Holidays
Pioneer Day
Celebrated in Utah.
What Happened On
A home with bricked-up windows
Photo Credit: Whilesteps
A home with bricked-up windowsPhoto Credit: Whilesteps
Window Tax Repealed
July 24, 1851
The window tax of England is repealed, having been first levied in 1696.
Some houses of the era would brick up windows in order to avoid the tax.
The window tax was originally levied in lieu of an income tax, which was strongly opposed as people saw revealing your income an intrusion of government into your private affairs. Windows were seen as a sign of wealth, therefore the more windows you had, you more you were taxed. The window tax itself was opposed on the ground that it was a tax on "light and air."
The Scottish window tax was also abolished at the same time.
Civil Disobedience
July 24, 1846
Author Henry David Thoreau is jailed for refusing to pay his poll tax, prompting him to write his essay Civil Disobedience.
Thoreau had refused to pay the tax due to his opposition to the Mexican-American War and slavery, for which he spent a night in jail because of this refusal. He was freed the next day when someone paid the tax, against his wishes.
In his essay, he stated that the government must end unjust actions in order to have the right to collect taxes.
Fans Have a Blast
July 24, 1993
Vince Coleman of the New York Mets tosses an explosive - equivalent to a quarter stick of dynamite - at fans after a game, injuring three people.
Tires Recalled for Blasphemy
July 24, 1992
Japanese tire manufacturer Yokohama Rubber Co. makes the recall after it was discovered their computer-designed tread resembled the Islamic word for Allah.
Nixon (left) and tape recorder he used to record his conversations
Nixon (left) and tape recorder he used to record his conversations
Watergate
July 24, 1973
U.S. Supreme Court rules that U.S. President Richard Nixon must turn over 64 tapes of White House conversations to Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski.
The Beatles Endorse Marijuana Legalization
July 24, 1967
A full page ad calling for the legalization of marijuana is placed in the London Times. Its list of signers included the Beatles.
Marin and Lewis in 1950
Marin and Lewis in 1950
Martin and Lewis Last Performance
July 24, 1956
The legendary comedy duo of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis perform at the Copacabana, NY together for the last time as a team.
Birthdays
Lynching Victim
Michael Donald
Born July 24, 1961 d. 1981
American lynching victim. He was one of the last recorded lynching victims in the United States. Members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) beat and kill the 19-year-old African-American and hanged his body from a tree. He was the random victim of a retaliation killing by KKK members for the mistrial declared in the trial of a black man charged with killing a policeman in Birmingham, Alabama while committing a robbery. Frustrated at the outcome, KKK members burned a three-foot cross on the Mobile, Alabama County courthouse lawn. They then went in search of a black victim. They kidnapped Michael Donald at random. When he tried to escape, they beat him, strangled him with a rope, and slit his throat. They then hanged his body from a tree across from a house owned by Klan leader Bennie Jack Hays, father of one of the attackers Henry Hays. Henry Hays was executed in 1997 for the crime. It was the only execution of a KKK member during the 20th century for the murder of an African American. James Knowles testified against Hays and was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Knowles claimed the slaying was done "to show Klan strength in Alabama." Benjamin Franklin Cox, Jr. was also convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Donald's mother brought a wrongful death suit in 1984 against the United Klans of America. In 1987 the Klan was found civilly liable by an all-white jury and sentenced to damages of $7 million, bankrupting the United Klans of America. The United Klans was the same group that had beaten the Freedom Riders in 1961, murdered civil rights worker Viola Liuzzo in 1965, and bombed Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963.
Kelsey receives the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service (left) and the effects of thalidomide on a baby's feet
Photo Credit: NCP14053
Kelsey receives the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service (left) and the effects of thalidomide on a baby's feetPhoto Credit: NCP14053
Prevented Thalidomide Disaster in U.S.
