04/24/2024
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1795 – James Swan pays off the $2,024,899 US national debt.

1872 – Doughnut cutter patents granted to John Blondel, Thomaston, Maine.

1916 – 1st cargo submarine to cross Atlantic arrives in US from Germany.

1918 – US Congress creates Distinguished Service Medal (not to be confused with other countries’ decorations of the same name.)

1944 – In World War II, US troops secure Saipan as Japan falls.

1948 – Satchel Paige, 42, debuts in majors pitching 2 scoreless innings for Cleveland vs St. Louis.

1951 – US President Harry Truman asks Congress to formally end state of war with Germany.

1955 – Bill Haley & Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock” tops the billboards chart, one of the best-selling singles ever.

1960 – British Open Men’s Golf, St. Andrews: Australian Kel Nagle wins his only major title by 1 stroke from Arnold Palmer in the centenary year of the Open Championship.

1963 – All Star MVP: Willie Mays (SF Giants)

1968 – 15.68″ of rainfall, Columbus, Mississippi (state 24 hours record)

1978 – “Hello, Dolly!” closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC after 152 performances.

1982 – Pan Am Boeing 727 crashes in Kenner, La., killing 153.

1987 – Colonel Oliver North admits to shredding Iran-Contra evidence.

1992 – Space Shuttle STS 50 (Columbia 13) lands.

1996 – US Senate approves 90 cents raise to $4.25 minimum wage.

2006 – US Senior Open Men’s Golf, Prairie Dunes GC: Defending champion Allen Doyle wins by 2 strokes ahead of Tom Watson for his 4th Champions Tour major title.

2017 – CEO Elon Musk is the first owner of Telsa’s first mass market electric car – the Model 3.

2018 – US coffee company Starbucks announces it will stop using plastic straws by 2020, reducing use of more than 1 billion straws a year.

2018 – Hedge Fund billionaire David Tepper buys the Carolina Panthers for an NFL record $2.275 billion.

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