Holidays
Birth of St. John the Baptist
Day of solemnity. He was the cousin and precursor of Christ.
What Happened On
Medjugorje
June 24, 1981
Two children report seeing the Mother Mary carrying a baby on a hill just outside the Yugoslavian town of Medjugorje (now Bosnia-Herzegovina). The following day, they returned with four other children and they all reported seeing visions. Some of the children claimed to continue having visions after the initial event. One of the children, a 16-year-old, claims she has spoken extensively with Mother Mary and was given nine secrets and the mission to pray for the sick. She also claims to have been given a biography of Mary's life, to be published when Mary tells her to do so.
Smoking
June 24, 1964
The Federal Trade Commission announces that beginning the next year, cigarette packages will require health warnings.
First Network Television Western Series - Hopalong Cassidy
June 24, 1949
The Hopalong Cassidy television series begins with a showing of an edited version of the 1938 movie Sunset Trail. The Hopalong Cassidy films had been box office hits in the 1930s, but by the late 1940s "B" westerns were being phased out. William Boyd, who had starred as Hopalong in the films, mortgaged everything he owned to buy the rights to his films and licensed them to NBC television where they were edited to broadcast length and became an instant hit. The series earned Boyd millions, mostly from merchandising and endorsement deals. In 1950, more than 100 companies manufactured $70 million of Hopalong Cassidy products. Hopalong Cassidy was the first licensed character to appear on a metal lunchbox (1950).
The first two seasons of the show were comprised of the edited movies, after which, 40 new episodes were created.
First Official UFO Report
June 24, 1947
Pilot Kenneth Arnold sights several unidentified flying objects flying in a "V" formation while flying near Mt. Rainier in Washington state. Arnold claimed he saw a string of nine, shiny unidentified flying objects flying past Mount Rainier. He said they moved from Mt. Rainer to Mount Adams, a distance of about 50 miles (80 km), in one minute and forty-two seconds, which would equate to a speed of over 1,700 miles per hour (2,700 km/h). This sighting is credited with being the first of the modern era UFO sightings. Arnold's description of the objects as being shaped like saucers and their movement as being like saucers skipping on water led to the popular usage of the term "flying saucer". A prospector on Mt. Adams claims to also have seen the objects that day, along with several other witnesses who claim to have seen objects around the same time. This sighting was followed by numerous sightings of UFOs by others in the following weeks.
First Arrest of a U.S. Vice-President
June 24, 1807
Former Vice-President Aaron Burr is indicted for treason against the U.S. He had been arrested four months earlier under orders of President Thomas Jefferson, Burr served as vice president under Jefferson. He was accused of trying to create an independent country in the center of North America including the Southwestern United States and parts of Mexico. Burr claims he was just trying to farm 40,000 acres (160 km2) in the Texas Territory that had been leased to him by the Spanish Crown. He had organized an armed militia of about 60 men. Historians still debate Burr's true intentions. He was eventually acquitted.
During his vice-presidency in 1804, Burr killed former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
Columbus Enslaves Native Americans
June 24, 1495
The explorer Christopher Columbus sends five ship-loads of Native American captives to Seville to be sold as slaves. This was during his second voyage to the New World. After not finding the riches in the new world that he had hoped for, Columbus needed a way to pay for his voyage, which he did by having his men capture 1,500 Arawak men, women, and children, from which 500 were selected to be shipped to Spain to be sold as slaves. About 40% died en route.
Columbus had also used slave labor to work in his gold mines.
During Columbus' first voyage, on his first day in the New World he enslaved six natives, writing in his journal that he believed they would make good servants.
New Kids On The Block
June 24, 1990
Donnie Wahlberg is badly hurt when he falls through a trap door on stage during a New York concert.
Presidential Immunity
June 24, 1982
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the president could not be sued for actions taken while in office.
For Your Eyes Only
June 24, 1981
For Your Eyes Only premieres in the UK., 12th in the James Bond series, it starred Roger Moore as 007. It premiered in the U.S. two days later.
Selective Service Act
June 24, 1948
U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the act providing for the registration of men between the ages 18 and 25.
First Black Woman to Hold a Major Federal Office
June 24, 1936
Mary McLeod Bethune is appointed Director of the Division of Negro Affairs for the National Youth Administration.
National Football League
June 24, 1922
The American Professional Football Conference, which had been formed in 1920, becomes the National Football League (NFL).
