History for October 24

History for October 24 - On-This-Day.com
Sarah J. Hale 1788 - She wrote the poem "Mary Had A Little Lamb.", J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) 1930, Bill Wyman 1936 - Musician (Rolling Stones) 


F. Murray Abraham 1939 - Actor, David Nelson 1936 - Actor, Kevin Kline 1947 - Actor 


1632 - Scientist Anthony van Leeuwenhoek was born in Delft, Holland. He created the first microscope lenses that were powerful enough to observe single-celled animals. 


1836 - Alonzo D. Phillips received a patent for the phosphorous friction safety match. 


1929 - In the U.S., investors dumped more than 13 million shares on the stock market. The day is known as "Black Tuesday." 


1945 - The United Nations (UN) was formally established less than a month after the end of World War II. The Charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and by a majority of other signatories. 


1948 - The term "cold war" was used for the first time. It was in a speech by Bernard Baruch before the Senate War Investigating Committee. 


1960 - All remaining American-owned property in Cuba was nationalized. The process of nationalizing all U.S. and foreign-owned property in Cuban had begun on August 6, 1960. 


1962 - During the Cuban Missile Crisis, U.S. military forces went on the highest alert in the postwar era in preparation for a possible full-scale war with the Soviet Union. The U.S. blockade of Cuba officially began on this day. 


1969 - Richard Burton bought his wife Elizabeth Taylor a 69-carat Cartier diamond ring for $1.5 million. Burton presented the ring to Taylor several days later. 


2001 - The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation that gave police the power to secretly search homes, tap all of a person's telephone conversation and track people's use of the Internet. 


2003 - In London, the last commercial supersonic Concorde flight landed.