1st century history on the 24th of August
79 AD : Mount Vesuvius stratovolcano erupted in southern Italy, and buried the Roman settlements of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae. It was the most famous eruption, and one of the deadliest eruptions in European history. Official Pompeii websites : PompeiiSites.org | PompeiOnline.net
1900s / 20th century history on the 24th of August
1929 : Yasser Arafat, the 1st President of the Palestinian National Authority, was born Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini in Cairo, Egypt (died in 2004 aged 75).
1932 : Amelia Earhart became the 1st woman to fly non-stop across the United States, from the West coast in Los Angeles to the East coast in Newark, New Jersey.
1938 : Mason Williams, the American classical guitarist, was born in Abilene, Texas, USA. He is best known for his instrumental hit single “Classical Gas” in 1968. Official website : MasonWilliams-online.com
1947 : Paulo Coelho, Brazilian author and songwriter, was born Paulo Coelho de Souza in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is best known is for writing the all-time best-selling book by a Brazilian writer, with The Alchemist novel, which sold over 150 million copies worldwide. Official website : PauloCoelhoBlog.com
1957 : Stephen Fry, the English actor and comedian, was born in Hampstead, London, England. Official website : StephenFry.com
1967 : The Youth International Party disrupted stock market trading at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) when they threw dollar bills from the viewing gallery, which caused stock trading to stop, when brokers frantically grabbed the money falling from above. The Youth International Party was led by Abbie Hoffman, an American political and social activist, who wanted to point out metaphorically all of the money grabbing done by the stock exchange traders.
1973 : Dave Chappelle, the American comedian and actor, was born in Washington, D.C., USA.
1981 : The murderer of John Lennon was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. Mark Chapman is still imprisoned, after he was denied parole 11 times since 2000. He is due for his 12th parole hearing in August 2022.
1995 : Microsoft Windows 95 was released for retail sale to the general public. The release of Windows 95 was promoted with commercial advertising featuring The Rolling Stones’ song “Start Me Up” (1981).
2000s / 21st century history on the 24th of August
2016 : Central Italy earthquake near Accumoli resulted in the deaths of 299 people, with 388 injured people, and 4500 people left homeless. The aftershocks were felt as far away as Rome and Florence.
2021 : Charlie Watts, the British drummer, died aged 80 (born in 1941). He is best known as one of the longest serving members of The Rolling Stones rock band, which he joined in 1963. Official website : RollingStones.com
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This page was last updated on the 25th August 2021
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