Sunday, August 24, 2025

August 24th: This Day in History

 



Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!





This was not a good day in Roman history. Julius' Caesar's general, Gaius Scribonius Curio, was defeated at the Second Battle of the Bagradas River, by the Numidians, and commits suicide so as to avoid capture. Thirty years later on this day, Mount Vesuvius erupted. And hundreds of years later on this date, Rome was overrun by the Visigoths, which symbolized the fall of the Roman Empire as we know it. On this day in 1349, Jews in Cologne set themselves on fire rather than submit to being baptized. In 1814, British troops took over and burned Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812. On this day in 1821, Mexico gained its independence from Spain with the Treaty of Cordoba. On this day in 1831, John Henslow asked Charles Darwin to travel with him on HMS Beagle, where Darwin would ultimately come up with the ideas which would later result in the explosive findings in his book, "Origin of Species." Thomas Edison patented the motion picture camera, and applied patents for the kinetoscope and kinetograph on this day in 1891. Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the FBI the authority to pursue communists and fascists. The Luftwaffe bombed London. The Soviet Union launched Luna 11 to orbit around the moon. 


Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:






The spine design for this particular edition of "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" by Edward Gibbons, with pillars going from impressive and strong to decadent and fallen into a serious state of disrepair.


• On this day in 49 BCE, Julius Caesar's general Gaius Scribonius Curio was defeated in the Second Battle of the Bagradas River by the Numidians under Publius Attius Varus and King Juba of Numidia. Curio committed suicide to avoid capture. 

• In 79 on this day, Mt Vesuvius erupted, burying the cities of Pompeii, Stabiae and Herculaneum in volcanic ash, killing between 15,000 - 20,000 people. 

• On this day in 410, Rome was overrun by Visigoths, an event which came to symbolize the fall of the Western Roman Empire. 

• Pope Innocent III declared the Magna Carta invalid on this day in 1215. 

• The Battle at South Foreland was fought on this day in 1217, with the English fleet defeating the French fleet. 

• On this in 1349, 6,000 Jews were killed in Mainz after getting blamed for the Plague. 

• On that same day in 1349, Jews of Cologne, Germany, set themselves on fire in order to avoid baptism. 

• In 1391 on this day, Jews of Palma Majorca were massacred. 

• The printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed on this day in 1456. 

• In 1511 on this day, Alfonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquered Malacca, the capital of the Sultanate of Malacca. 

• The Battle at Aleppo took place on this day in 1516, with the Ottomans defeating Syria. 

• Conquistador Francisco de Orellana returned to Spain on this day in 1542. 

• On this day in 1572, the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of Protestants by Roman Catholics began in Paris, and would later spread to the French provinces. The killings claimed about 70,000 people. 

• On this day in 1608, the first English convoy landed at Surat India. 

• Louis II Condé disbanded, marking the end of Atrecht on this day in 1654. 

• The Battle at Grevelingen was fought on this day in 1658, when the English fleet beat the Spanish. 

• The Act of Uniformity occurred on this day in 1662, which required the English to accept the book of Common Prayer. 

• On this day in 1682, Duke James of York gave Delaware to William Penn. 

• In 1690 on this day, Job Charnock founded Calcutta, India. 

• On this day in 1704, there was a sea battle at Malaga. 

• In 1751 on this day, Thomas Colley was executed in England for drowning supposed witch. 




Bust of Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

• Wolfgang A Mozart completed his viola sonata in A, K526, on this day in 1787. 


• On this day in 1814 (during the War of 1812), British forces captured Washington, DC, & burned down many landmarks in the city, including the Capitol building and the White House. 

• The Treaty of St. Louis was signed in St. Louis, Missouri, on this day in 1816. 

• In 1820 on this day, there was a Constitutionalist insurrection at Oporto, Portugal; see Portugal's crises of the Nineteenth Century. 




Flag of Mexico


• On this day in 1821, Spanish Viceroy Juan de O'Donojú signed the Treaty of Córdoba, which approved a plan to make Mexico an independent constitutional monarchy.



Netherland's South Willems Port (Bosch-Luik) opened on this day in 1826. The Dutch army took Fort Du Bus in New Guinea on this day in 1828. 


• On this day in 1831, John Henslow asked Charles Darwin to travel with him on HMS Beagle, where Darwin would ultimately come up with the ideas which would later result in the explosive findings in his book, "Origin of Species." 

British Botanist Charles Darwin


• In 1833 on this day, the HMS Beagle reached Bahia Blanca, Argentina. 

• Charlotte Bronte finished manuscript of "Jane Eyre" on this day in 1847. 

