On September 24th...

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1657 The first autopsy and coroner's jury verdict was recorded in Maryland.

1664 Fort Orange (now Albany, New York) surrendered to the British.

1688 France declared war on Germany.

1717 Author Horace Walpole was born.

1742 Faneuil Hall, Boston, opened to the public.

1755 John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States, was born.

1789 The office of Attorney General was established by act of Congress.

1815 John Sevier, the first Governor of Tennessee, died.

1837 Political leader Mark Hanna was born.

1852 Henri Giffard, a French engineer, made the first engine-powered dirigible/airship flight with steam power.

1853 Cornelius Vanderbilt completed the first ever round-the-world voyage by yacht.

1869 The price of gold plummeted.

1883 Candy company founder Franklin Clarence Mars was born.

1889 Alexander Dey patented the dial time recorder.

1896 Author F. Scott Fitzgerald was born.

1902 Ruhollah Khomeini, Iranian religious and revolutionary leader, was born.

1921 Sports broadcaster Jim McKay was born.

1930 Astronaut John Young was born.

1936 Muppet creator Jim Henson was born.

1945 Physicist Hans Geiger died.

1948 The Honda Motor Company was founded.
1948 Actor Phil Hartman was born.

1954 The "Tonight Show" premiered on NBC-TV.

1957 President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered federal troops to desegregate Little Rock, Arkansas, schools.

1960 The first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise, was launched.

1962 The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered James Meredith admitted to the University of Mississippi.

1968 "60 Minutes" premiered on CBS-TV.

1970 Luna 16 became the first man-made object to obtain a lunar soil sample and return it safely to Earth.

1973 Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau) declared its independence from Portugal.

1977 "Love Boat" premiered on ABC-TV.

1991 Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, author of children's books, died.

2016 Actor Bill Nunn died.

This page was last updated on September 24, 2018.