First American Feminist
June 24, 1647
Margaret Brent gains the honor by demanding the right to vote in the Maryland colonial assembly.
Newfoundland Discovered
June 24, 1497
By Italian-born English explorer John Cabot.
Birthdays
Sir Fred Hoyle
Born June 24, 1915 d. 2001
British astronomer, mathematician, a proponent of the "steady-state" theory, in which the universe has no definite beginning. In 1950 he coined the term "big bang" as a derogatory description of the alternate theory in which the universe was created 10 to 20 billion years ago when a single point expanded.
Jack Dempsey (William Harrison Dempsey)
Born June 24, 1895 d. 1983
American boxer, "The Manassa Mauler," world heavyweight champion (1919-26).
First Action to Earn a U.S. Medal of Honor
Bernard John Dowling Irwin
Born June 24, 1830 d. 1917
American military leader. He received the U.S. Medal of Honor (1894) for his actions against Apache Indians (1861). This was the first action for which a U.S. Medal of Honor was awarded.
jeff denson
Born June 24, 1961
American computer hack, trivia buff, world champion powerlifter, professional natural bodybuilder.
Joe Penny
Born June 24, 1956
English actor. TV: Jake and the Fatman (1987-82, Jake).
Nancy Allen
Born June 24, 1950
American actress. Film: Dressed to Kill (1980), Blow Out (1981), and Robocop (1987).
John Illsley
Born June 24, 1949
British guitarist, with Dire Straits. Music: Sultans of Swing (1978) and Money For Nothing (1985, #1).
Mick Fleetwood
Born June 24, 1947
British Rock and Roll Hall of Fame drummer, with Fleetwood Mac. Music: Rumours (1977) and Tusk (1979).
Georg Stanford Brown
Born June 24, 1943
American actor, Emmy-winning director. TV: The Rookies (officer Terry Webster), Cagney & Lacey (director), and Hill Street Blues (1981-86, director).
Michele Lee (Michele Dusiak)
Born June 24, 1942
American actress, singer. TV: Knots Landing (Karen Fairgate MacKenzie).
Claude Chabrol
Born June 24, 1930 d. 2010
French film director. He is credited with starting the "nouvelle vague" (new wave) French film movement, which helped revitalize French Cinema in the 1960s. Film: Les Cousins (1959) and Les Bonnes Femmes (1960).
Jack Carter (Jack Chakrin)
Born June 24, 1922 d. 2015
American comedian. He hosted the first televised Tony Awards ceremony (1956). TV: The Jack Carter Show (1950-51).
Al Molinaro (Umberto Francesco Molinaro)
Born June 24, 1919 d. 2015
American actor. TV: The Odd Couple (1970-75, Murray the cop) and Happy Days (1974-84, Al Delvecchio, owner of Arnold's).
Norman Cousins
Born June 24, 1915 d. 1990
American publisher, political journalist, editor of Saturday Review (1942-71). Quote: "Nixon's motto was, if two wrongs don't make a right, try three."
Juan Manuel Fangio
Born June 24, 1911 d. 1995
Argentine Hall of Fame auto racer, 5-time Formula One World Champion (1951, 54-57). He is considered one of the greatest racecar drivers of all time.
Gustavus Franklin Swift
Born June 24, 1839 d. 1903
American merchant, founder of Swift and Co. He developed refrigerated railroad cars.
Henry Ward Beecher
Born June 24, 1813 d. 1887
American preacher. Writings: Seven Lectures to Young Men (1844). He was one of the leading opponents to slavery in his time and brother of Uncle Tom's Cabin author Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Éleuthère Irénée du Pont
Born June 24, 1771 d. 1834
French-born American industrialist. He founded E.I. du Pont Company (1801) in Delaware to manufacture gunpowder.
Saint John of the Cross (San Juan de la Cruz)
Born June 24, 1542 d. 1591
Spanish mystic and poet. Began writing poetry while in prison. His works outlined the steps of mystical ascent, known as the soul's journey to Christ. He became a saint in 1726.
Deaths
Winchell with Jerry Mahoney (left) and Nucklehead Smiff (right)
Winchell with Jerry Mahoney (left) and Nucklehead Smiff (right)
Paul Winchell (Paul Wilchinsky)
Died June 24, 2005 b. 1922
American ventriloquist. He worked with a couple of dummies named Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff. He was also the voice of Tigger in "Winnie the Pooh" features. No dummy himself, Winchell used his medical training to build and receive the first U.S. patent for an implantable artificial heart (1963, U.S. Patent #3097366). He developed it with the assistance of Henry Heimlich (the inventor of the Heimlich maneuver).