• The first potato chips were prepared by Chef George Crum in Saratoga Springs, New York, on this day in 1853. 

• In 1853 on this day, the first convention of the American Pharmaceutical Association was held. 

• In 1854 on this day, National Emigration Convention met in Cleveland, Ohio. 

• The Panic of 1857 began on this day in 1857, setting off one of the most severe economic crises in American history. 

• Richmond "Daily Dispatch" reported that 90 blacks were arrested for learning on this day in 1858. 

• In 1869 on this day, Cornelius Swarthout patented the waffle iron. 

• On this day in 1870, the Wolseley Expedition reached Manitoba to end the Red River Rebellion. 

• In 1876 on this day, riot abolished fairs in Amsterdam, 2 killed. 




Monuments to Thomas Edison at Menlo Park in Edison,  NJ 


• Thomas Edison patented the motion picture camera, and applied patents for the kinetoscope and kinetograph (U.S. Pats. 493,426 and 589,168). on this day in 1891. 

• On this day in 1893, a tornado destroys coast of Savannah & Charleston, about 1000 die



1904 - Field battle at Liao-Yang-200,000 Japanese against 150,000 Russian



• 1909 - Workers start pouring concrete for Panama Canal

1911 - Manuel d'Arriaga elected 1st president of Portugal
1912 - NYC ticker tape parade for Jim Thorpe & victorious US olympians
1912 - District Alaska becomes an organized incorporated territory of the United States
1912 - US passes Anti-gag law, federal employees right to petition government
1914 - Battle at Bergen: Germans defeat Belgian/British troops
1914 - German troops occupy Namur Belgium
1914 - Jerome Kern & Michael E Rourles musical premieres in NYC

1919 - Cleveland pitcher Ray Caldwell is flattened by a bolt of lightning
1921 - Battle of Sakaray Valley begins between Turkey & Greece
1921 - British airship R-38 crashes in Humber, 44 die

1929 - Palestinians attack orthodox Jews in Jerusalem
1929 - Turkey & Persia signs friendship treaty
1931 - France & USSR sign neutrality/no attack treaty
1932 - 1st transcontinental non-stop flight by a woman, Amelia Earhart
1936 - Australian Antarctic Territory created



Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C.


• In 1936 on this day, American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt provided the FBI with the authority to pursue fascists & communists.


1937 - Republican offensive near Belchite Spain


• 1937 - In the Spanish Civil War, the Basque Army surrenders to the Italian Corpo Truppe Volontarie following the Santoña Agreement.

1938 - England beat Australia by an innings & 579 runs at The Oval
1938 - Virgil Trucks strikes out his 418th batter, highest season total in organized ball-for Andalusia in an Alabama-Florida League game
1939 - Germany & USSR sign 10-year non-aggression pact
1940 - Luftwaffe bombs London
1940 - Red Sox left fielder Ted Williams pitches the last 2 innings in a 12-1 loss to Detroit Tigers, Williams allows 3 hits & 1 run
1942 - Sea battle off Eastern Solomon Islands
1942 - Transport nr 23 departs with French Jews to Nazi-Germany


• On this day in 1944 during World War II, French General LeClerc's troops opened their assault on Paris.

1945 - Cleveland ace Bob Feller returns from Navy & strike out 12
1949 - North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) goes into effect
1950 - 1st US Negro delegate to UN appointed-ES Sampson
Baseball Player Ted WilliamsBaseball Player Ted Williams 1950 - Edith Sampson named 1st black US delegate to UN
1950 - Operation Magic Carpet concludes transporting 45,000 Yemenite Jews
1951 - Bill Veeck's "Fans Managers' Night," Browns defeat A's 5-3; Browns coaches hold up placards for fans to vote on
1954 - Communist Control Act passed, at height of McCarthyism


General Dwight Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States


• On this day in 1954, American President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Communist Control Act, outlawing the Communist Party.


1954 - International Amateur Athletic Federation recognizes Red China
1954 - William Heatherton's "Reluctant Debutante," premieres in London
1956 - 1st non-stop transcontinental helicopter flight arrived Wash DC
1957 - British soccer player Jimmy Greaves' (17) 1st game for Chelsea
1958 - Fay Crocker wins LPGA Waterloo Golf Open
1958 - Sergei Popov wins Stockholm marathon (2:15:17.0) (WR)
1959 - England complete 5-0 series drubbing of India
1959 - Hiram L Fong sworn in as 1st Chinese-American senator while Daniel K Inouye sworn in as 1st Japanese-American Rep (Both from Hawaii)
1960 - -127°F (-88°C), Vostok, Antarctica (world record)
1960 - 60 people die when bus plunges off bridge into Turvo River, Brazil
1961 - Windward Islands' Airways International (Winair) forms



Flag of South Africa during the apartheid era

• In 1961 on this day, Johannes Vorster, a wartime Nazi sympathizer and supporter, became South Africa's Minister of Justice during the days of apartheid white minority rule.


