Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

June 24

1990
New Kids On The Block: Donnie Wahlberg is badly hurt when he falls through a trap door on stage during a New York concert.

1983
Twilight Zone-The Movie premiers.

1982
Presidential Immunity: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the president could not be sued for actions taken while in office.

1981
Medjugorje: Six children see the Mother Mary carrying a baby on a hill just outside this Yugoslavian (now Bosnia-Herzegovina) town.

1964
Smoking: The Federal Trade Commission announces that beginning the next year, cigarette packages will require health warnings.

1948
Selective Service Act: Pres. Truman signs the act providing for the registration of men between the ages 18 and 25.

1947
First official UFO report: Kenneth Arnold files a report on an unidentified flying object he sighted while flying near Mt. Rainier in Washington state.

1936
First black woman to hold a major federal office: Mrs. Mary McLeod is appointed director of Negro affairs for the National Youth Administration.

1922
Football: The American Professional Football Conference, which had been formed in 1920, becomes the National Football League (NFL).

1807
First arrest of a U.S. Vice-President: Former Vice-Pres. Aaron Burr, arrested four months earlier, is indicted for treason against the U.S. He had organized an armed militia of about 60 men; the exact purpose of which has never been determined. He was acquitted.

1795
First U.S. extradition treaty with a foreign country: The Jay Treaty - signed with Great Britain in 1794 - is ratified by the Senate.

1675
King Philip's War: The first and bloodiest war between the New England settlers and the Indians begins when Wampanoag Indian leader King Philip massacres Plymouth colonists.

1647
First American feminist: Margaret Brent gains the honor by demanding the right to vote in the Maryland colonial assembly.

1497
Newfoundland discovered: By Italian-born English explorer John Cabot.

1495
Columbus: The explorer sends five ship-loads of Indians to Seville to be sold as slaves.

1974
Hayley Vaughn, character on All My Children.

1961
jeff denson, American computer hack and trivia buff.

1950
Nancy Allen, American actress. Film: Dressed to Kill (1980), Blow Out (1981), and Robocop (1987).

1949
John Illsley, British guitarist, with Dire Straits. Music: Sultans of Swing (1978) and Money For Nothing (1985, #1).

1943
Georg Stanford Brown, American actor, Emmy-winning director. TV: The Rookies (officer Terry Webster), Cagney & Lacey (director), and Hill Street Blues (director).

1942
Mick Fleetwood, British drummer, with Fleetwood Mac. Music: Rumours (1977) and Tusk (1979).

1942
Michele Lee (Michele Dusiak), American actress, singer. TV: Knots Landing (Karen Fairgate MacKenzie).

1930
Claude Chabrol, French film director. Film: Les Cousins (1959) and Les Bonnes Femmes (1960).

1923
Jack Carter, American comedian. TV: The Jack Carter Show (1950-51).

1919
Al Molinaro, American actor. TV: The Odd Couple (Murray the cop) and Happy Days (Al Delvecchio).

1915     d. 2001
Sir Fred Hoyle, 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. (more...)

1915     d. 1990
Norman Cousins, 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. (source: Fifth 637 Best Things Anybody Ever Said)

1911
Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentine auto racer, 5-time Formula One world champion (1951, 54-57).

1895     d. 1983
Jack Dempsey (William Harrison Dempsey), American boxer, "The Manassa Mauler," world heavyweight champion (1919-26).

1839     d. 1903
Gustavus Franklin Swift, American merchant, founder of Swift and Co. He developed refrigerated railroad cars.

1830     d. 1917
Bernard John Dowling Irwin, American military leader. He received the first U.S. Medal of Honor (1894) for his action against Apache Indians (1861).

1813     d. 1887
Henry Ward Beecher, American preacher. Writings: Seven Lectures to Young Men (1844). He was one of the leading opponents to slavery in his time.

1771     d. 1834
Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, French-born American industrialist. He founded E.I. du Pont Company (1801) in Delaware to manufacture gunpowder.

1542     d. 1591
Saint John of the Cross (San Juan de la Cruz), Spanish poet.

2006     b. 1957
Patsy Ramsey, Miss West Virginia (1977), mother of child beauty pageant queen and murder victim JonBenét.

2005     b. 1922
Paul Winchell, 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.

1987     b. 1916
Jackie Gleason (Herbert John Gleason), American Tony-winning actor. Broadway: Take Me Along (1959, Tony, as the hard-drinking Uncle Sid). TV: The Honeymooners (Ralph Kramden).

1969     b. 1883
Frank O. King, American cartoonist, creator of Gasoline Alley (1919).

1908     b. 1837
Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th U.S. President (1885-89, 1893-97). He avoided the Civil War draft by hiring someone to take his place. His portrait graces the U.S. $1,000 bill.

1870     b. 1833
Adam Lindsay Gordon, Australian horsebreaker, steeplechase rider, poet. He is the only Australian poet whose bust is in Westminster Abbey.

1817     b. 1734
Thomas McKean, 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.

1803     b. circa 1714
Matthew Thornton, Irish-born American physician, president of the provincial congress (1775), member of the Continental Congress (1776), and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

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