November 24 -

Cleaner

This Day In History

1542

The English army defeats the Scots on Solway Moss.

1642

Abel Tasman becomes the first European to discover the island Van Diemen's Land (later renamed Tasmania).

1835

The Texas Provincial Government authorizes the creation of a horse-mounted police force called the Texas Rangers (which is now the Texas Ranger Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety).

1859

Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species.

1932

In Washington, D.C., the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens.

1950

The "Storm of the Century", a violent snowstorm, takes shape on this date before paralyzing the northeastern United States and the Appalachians the next day, bringing winds up to 100 mph and sub-zero temperatures. Pickens, West Virginia, records 57 inches of snow.

1969

The Apollo 12 command module splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second manned mission to the Moon.

1974

Donald Johanson and Tom Gray discover the 40% complete Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, nicknamed "Lucy," in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar Depression.

Famous Birthdays

1632

Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher (d. 1677)

1690

Charles Theodore Pachelbel^*, German composer, organist, and harpsichordist (d. 1750)

1713

Junípero Serra, Spanish missionary (d. 1784)

1784

Zachary Taylor, American general and 12th President of the United States (d. 1850)

1812

Xavier Hommaire de Hell, French geographer, engineer and traveller (d. 1848)

1815

Grace Darling, English heroine (d. 1842)

1859

Cass Gilbert, American architect (d. 1934)

1864

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, French painter (d. 1901)

1868

Scott Joplin, Ragtime Composer (d. 1917)

1888

Dale Carnegie, American writer (d. 1955)

1912

Charles Schneeman, American science-fiction illustrator (d. 1972)

1925

William F. Buckley Jr., American writer (d. 2008)
1947
Dwight Schultz, American actor
1948
Spider Robinson, science fiction author
1957
Denise Crosby, American actress
1978
Katherine Heigl, American actress

* - Not that one.