Frances Kelsey
Born July 24, 1914 d. 2015
Canadian-born American pharmacologist. While working for the FDA, she prevented the use of the drug thalidomide in the U.S. (1960) due to safety concerns, even though it had already been approved in Canada and more than 20 European and African countries. Thalidomide was later shown to have caused 7,000 babies in Europe to be born with flipper-like arms and legs. Thalidomide was intended to treat morning sickness and as a sleeping aid. Due to Kelsey's efforts, its use in the U.S. was largely blocked by the FDA and only allowed in clinical testing. There are 17 documented cases of thalidomide birth defects in the U.S. as opposed to the thousands in Europe.
Amelia Earhart
Born July 24, 1897 d. 1937
American aviator. She was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic (1928), the first woman to fly across the Atlantic solo (1932), and the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross (1932). While attempting to circumnavigate the globe, she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared over the Pacific ocean.
Amazing Grace
John Newton
Born July 24, 1725 d. 1807
English clergyman, hymn writer. Music: Amazing Grace (1779), with lyrics, "Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound). That sav'd a wretch like me!"
Lynda Carter
Born July 24, 1951
American actress. TV's Wonder Woman (1975-79). She was also Miss World United States (1972).
The Wonder Woman character was co-created by psychologist William Moulton Marston, who also invented the lie detector.
Gallagher (Leo Anthony Gallagher Jr.)
Born July 24, 1946 d. 2022
American comic. Gallagher was a prop and observational comic known for smashing melons with his Sledge-O-Matic. His first comedy special, Gallagher: An Uncensored Evening (1980), was the first comedy stand-up special ever to air on cable television.
Chris Sarandon
Born July 24, 1942
American actor. Film: Dog Day Afternoon (1975). TV: The Guiding Light (Tom Halverson).
Photo Credit: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com
Photo Credit: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com
Ruth Buzzi
Born July 24, 1936
American actress, comic. TV: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967-73), and The Lost Saucer (1975, Android Fi).
Pat Oliphant
Born July 24, 1935
Australian-born Pulitzer-winning political cartoonist.
Bella Abzug
Born July 24, 1920 d. 1998
American politician and leader of the women's movement. She was the first Jewish woman elected to the U.S. Congress (House of Representatives, New York 1971-77).
Morrie Brickman
Born July 24, 1917 d. 1994
American cartoonist. Created the small society (1966). He also created the Mr. Yoyo character for Duncan Yoyos.
Alexandre Dumas (Dumas père)
Born July 24, 1802 d. 1870
French author. Writings: The Three Musketeers (1844) and The Count of Monte Cristo (1845).
Simon Bolivar
Born July 24, 1783 d. 1830
Venezuelan general, "The Liberator." He led revolutions that freed Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela from Spanish rule.
Deaths
Dating Game Killer
Rodney Alcala
Died July 24, 2021 b. 1943
American serial killer. Alcala was featured as one of the bachelors on a 1978 episode of The Dating Game. The bachelorette chose Alcala as the winner, winning a prize-filled date with him, but she later refused to go on the date because she thought he was creepy.
Alcala killed at least three women after his Dating Game appearance before he was arrested in July of 1979.
Prior to his Dating Game appearance, Alcala had served two different jail terms for sexually assaulting young girls.
In 2012, he pleaded guilty to the 1977 murder of Ellen Jane Hover, the 23-year-old goddaughter of Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr.
He was sentenced to death in California for five murders committed between 1977 and 1979, and received an additional 25 years to life after pleading guilty to two other homicides committed in New York State in 1971 and 1977. Although the exact number is not known, he is believed to have killed up to 130 people.
Alcala posed as a professional photographer and compiled a collection of more than 1,000 photographs of women, teenage girls and boys, many in sexually explicit poses, some of whom became his victims.
Photo Credit: David Shankbone
Photo Credit: David Shankbone
Regis Philbin
Died July 24, 2020 b. 1931
American TV personality. Sometimes called "the hardest working man in show business", Philbin holds the Guinness World Record for the most hours on U.S. television. He started his television career as a page for The Tonight Show in the 1950s.
TV: Live with Regis & Kathie Lee (1988-2000), Live! with Regis and Kelly (2001-11), and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (2009-10).
