On This Day — 24 October

2018

The world's longest sea crossing, the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge, opens for public traffic.

Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge

2016

A French surveillance aircraft flying to Libya crashes on takeoff in Malta, killing all five people on board.

2016 Malta Fairchild Merlin crash

2016

Three heavily armed terrorists from the Islamic State – Khorasan Province open fire on and eventually suicide bomb a police training centre in Balochistan, Pakistan, killing at least 59 cadets and injuring more than 165 others.

Islamic State – Khorasan Province

2015

A driver deliberately crashes into the Oklahoma State Homecoming parade, killing four people and injuring 34.

2015 Oklahoma State University homecoming parade attack

2014

The China National Space Administration launches an experimental lunar mission, Chang'e 5-T1, which will loop behind the Moon and return to Earth.

China National Space Administration

2008

"Bloody Friday" saw many of the world's stock exchanges experience the worst declines in their history, with drops of around 10% in most indices.

Stock market crash

2007

Chang'e 1, the first satellite in the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, is launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

Chang'e 1

2005

Hurricane Wilma makes landfall in Florida, resulting in 35 direct and 26 indirect fatalities and causing $20.6B USD in damage.

Hurricane Wilma

2004

Arsenal Football Club loses to Manchester United, ending a row of unbeaten matches at 49 matches, which is the record in the Premier League.

Arsenal F.C.

2003

Concorde makes its last commercial flight.

Concorde

1998

Deep Space 1 is launched to explore the asteroid belt and test new spacecraft technologies.

Deep Space 1

1992

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

Toronto Blue Jays

1990

Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti reveals to the Italian parliament the existence of Gladio, the Italian NATO force formed in 1956, intended to be activated in the event of a Warsaw Pact invasion.

Giulio Andreotti

1986

Nezar Hindawi is sentenced to 45 years in prison, the longest sentence handed down by a British court, for the attempted bombing of an El Al flight at Heathrow Airport.

Hindawi affair

1980

The government of Poland legalizes the Solidarity trade union.

Solidarity (Polish trade union)

1975

In Iceland, 90% of women take part in a national strike, refusing to work in protest of gender inequality.

1975 Icelandic women's strike

1964

Northern Rhodesia gains independence from the United Kingdom and becomes Zambia.

Northern Rhodesia

1963

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

R-9 Desna

1960

Nedelin catastrophe: An R-16 ballistic missile explodes on the launch pad at the Soviet Union's Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility, killing over 100 people, including Field Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin.

Nedelin catastrophe

1957

The United States Air Force starts the X-20 Dyna-Soar crewed space program.

Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar

1954

US President Dwight D. Eisenhower pledges United States support to South Vietnam.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

1950

Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China: The People's Liberation Army ceases all military operations in Tibet, ending the Battle of Chamdo.

Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China

1949

The cornerstone of the United Nations Headquarters is laid.

Headquarters of the United Nations

1947

Famed animator Walt Disney testifies before the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming Disney employees he believes to be communists.

Walt Disney

1947

United Air Lines Flight 608 crashes in the Bryce Canyon National Park in Garfield County, Utah, while attempting an emergency landing at Bryce Canyon Airport, killing 52 people.

United Air Lines Flight 608

1946

A camera on board the V-2 No. 13 rocket takes the first photograph of earth from outer space.

V-2 No. 13

1945

The United Nations Charter comes into effect.

Charter of the United Nations

1944

World War II: Japan's center force is temporarily repulsed in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

World War II

1944

World War II: The USS Shark (SS-314) was lost with all 87 hands in the Bashi Straits after torpedoing the Japanese freighter Arisan Maru.

USS Shark (SS-314)

1944

World War II: The USS Tang (SS-306) sank in the Formosa Strait after being struck by its own torpedo, with 78 of its crew lost.

USS Tang (SS-306)

1931

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

George Washington Bridge

1930

A bloodless coup d'état in Brazil ends the First Republic, replacing it with the Vargas Era.

