-war extremists exploded at the University of Wisconsin's Army Math Research Center in Madison, killing a researcher.
1981 - Mark David Chapman was sentenced in New York to 20 years to life in prison for the murder of rock musician John Lennon.
1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as general secretary of the Communist Party after a failed coup attempt against him.
1992 - Hurricane Andrew struck Florida, causing more than $30 billion in damage.
2001 - Tom Green, a Mormon fundamentalist with five wives and 30 children, was sentenced by a court in Provo, Utah, to five years in prison for his conviction on four counts of bigamy and one count of failure to pay child support.
2003 - The Justice Department reported the U.S. crime rate in 2002 was the lowest since studies began in 1973.
2006 - The International Astronomical Union declared that Pluto was no longer a planet, demoting it to the status of a "dwarf planet."
2007 - A judge in Inverness, Florida, sentenced John Evander Couey to death for kidnapping 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, raping her and burying her alive.
2007 - James Ford Seale, a reputed Ku Klux Klansman, was sentenced to three life terms for his role in the 1964 abduction and murder of two black teenagers in Mississippi.
2011 - Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple Inc; he was succeeded by Tim Cook.
2016 - Astronaut Jeffrey Williams, commander of the International Space Station, marked a U.S. record-breaking 521st day in orbit, a number accumulated over four flights. (Upon his return to earth 13 days later, Williams had logged a grand total of 534 days in space).
2019 - Police in Aurora, Colorado, responding to a report of a suspicious person, used a chokehold to subdue Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man; he suffered cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital and was later declared brain dead and taken off life support. (Three officers were placed on leave but returned to the force after prosecutors found insufficient evidence to support charging them.)
2020 - Republicans formally nominated President Donald Trump for a second term on the opening day of a scaled-down convention; during a visit to the convention city of Charlotte, North Carolina, Trump told delegates that “the only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election.”
2020 - Citing “significant errors” in jury selection, California’s Supreme Court overturned the death sentence for Scott Peterson but let his murder conviction stand in the killing of his pregnant wife.
Birthdays
23 - Sofia Richie (model)
26 - Justine Skye (singer)
33 - Rupert Grint (actor)
35 - Arian Foster (football player)
37 - Blake Berris (actor)
38 - Mika (singer)
40 - Chad Michael Murray (actor)
43 - Beth Riesgraf (actress)
45 - Alex O'Loughlin (actor)
48 - Carmine Viovinazzo (actress)
48 - James D'Arcy (actor)
48 - Dave Chappelle (TV host/actor/comedian)
51 - David Gregory (broadcast journalist)
56 - Reggie Miller (basketball player)
56 - Marlee Matlin (actress)
59 - Major Garrett (news correspondent)
59 - Craig Kilborn (TV host)
60 - Jared Harris (actor)
61 - Cal Ripken Jr. (baseball player)
63 - Steve Guttenberg (actor)
64 - Stephen Fry (actor)
66 - Kevin Dunn (actor)
72 - Joe Regalbuto (actor)
74 - Anne Archer (actress)
76 - Vince McMahon (professional wrestling executive)
=============================================
Today in Sports History - August 24
1963 - John Pennel pole-vaulted 17 feet and 3/4 inches becoming the first to break the 17-foot barrier.
1945 - Cleveland Indians star pitcher Bob Feller returns from service in the U.S. Navy and strikes out 12.
1972 - Gordie Howe and Jean Beliveau are inducted into the Ice Hockey Hall of Fame.
1975 - Davey Lopes of the Los Angeles Dodgers set a major league baseball record when he stole his 38th consecutive base.
1989 - Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti banned Pete Rose from MLB for life for betting on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds.
2006 - Jerry Rice signs a one-day contract with the San Francisco 49ers and officially retires from football.
2007 - The NFL suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick for his involvement in dogfighting.
2008 - On the final day of the Beijing Games, Kobe Bryant hit two 3-pointers in a big fourth quarter to help the United States defeat Spain 118-107 and win the men’s basketball gold medal for the first time since 2000.
