October 24

1590 – John White, the governor of the second Roanoke Colony, returns to England after an unsuccessful search for the “lost” colonists.

1596 – The second Spanish armada sets sail to strike against England, but is smashed by storms off Cape Finisterre, off the northwest coast of the Iberian peninsula,  forcing a retreat to port.

1861 – Western Union, a combined partnership of the Pacific Telegraph Company and Overland Telegraph Company, completes construction of the first transcontinental telegraph line across the United States.

1900 – The U.S. government announces plans to buy the Danish West Indies islands of St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix and later Water- now called the Virgin Islands – for $7 million

1901 – Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

1911 – Orville Wright remains in the air 9 minutes and 45 seconds flying a glider at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

1912 – During the First Balkan War, Bulgarian forces near modern Kırklareli, Turkey and Serbians near modern Kumanovo, North Macedonia, are victorious against those of the Ottoman Empire.

1929 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average on the New York Stock Exchange crashes  12.82% (38.33 points) marking the beginning of a world wide economic crisis.

1930 – A coup d’état in Brazil ousts President Washington Luis, ending the First Republic

1931 – The George Washington Bridge opens to public traffic over the Hudson River.

1944 – Off Leyte Gulf, the Japanese naval force attacked earlier by U.S. submarines is engaged and repulsed by U.S. naval surface forces in the Sibuyan Sea

1945 – The United Nations Charter comes into effect.
Vidkun Quisling is executed by firing squad at Akershus Fortress, Oslo, Norway for high treason against the Norwegian state

1946 – A camera on board the V-2 No. 13 rocket, launched from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, takes the first photograph of earth from outer space.

1947 – United Airlines Flight 608, a Douglas DC-6, crashes over the Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, killing all 52 passengers and crew onboard.

1954 – President Eisenhower pledges United States support to South Vietnam.

1960 – A prototype of the R-16 ICBM ballistic missile explodes on the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Soviet Union, killing over 100 people.

1963 – An oxygen leak from an R-9 Desna missile at the Baikonur Cosmodrome triggers a fire that kills 7 people.

1992 – The Toronto Blue Jays become the first Major League Baseball team based outside the United States to win the World Series.

1998 – NASA’s probe, Deep Space 1 is launched to explore the asteroid belt and test new spacecraft technologies.

2002 – Police arrest spree killers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, ending the Beltway sniper attacks in the area around Washington, D.C.

2003 – The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde makes its last commercial flight.

2005 – After earlier crossing the Yucatan peninsula at category 5 power, Hurricane Wilma, at category 3 power, strikes Cape Romano, Florida, resulting in 35 direct and 26 indirect fatalities and causing over $20 billion in damage.

2008 – Many of the world’s stock exchanges experience the worst declines in their history, with drops of around 10% in most indices while the Dow Jones Industrial Average on the New York Stock Exchange drops 3.6%. (312 points)

2015 – A driver intentionally crashes into the Oklahoma State Homecoming parade, killing 4 people and injuring 34. The murderer is later convicted  and sentenced to life imprisonment.