Revolution of 1930

1929

"Black Thursday" on the New York Stock Exchange, the first day of the panic in the markets that contributes to the Great Depression.

Wall Street crash of 1929

1926

Harry Houdini's last performance takes place at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit.

Harry Houdini

1918

World War I: Italian victory in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto.

Battle of Vittorio Veneto

1917

World War I: Italy suffers a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Caporetto on the Austro-Italian front.

World War I

1912

First Balkan War: The Battle of Kirk Kilisse concludes with a Bulgarian victory against the Ottoman Empire.

First Balkan War

1912

First Balkan War: The Battle of Kumanovo concludes with the Serbian victory against the Ottoman Empire.

Battle of Kumanovo

1911

Orville Wright remains in the air for nine minutes and 45 seconds in a glider at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

Wright brothers

1902

Guatemala's Santa María volcano begins to erupt, becoming the third-largest eruption of the 20th century.

1902 eruption of Santa María

1901

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

Annie Edson Taylor

1900

U.S. Government announces plans to buy Danish West Indies for $7 million.

Danish West Indies

1894

First Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Jiuliancheng: Under the command of General Yamagata Aritomo, the Imperial Japanese Army covertly crosses the Yalu River into Qing territory and launches an assault on the fortifications at Hushan.

First Sino-Japanese War

1889

Henry Parkes delivers the Tenterfield Oration, effectively starting the federation process in Australia.

Henry Parkes

1886

Normanton incident: As the British merchant vessel Normanton sinks off the coast of Japan, her European officers appear to commandeer the ship's lifeboats for themselves, leaving her Asian crew and passengers to die and conjuring significant political outrage in Japan.

Normanton incident

1876

Shinpūren rebellion: Upset at the Westernisation of Meiji Japan and the abolition of the Tokugawa feudal hierarchy, the Keishintō, a group of extremist Shinto former samurai, launch a surprise attack against the Meiji government in Kumamoto Prefecture.

Shinpūren rebellion

1871

An estimated 17 to 22 Chinese immigrants are lynched in Los Angeles, California.

Los Angeles Chinese massacre of 1871

1861

The first transcontinental telegraph line across the United States is completed.

First transcontinental telegraph

1860

Convention of Peking: The Second Opium War formally comes to a close, with Qing China ceding Kowloon in perpetuity to the victorious British Empire.

Convention of Peking

1857

Sheffield F.C., the world's oldest association football club still in operation, is founded in England.

Sheffield F.C.

1851

William Lassell discovers the moons Umbriel and Ariel orbiting Uranus.

William Lassell

1813

Treaty of Gulistan: The Russo-Persian War of 1804-1813 comes to a close with the signing of the Treaty of Gulistan, under which terms Qajar Iran agrees to cede the bulk of its Caucasian territories, which comprise much of modern Dagestan, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, to the Russian Empire.

Treaty of Gulistan

1812

Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Maloyaroslavets takes place near Moscow.

Battle of Maloyaroslavets

1795

Poland is completely consumed by Russia, Prussia and Austria.

Third Partition of Poland

1648

The Peace of Westphalia is signed, marking the end of the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War.

Peace of Westphalia

1641

Felim O'Neill of Kinard, the leader of the Irish Rebellion, issues his Proclamation of Dungannon, justifying the uprising and declaring continued loyalty to King Charles I of England.

Felim O'Neill of Kinard

1596

The second Spanish armada sets sail to strike against England, but is smashed by storms off Cape Finisterre forcing a retreat to port.

Second Spanish Armada

1590

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

John White (colonist and artist)

1360

The Treaty of Brétigny is ratified, marking the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years' War.

Treaty of Brétigny

1260

Chartres Cathedral is dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX of France.

Chartres Cathedral

1260

After defeating the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut and assassinating the previous Mamluk sultan, Qutuz, Baybars ascends to the Egyptian throne as the fourth sultan of the Mamluk Sultanate.

Ilkhanate

69

In the Second Battle of Bedriacum, troops loyal to Vespasian defeat those of Emperor Vitellius.

AD 69