Pig in a Blanket Day
1184 BC – The Greeks entered Troy using the Trojan Horse (traditional date).
Anniversary of the death of Daniel Defoe in 1731, author of Robinson Crusoe. Defoe’s suspected inspiration for Robinson Crusoe is thought to be Scottish sailor, Alexander Selkirk. By the end of the nineteenth century, no book in the history of Western literature had more editions, spin-offs and translations (even into languages such as Inuktitut, Coptic and Maltese) than Robinson Crusoe, with more than 700 such alternative versions, including children’s versions with pictures and no text.
April 24, 1800 – The United States Library of Congress was established when President John Adams signed legislation to appropriate $5,000 USD to purchase “such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress”.
Birthday of John Russell Pope (1874), American architect whose work includes the National Gallery of Art and the Jefferson Memorial
Spanish-American War: Spain declared war April 24, 1898, after rejecting US ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba.
1901 The Chicago White Stockings win against the Cleveland Blues in the first game played in baseball’s American League. It claimed major league status 25 years after the formation of the National League. The American League was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the former Republican Hotel by five Irishmen. Eight teams made up the American League:
- original Baltimore Orioles (went bankrupt and became defunct after 1902 season, not to be confused with the current Baltimore Orioles), replaced in 1903 by the New York Highlanders (became the New York Yankees in 1913)
- Boston Americans (became the Boston Red Sox in 1908)
- Chicago White Stockings (became the Chicago White Sox in 1904)
- Cleveland Blues (became the Cleveland Indians in 1915)
- Detroit Tigers (name and locale unchanged from 1894 forward)
- original Milwaukee Brewers (became the St. Louis Browns in 1902 and the new Baltimore Orioles in 1954)
- Philadelphia Athletics (became the Kansas City Athletics in 1955 and the Oakland Athletics in 1968)
- original Washington Senators (became the Minnesota Twins in 1961)
The National League in 1900: The eight-team lineupremained unchanged through 1952. All franchises are still in the league, with five remaining in the same city.
- Boston Beaneaters (later called the Boston Braves, then Milwaukee Braves, now the Atlanta Braves)
- Brooklyn Superbas (later called the Brooklyn Dodgers, now the Los Angeles Dodgers) The Dodgers were founded in 1880 as the Brooklyn Atlantics, taking the name of a defunct team that had played in Brooklyn before them. The team was known alternatively as the Bridegrooms, Grooms, Superbas, Robins, and Trolley Dodgers before officially becoming the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1930s.
- Chicago Orphans (now the Chicago Cubs)
- Cincinnati Reds
- New York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants)
- Philadelphia Phillies
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- St. Louis Cardinals
1913 – The Woolworth Building skyscraper in New York City was opened. It was the tallest building in the world from 1913 to 1930 at 792 feet tall with 57 stories.
1967 – Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland says in a news conference that the enemy had “gained support in the United States that gives him hope that he can win politically that which he cannot win militarily.”
The Hubble Space Telescope was launched on the Space Shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990.
On April 24, 2004, the United States lifted economic sanctions imposed on Libya 18 years previously, as a reward for its cooperation in eliminating weapons of mass destruction.