Today in History

On This Day in:

1519 – Envoys of Montezuma II attended the first Easter mass in Central America.

1547 – Charles V's troops defeated the Protestant League of Schmalkalden at the battle of Muhlburg.

1558 – Mary, Queen of Scotland, married the French dauphin, Francis.

1590 – The Sultan of Morocco launched his successful attack to capture Timbuktu.

1644 – The Ming Chongzhen emperor committed suicide by hanging himself.

1684 – A patent was granted for the thimble.

1707 – At the Battle of Almansa, Franco-Spanish forces defeated the Anglo-Portugese.

1792 – The guillotine was first used, in the execution of convicted highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier.

1800 – The Library of Congress was established with a $5,000 allocation.

1805 – The U.S. Marines attacked and captured the town of Derna in Tripoli.

1831 – The New York and Harlem Railway was incorporated in New York City.

1846 – The Mexican-American War ignited as a result of disputes over claims to Texas boundaries. The outcome of the war fixed Texas' southern boundary at the Rio Grande River.

1859 – Work began on the Suez Canal in Egypt.

1860 – The first Japanese diplomats to visit a foreign power reached Washington, DC. They remained in the U.S. capital for several weeks while discussing expansion of trade with the United States.

1833 – A patent was granted for first soda fountain.

1877 – Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire.

1877 – In the U.S., federal troops were ordered out of New Orleans. This was the end to the North's post-Civil War rule in the South.

1884 – Otto von Bismarck cabled Cape Town that South Africa was now a German colony.

1889 – The Edison General Electric Company was organized.

1897 – William Price became the first to be named White House news reporter.

1898 – Spain declared war on the U.S., rejecting America's ultimatum for Spain to withdraw from Cuba.

1915 – During World War I, the Ottoman Turkish Empire began the mass deportation of Armenians.

1916 – Irish nationalist launched the Easter Rebellion against British occupation forces. They were overtaken several days later.

1944 – The first B-29 arrived in China, over the Hump of the Himalayas.

1952 – Raymond Burr made his TV acting debut on the 'Gruen Guild Playhouse' in an episode titled, 'The Tiger.'

1953 – Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

1955 – 'X-Minus One,' a science fiction show, was first heard for the first time on NBC radio.

1961 – Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers struck out 18 batters becoming the first major-league pitcher to do so on two different occasions.

1961 – U.S. President Kennedy accepted 'sole responsibility' following Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.

1962 – MIT sent a TV signal by satellite for the first time.

1967 – Soviet astronaut Vladimir Komarov died when his craft crashed with a tangled parachute.

1967 – The newest Greek regime banned miniskirts.

1970 – The People's Republic of China launched its first satellite.

1973 – Albert Sabin reported that herpesviruses were factors in nine kinds of cancer.

1974 – David Bowie released 'Diamond Dogs.'

1989 – Thousands of students began striking in Beijing.

1990 – The space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, FL. It was carrying the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope.

1997 – The U.S. Senate ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention. The global treaty banned the development, production, storage and use of chemical weapons.

2000 – ABC-TV aired the TV movie 'The Three Stooges.'

2003 – A U.S. official reported the North Korea had claimed to have nuclear weapons.

2015 – The Nasdaq Composite closed at a record high of

5092.09.

2015 – The S& P closed at a record high of 2117.69.

Born on April 24 in:

1928 – Johnny Griffin, Saxophonist known as 'Little Giant'

1934 – Shirley MacLaine, Actress (“Postcards from the Edge”, “Steel Magnolias”)

1942 – Barbra Streisand, Singer/Acress (“The Way We Were”, “Yentl”)

1945 – Doug Clifford, Musician (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

1959 – Glenn Morshower, Actor ('24')

1963 – Billy Gould, (Faith No More)

1964 – Cedric the Entertainer, Actor, Comedian

1972 – Chipper Jones, Hall of Fame Baseball player (Atlanta Braves)

1983 – Kelly Clarkson, – Singer, first 'American Idol' participant to win a Grammy Award, coach on “The Voice”

BIBLE VERSE

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV)