April 24 - Decisions

Decisions

This Day In History

1479 BC

Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty).

1704

The first regular newspaper in the United States, the News-Letter, is published in Boston, Massachusetts.

1800

The United States Library of Congress is established when President John Adams signs legislation to appropriate $5,000 USD to purchase "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress".

1885

Sharpshooter Annie Oakley was hired by Nate Salsbury to be a part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West.

1907

Hersheypark, founded by Milton S. Hershey for the exclusive use of his employees, is opened.

1913

The Woolworth Building skyscraper in New York City is opened.

1916

Ernest Shackleton and five men of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition launch a lifeboat from uninhabited Elephant Island in the Southern Ocean to organise a rescue for the ice-trapped ship Endurance.

1922

The first segment of the Imperial Wireless Chain providing wireless telegraphy between Leafield in Oxfordshire, England, and Cairo, Egypt, comes into operation.

1953

Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

1990

The Hubble Space Telescope is launched from the Space Shuttle Discovery.

2005

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is inaugurated as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church taking the name Pope Benedict XVI.

Famous Birthdays

1533

William I of Orange (d. 1584)

1581

Vincent de Paul, French saint (d. 1660)

1620

John Graunt, English statistician and founder of the science of demography (d. 1674)

1743

Edmund Cartwright, British inventor (d. 1823)

1815

Anthony Trollope, English novelist (d. 1882)

1882

Sir Hugh Dowding, commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain (d. 1970)

1900

Elizabeth Goudge, English writer (d. 1984)

1904

Willem de Kooning, Dutch painter (d. 1997)

1905

Robert Penn Warren, American poet (d. 1989)

1914

William Castle, American film director and producer (d. 1977)

Justin Wilson, American Cajun chef and humorist (d. 2001)

1923

Doris Burn, American children's books author and illustrator (d. 2011)

1930

Richard Donner, American film director and producer

1940

Sue Grafton, American author

1941

John Williams^*, Australian guitarist

1969

Melinda Clarke, American actress

* - Not that one.