Today in history

On Oct. 24, 1537, Jane Seymour, the third wife of England’s King Henry VIII, died 12 days after giving birth to Prince Edward, later King Edward VI.

In 1648 the Peace of Westphalia ended the 30 Years War and effectively destroyed the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1852 statesman, lawyer and orator Daniel Webster died in Marshfield, Mass.; he was 70.

In 1891 Rafael Trujillo, who would become dictator of the Domincan Republic from 1930 until he was assassinated in 1961, was born in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic.

In 1915 Bob Kane, the cartoonist best known for creating the character Batman, was born in New York. In 1939 nylon stockings were sold publicly for the first time, in Wilmington, Del.

In 1940 the 40-hour work week went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

In 1945 the United Nations officially came into existence as its charter took effect.

In 1952 Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower declared, “I shall go to Korea” as he promised to end the conflict. (He made the visit over a month later.)

In 1957 French fashion designer Christian Dior died in Montecatini, Italy; he was 52.

In 1962 the U.S. blockade of Cuba during the missile crisis officially began under a proclamation signed by President John F. Kennedy.

In 1972 Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, the first African-American baseball player in the modern major leagues, died in Stamford, Conn.; he was 53.

In 1980 the merchant freighter SS Poet left Philadelphia for Egypt with a crew of 34 and its cargo of grain and was never heard from again.

In 1987, 30 years after it was expelled for refusing to answer allegations of corruption, the Teamsters union was welcomed back into the AFL-CIO.

In 1989 former television evangelist Jim Bakker was sentenced by a judge in Charlotte to 45 years in prison for fraud and conspiracy. (The term later would be reduced to 8 years, then further reduced to 4 years for good behavior.)