1962 - Dodger coach Leo Durocher suffers a near-fatal allergic reaction to a penicillin injection while in the clubhouse at the Polo Grounds
1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site


1966 - USSR launches Luna 11 for orbit around Moon

• 1967 - Liberian flag designed

• 1968 - France became world's 5th thermonuclear power, explodes on Mururoa


1969 - Peru nationalizes US oil interests
1970 - Bomb kills 1 at U of Wisconsin's Army Math Research Center in Madison
1971 - India beat England by 4 wickets, their win against the Poms
1972 - 8th Mayor's Trophy Game, Yanks beat Mets 2-1
1972 - Dennis Amiss scores 1st one-day int century, 103 v Australia
1972 - Gordie Howe & Jean Beliveau inducted in Hockey Hall of Fame
1973 - Garry Sobers scores 26th & last Test Cricket ton 150 v Eng Lord's
1973 - John Adams & his drum - become a right-field fixture in Cleve Stadium
1974 - Sandra Haynie wins LPGA National Jewish Hospital Golf Open
1975 - Davey Lopes steals his 38th consecutive base, then thrown out stealing
1975 - Judy Rankin wins LPGA National Jewish Hospital Golf Open

• 1975 - Papadopoulos/Pattakos/Makarezos sentenced to death in Athens

1975 - SF Giant Ed Halick no-hits NY Giants, 6-0
1975 - Tampa Bay Rowdies beat Portland 2-0 for NASL cup
1976 - Soyuz 21 returns to Earth
1978 - USSR performs underground nuclear test
1979 - Cars play concert in NY Central Park
1979 - NFL fans (60,916) choose old Patriots logo over new
1979 - UN's Vienna office begins issuing postage stamps
1980 - Beth Daniel wins Columbia Savings LPGA Golf Classic
1980 - Jozef Pinkovski replaces Poland premier Babiuch
1981 - American Charles Chapman is 1st black to swim English Channel
1981 - Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 yrs to life for Lennon's murder
1982 - KC's John Wathan steals 31st en route to 36 base for catcher's record
1983 - Cin Red Pete Rose ends consecutive games played streak at 745
1984 - Pat Bradley set LPGA record for 9 holes with a 28 at Denver
1985 - STS 51-I mission scrubbed at T -5m because of bad weather
1986 - Juli Inkster wins Atlantic City LPGA Golf Classic
1987 - Announcement of possible Martian tornadoes
1989 - British brewery Bass buys Holiday Inn hotel chain
1989 - Pete Rose is suspended from baseball for life for gambling
1989 - Voyager 2 flies past Neptune
1990 - 3,500 peacekeepers arrive in Liberia
1990 - Iraqi troops surround US & other embassies in Kuwait City
1991 - Emmy Creative Arts Award presentation
1991 - Gorbachev resigns as head of USSR Communist Party
1991 - Silky Stallone, wins the Cane Pace at Yonkers Raceway
1991 - Taiwan captures its 15th Little League World Series, 11-0





• Ukraine declared its independence from the USSR on this day in 1991.


1992 - 1st structural steel beams are erected at Gateway (Jacobs Field)
1992 - Cleveland Browns suffer their worst preseason loss, 56-3, to Vikings
1992 - Hurricane Andrew hits South Florida; 35 die
1992 - Screw magazine superimposed a gunsight over a picture of Larry Flint
1992 - Diplomatic relations are established between the People's Republic of China and South Korea.
1993 - Mars Observer comes closest to Mars



• 1994 - Israel & PLO initialed accord giving autonomy to Palestinians in West Bank in education, health, taxation, social welfare & tourism

1995 - Fire that wipes 6,000 acres begins in Hamptons on Long Island
1995 - Windows 95 debuts

1997 - Gordon Spence discovers 2^2976221 - 1 (36th known Mersenne prime)


• 1998 - The Netherlands is selected as the site for the trial of the two Libyan suspects of the 1988 Pan Am bombing.

1998 - First RFID human implantation tested in the United Kingdom.
2000 - Argon fluorohydride, the first Argon compound ever known, is discovered at the University of Helsinki by Finnish scientists.
2001 - Air Transat Flight 236 runs out of fuel over the Atlantic Ocean (en route to Lisbon from Toronto) and makes an emergency landing in the Azores.