Richard H. Lawler (Richard Harold Lawler)
Died July 24, 1982 b. 1895
American physician. He performed the first human kidney transplant (1950), in which he implanted a kidney from a deceased woman into a patient whose diseased left kidney had been removed due to polycystic kidney disease. This was the first time a vital human organ had ever been transplanted from one person to another. The transplanted kidney only functioned for a few months after which surgeons re-opened her surgical incision to discover her body's immune system had rejected the transplanted kidney. The 44-year-old female patient lived five more years before dying of heart disease.
Lawler was denounced at the time by both the medical and religious community. The religious community in particular denounced the idea that you could take tissue from a dead person and put it someone who was alive, and it would come back to life.
Lawler was eventually recognized for pioneering organ transplant surgery.
First Person to Swim the English Channel Without a Life Preserver
Matthew Webb
Died July 24, 1883 b. 1848
Navy Captain. He was the first person to swim the English Channel without a life preserver or other artificial aids (Aug 24-25, 1875), swimming from Dover to Calais in under 22 hours. He died attempting to swim across the Niagara River below Niagara Falls.
Martin Van Buren
Died July 24, 1862 b. 1782
American politician. 8th U.S. President (1837-41), 8th U.S. Vice-President (1833-37), Secretary of State (1829-31), Governor of New York (1829), U.S. Senator (1821-28, New York). He was blamed for the depression of 1837, being called "Martin Van Ruin." Also in 1837, he rejected Texas' request for admission to the Union as a slave state, not wanting to upset the balance of free and slave states in the Missouri Compromise.
Jackie Mason (Yacov Moshe Maza)
Died July 24, 2021 b. 1931
American Emmy-winning comedian. TV: The Ed Sullivan Show (1961-68, frequent guest), Chicken Soup (1989), and The Simpsons (1991-2019, Rabbi Hyman Krustofski).
Virginia Eshelman Johnson
Died July 24, 2013 b. 1925
American psychologist, author of Human Sexual Response (1966). She and her husband formed the Masters and Johnson sexuality research team.
Hemsley as George Jefferson (bottom right)
Hemsley as George Jefferson (bottom right)
Sherman Hemsley
Died July 24, 2012 b. 1938
American actor. TV: The Jeffersons (1975-85, George Jefferson) and Amen (1986-91, Deacon Ernest Frye).
Chad Everett (Raymond Lee Cramton)
Died July 24, 2012 b. 1937
American actor. TV: Medical Center (1969-76, Dr. Joe Gannon).
William Joseph Brennan Jr.
Died July 24, 1997 b. 1906
American lawyer, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1956-90).
Arletty (Léonie Bathiat)
Died July 24, 1992 b. 1898
French actress. The famous French actress was imprisoned for treason for her wartime liaison with a German Luftwaffe officer during the occupation of France (1945). She allegedly later commented, "My heart is French but my ass is international." She was given a sentence of eighteen months imprisonment, most of which was served in a private chateau. In 1995, France issued a series of commemorative coins, one of which was a 100 frank coin featuring Arletty's image.
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Died July 24, 1991 b. 1904
Polish-born American Nobel-winning Yiddish author.
Morrison in Dogs of War
Morrison in Dogs of War
Sunshine Sammy Morrison (Ernest Fredric Morrison)
Died July 24, 1989 b. 1912
American actor. He was the first African-American child film star and was the first African-American performer signed to a long-term Hollywood contract (1919). Film: The Little Rascals (Booker T.) and the East Side Kids movies (Scruno).
Peter Sellers
Died July 24, 1980 b. 1925
British actor. Film: The Pink Panther (1964, Inspector Clouseau) and Being There (1979, Chance the gardener).
Sir James Chadwick
Died July 24, 1974 b. 1891
English Nobel-winning physicist. He discovered the neutron (1932), for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
Cyrus Ingerson Scofield
Died July 24, 1921 b. 1843
American Bible teacher. Editor of the Scofield Reference Bible (1909) and founded the Central American Mission (1890).