Winchell offered $100,000 to Metromedia for the tapes to his most successful show, Winchell-Mahoney Time. Metromedia, who wanted to syndicate the show, responded, "Agree on a syndication plan or the tapes will be destroyed." When Winchell declined, Metromedia followed through with their threat and destroyed the tapes. Winchell sued and in 1986 was awarded $3.8 million for the value of the tapes and $14 million in punitive damages against Metromedia.
TV: The Paul Winchell Show (1950-54, host) and Winchell-Mahoney Time (1965-68, host).
Jackie Gleason (John Herbert Gleason)
Died June 24, 1987 b. 1916
American Tony-winning actor. Known as "The Great One". Broadway: Take Me Along (1959, Tony, as the hard-drinking Uncle Sid). TV: Cavalcade of Stars (1950-52, host), The Jackie Gleason Show (1952-58), The Honeymooners (1955-56, Ralph Kramden). Film: Smokey and the Bandit (1977, Sheriff Buford T. Justice).
Gleason also had a successful music career. In the 1950s and 1960s, he produced a series of best-selling "mood music" albums. His first album, Music for Lovers Only, holds the record for the longest stay on the Billboard Top Ten Charts (153 weeks).
Invented the Zipper
Gideon Sundback
Died June 24, 1954 b. 1880
Swedish-American electrical engineer. Sundback invented the modern zipper (1917).
Grover Cleveland
Died June 24, 1908 b. 1837
American politician. 22nd and 24th U.S. President (1885-89, 1893-97) and Governor of New York (1883-85). He avoided the Civil War draft by hiring someone to take his place. In 1893, President Cleveland had a tumor in mouth secretly removed. Under the guise of going on a fishing trip, he had doctors remove the tumor while aboard a friend's yacht. They removed the tumor along with about five teeth and a large part of his upper left jaw. When a reporter uncovered the story, Cleveland denied it and launched a smear campaign to discredit the reporter. Cleveland is the only U.S. President to serve two non-consecutive terms.
Cleveland was the first and only U.S. president married in the White House and the second to wed while in office. He married 21-year-old Frances Folsom, making her the youngest U.S. First Lady.
Their first child Ruth Cleveland was born between his terms as U.S. President and became an instant media sensation, popularly known as "Baby Ruth". In 1921, seventeen years after her death, the Curtiss Candy Company renamed their Kandy Kake (1900–1920) candy bar "Baby Ruth" in honor of her. Coincidently, the famous baseball player Babe Ruth (George Herman Ruth) had hit 54 home runs the year before and had been the home run leader since 1918. Had they named it "Babe Ruth", they probably would have had to compensate him.
Grover Cleveland's portrait graces the U.S. $1,000 bill.
Eli Wallach
Died June 24, 2014 b. 1915
American Emmy-winning actor. Film: Baby Doll (1956), The Magnificent Seven (1960, Calvera), and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966, Tuco -"The Ugly").
Patsy Ramsey
Died June 24, 2006 b. 1956
American beauty pageant winner, Miss West Virginia (1977), mother of child beauty pageant queen and murder victim JonBenét Ramsey.
Brian Keith
Died June 24, 1997 b. 1921
American actor. TV: Family Affair (1966-71, Uncle Bill) and Hardcastle and McCormick (1983-86, Judge Milton C. Hardcastle). Film: The Parent Trap (1961).
Suffering from lung cancer, he was found dead in his home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, two months after his daughter Daisy committed suicide.
Frank O. King
Died June 24, 1969 b. 1883
American cartoonist. Creator of Gasoline Alley (1919).
Adam Lindsay Gordon
Died June 24, 1870 b. 1833
Australian horsebreaker, steeplechase rider, poet. He is the only Australian poet whose bust is in Westminster Abbey.
Thomas McKean
Died June 24, 1817 b. 1734
American politician, member of (1774-83) and 8th president (1781) of the Continental Congress, and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Although present during its drafting, he didn't sign until 1781.
Matthew Thornton
Died June 24, 1803 b. circa 1714
Irish-born American physician, president of the provincial congress (1775), member of the Continental Congress (1776), and signer of the Declaration of Independence.