• 2004 - 89 passengers die after two airliners explode after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport, near Moscow. The explosions were caused by suicide bombers (reportedly female) from the Russian Republic of Chechnya.

2006 - The International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefines the term "planet" such that Pluto is considered a Dwarf Planet.
2012 - Monsoon rains and floods kill 26 people in Pakistan
2012 - Yangmingtan Bridge collapses in China killing three people
2012 - Both Apple and Samsung are found guilty of patent infringement in a South Korean court
2012 - A US jury in California finds that Samsung is guilty of patent infringement and awards over US$1 billion in damages to Apple



 1814 - Washington, DC, was invaded by British forces that set fire to the White House and Capitol.   1853 - The first convention of the American Pharmaceutical Association was held.   


1869 - A patent for the waffle iron was received by Cornelius Swarthout.   1891 - Thomas Edison applied patents for the kinetoscope and kinetograph (U.S. Pats. 493,426 and 589,168).   


1912 - A four-pound limit was set for parcels sent through the U.S. Post Office mail system.   1932 - Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the U.S. non-stop. The trip from Los Angeles, CA to Newark, NJ, took about 19 hours.   1949 - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) went into effect. The agreement was that an attack against on one of the parties would be considered "an attack against them all."   1954 - The Communist Party was virtually outlawed in the U.S. when the Communist Control Act went into effect.   1959 - Three days after Hawaiian statehood, Hiram L. Fong was sworn in as the first Chinese-American U.S. senator while Daniel K. Inouye was sworn in as the first Japanese-American U.S. representative.   1963 - John Pennel pole-vaulted 17 feet and 3/4 inches becoming the first to break the 17-foot barrier.   1968 - France became the 5th thermonuclear power when they exploded a hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific.   1975 - Davey Lopes of the Los Angeles Dodgers set a major league baseball record when he stole his 38th consecutive base.   1985 - 27 anti-apartheid leaders were arrested in South Africa as racial violence rocked the country.   1986 - Frontier Airlines shut down. Thousands of people were left stranded.   1989 - Pete Rose, the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, was banned from baseball for life after being accused of gambling on baseball.   1989 - "Total war" was declared by Columbian drug lords on their government.   1989 - The U.S. space probe, Voyager 2, sent back photographs of Neptune.   1990 - Iraqi troops surrounded foreign missions in Kuwait.   1991 - Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as the head of the Communist Party.   1992 - China and South Korea established diplomatic relations.   1995 - Microsoft's "Windows 95" went on sale.   1998 - U.S. officials cited a soil sample as part of the evidence that a Sudan plant was producing precursors to the VX nerve gas. And, therefore made it a target for U.S. missiles on August 20, 1998.   1998 - A donation of 24 beads was made, from three parties, to the Indian Museum of North America at the Crazy Horse Memorial. The beads are said to be those that were used in 1626 to buy Manhattan from the Indians.   2001 - In McAllen, TX, Bridgestone/Firestone agreed to settle out of court and pay a reported $7.5 million to a family in a rollover accident in their Ford Explorer.   2001 - The remains of nine American servicemen killed in the Korean War were returned to the U.S. The bodies were found about 60 miles north of Pyongyang. It was estimated that it would be a year before the identies of the soldiers would be known.   2001 - U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly was randomly picked to take over the Microsoft monopoly case. The judge was to decide how Microsoft should be punished for illegally trying to squelch its competitors.   2001 - NASA announced that operation of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite would end by September 30th due to budget restrictions. Though the satellite is best known for monitoring a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica, it was designed to provide information about the upper atmosphere by measuring its winds, temperatures, chemistry and energy received from the sun.   2005 - The planet Pluto was reclassified as a "dwarf planet" by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Pluto's status was changed due to the IAU's new rules for an object qualifying as a planet. Pluto met two of the three rules because it orbits the sun and is large enough to assume a nearly round shape. However, since Pluto has an oblong orbit and overlaps the orbit of Neptune it disqualified Pluto as a planet.


 1814 The British set fire to the White House and the Capitol when they invaded Washington, DC during the War of 1812. 1821 Mexico gained its independence from Spain with the Treaty of Cordoba. 1949 The North Atlantic Treaty went into effect. 1968 France became the world's fifth nuclear power as it exploded a hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific. 1989 Pete Rose was banned from baseball for gambling. 1991 Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as the general secretary of the Communist Party after a failed coup attempt against him. 1992 Hurricane Andrew hit Florida, causing record damage.

The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

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