September 24

Historic Events

2023

NASA's OSIRIS-REx capsule containing samples from the asteroid 101955 Bennu successfully lands back on Earth. ›

2015

At least 1,100 people are killed and another 934 wounded after a stampede during the Hajj in Saudi Arabia. ›

2014

The Mars Orbiter Mission makes India the first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit, and the first nation in the world to do so in its first attempt. ›

2013

A 7.7-magnitude earthquake strikes southern Pakistan, killing at least 327 people. ›

2009

The G20 summit begins in Pittsburgh with 30 global leaders in attendance. ›

2009

South African Airlink Flight 8911 crashes near Durban International Airport in Durban, South Africa, killing the captain and injuring the rest of the crew. ›

2008

Thabo Mbeki resigns as president of South Africa. ›

2007

Between 30,000 and 100,000 people take part in anti-government protests in Yangon, Burma, the largest in 20 years. ›

2005

Hurricane Rita makes landfall in the United States, devastating portions of southwestern Louisiana and extreme southeastern Texas. ›

1996

Representatives of 71 nations sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty at the United Nations. ›

1993

The Cambodian monarchy is restored, with Norodom Sihanouk as king. ›

1975

Southwest Face expedition members become the first persons to reach the summit of Mount Everest by any of its faces, instead of using a ridge route. ›

1973

Guinea-Bissau declares its independence from Portugal. ›

1972

Japan Airlines Flight 472 lands at Juhu Aerodrome instead of Santacruz Airport in Bombay, India, overrunning the runway and resulting in 11 injuries. ›

1960

USS Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is launched. ›

1959

TAI Flight 307 crashes during takeoff from Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport in Bordeaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, killing 55 people. ›

1957

President Eisenhower sends the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation. ›

1954

AEC Routemaster, the iconic London bus was introduced. ›

1954

The Cochabamba–Santa Cruz highway connecting western and eastern Bolivia is inaugurated. ›

1950

The eastern United States is covered by a thick haze from the Chinchaga fire in western Canada. ›

1948

The Honda Motor Company is founded. ›

1946

Cathay Pacific Airways is founded in Hong Kong. ›

1946

The top-secret Clifford-Elsey Report on the Soviet Union is delivered to President Truman. ›

1935

Earl and Weldon Bascom produce the first rodeo ever held outdoors under electric lights. ›

1932

Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar agree to the Poona Pact, which reserved seats in the Indian provincial legislatures for the "Depressed Classes" (Untouchables). ›

1929

Jimmy Doolittle performs the first flight without a window, proving that full instrument flying from take off to landing is possible. ›

1911

His Majesty's Airship No. 1, Britain's first rigid airship, is wrecked by strong winds before her maiden flight at Barrow-in-Furness. ›

1906

U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower in Wyoming as the nation's first National Monument. ›

1906

Racial tensions exacerbated by rumors lead to the Atlanta Race Riot, further increasing racial segregation. ›

1890

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounces polygamy. ›

1875

The 1864 play Heath Cobblers by Aleksis Kivi premieres in Oulu, Finland. ›

1869

Black Friday (1869): Gold prices plummet after United States President Ulysses S. Grant orders the Treasury to sell large quantities of gold after Jay Gould and James Fisk plot to control the market. ›

1853

Admiral Despointes formally takes possession of New Caledonia in the name of France. ›

1852

The first powered, passenger-carrying airship, the Giffard dirigible, travels 17 miles (27 km) from Paris to Trappes. ›

1846

Mexican–American War: General Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey. ›

1841

The Sultanate of Brunei cedes Sarawak to James Brooke. ›

1830

A revolutionary committee of notables forms the Provisional Government of Belgium. ›

1789

The United States Congress passes the Judiciary Act, creating the office of the Attorney General and federal judiciary system and ordering the composition of the Supreme Court. ›

1674

Second Tantrik Coronation of Shivaji. ›

1645

The Battle of Rowton Heath in England occurs, ending in a Parliamentarian victory over a Royalist army commanded in person by King Charles I. ›

1568

Spanish naval forces defeat an English fleet, under the command of John Hawkins, at the Battle of San Juan de Ulúa near Veracruz. ›

787

The Second Council of Nicaea begins at the Church of Holy Wisdom in the city of Nicaea in Bithynia. ›