September 24th in History

Devil’s Tower National Monument, Wyoming (Photo: DXR, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Today in History

  • Benedict Arnold flees to British Army lines when his plot to surrender West Point is exposed (1780)
  • The first steam-powered airship flies (1852)
  • On “Black Friday,” gold prices plummet as a result of a plot to control the market (1869)
  • The Mormons renounce polygamy (1890)
  • US President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, as the first official national monument (1906)
  • Jimmy Doolittle performs a “blind flight” to prove that full instrument flying from takeoff to landing is possible (1929)
  • Honda Motor Company is founded (1948)
  • US President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation (1957)
  • The USS Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is launched (1960)
  • 60 Minutes debuts (1968)
  • CompuServe launches the first consumer internet service (1979)
  • The Cambodian monarchy is restored (1993)

Birthdays

  • Horace Walpole, author (1717)
  • Franklin Clarence Mars, founded Mars, Inc. (1883)
  • Blind Lemon Jefferson, blues musician (1893)
  • Tommy Armour, golfer (1894)
  • F. Scott Fitzgerald, author (1896)
  • Ayatollah Khomeini, Iranian cleric and leader (1902)
  • Audra Lindley, actress (1918)
  • Richard Bong, top US World War II flying ace (1920)
  • Jim McKay, sportscaster (1921)
  • Angelo Muscat, actor (1930)
  • Anthony Newley, actor and singer (1931)
  • John Brunner, author (1934)
  • Jim Henson, puppetteer, created The Muppets (1936)
  • Linda McCartney, singer and activist (1941)
  • Phil Hartman, comedian (1948)
  • Brad Bird, animation director (1957)
  • Amy Sky, singer-songwriter (1960)

Deaths

  • Paracelsus, physician (1541)
  • Pedro I of Brazil, emperor (1834)
  • Branwell Brontë, painter and poet (1848)
  • Hans Geiger, physicist, co-inventor of the Geiger counter (1945)
  • Hasso von Manteuffel, German general (1978)
  • Patsy Kelly, actress and dancer (1981)
  • Dr. Seuss, children’s book creator (1991)
  • Buckwheat Zydeco, accordionist (2016)

Holidays and Observances

  • Armed Forces Day (Peru)
  • Constitution Day (Cambodia)
  • Heritage Day (South Africa)
  • Independence Day (Guinea-Bissau)
  • Mahidol Day (Thailand)
  • National Punctuation Day (US)
  • New Caledonia Day (New Caledonia)
  • Republic Day (Trinidad and Tobago)

September 24 is the 267th day of the year (268th in leap years). There are 98 days remaining until the end of the year.