Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

August 24

1992
Hurricane Andrew hits Miami.

1989
Pete Rose: The baseball legend is banned for life from baseball.

1989
Voyager II flies past Neptune.

1978
Titan II missile explodes: Two people are killed and 29 are injured in the accident near Rock, Kansas.

1939
First turbojet airplane flight: A German plane with an engine designed by Dr. Hans von Ohain.

1897
Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it: Charles Dudley Warner makes his famous quote in a Hartford Courant editorial.

1891
Thomas Edison applies for a patent for his motion picture camera.

1875
First person to swim the English Channel without a life preserver: Navy Captain Matthew Webb begins his swim. He finished the following day after a 21-hour and 45-minute swim. (source: Guinness Book of World Records)

1869
Waffle Iron is patented.

1814
British attack Washington D.C.: The Capitol and White House are burned during the War of 1812.

1572
St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre: Thousands of Huguenots are killed throughout France as ordered by King Charles IX. Pope Gregory XIII congratulated the king and ordered a medal struck to commemorate the event.

79 A.D.
Mt. Vesuvius erupts in Italy, burying Pompeii and Herculaneum.

1965
Marlee Matlin, American Oscar-winning deaf actress. Film: Children of a Lesser God (1986, Oscar). TV: Reasonable Doubts.

1958
Steve Guttenberg, American actor. Film: Police Academy (1984), Cocoon (1985), Short Circuit (1986), and Three Men and a Baby (1986).

1956
Gerry Cooney, American boxer.

1944     d. 1986
Gregory B. Jarvis, American astronaut. He died in the Challenger space shuttle explosion.

1944     d. 1974
Chris Chubbuck, Florida talk-show host, during her live TV broadcast she announced "In keeping with Channel 40's policy of bringing you the latest in blood¼ and guts in living color. We bring you another first: an attempt at suicide." She then fatally shot herself in the head.

1938
Mason Williams, American Emmy-Grammy-winning composer.

1929     d. 2004
Yasser Arafat, Palestian political leader. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (1969-2004), President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) (1993-2004), and a co-recipient of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize.

1898     d. 1983
Albert Claude, Belgian Nobel-winning biologist, founder of modern cell biology. He was the first to use the electron microscope to study cells (1945).

1846     d. 1914
Henry Gannett, American geographer, "Father of American Mapmaking." He co-founded the National Geographic Society (1883).

2004     b. 1926
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Swiss-born American physician, author of On Death and Dying (1969). She identified the stages of dying as: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

1998     b. 1926
Jerry Clower, American comedian, with many jokes about the Ledbetter family.

1923     b. 1856
Kate Douglas Wiggin, American author. Writings: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1903).

1923     b. 1855
James Leonard Corning, American neurologist, discoverer of spinal anesthesia (1885).

1680     b. circa 1618
Thomas Blood, Irish adventurer. In 1671, disguised as a priest, he stole the crown jewels from the Tower of London. Although he was caught shortly thereafter, King Charles II, who admired his daring, gave him a full pardon.

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