TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT ALSO ON THIS DATE

August 24, 1814

During the War of 1812, British forces invaded Washington, D.C., setting fire to the Capitol and the White House, as well as other public buildings.

1857

The New York branch of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company failed, sparking the Panic of 1857.

1932

Amelia Earhart embarked on a 19-hour flight from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, making her the first woman to fly solo, non-stop, from coast to coast.

1949

The North Atlantic Treaty came into force.

1954

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Communist Control Act, outlawing the Communist Party in the United States.

1959

Three days after Hawaiian statehood, Hiram L. Fong was sworn in as the first ChineseAmerican U.S. Senator while Daniel K. Inouye was sworn in as the first Japanese-American U.S. Representative.

1968

France became the world’s fifth thermonuclear power as it exploded a hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific.

1981

Mark David Chapman was sentenced in New York to 20 years to life in prison for murdering John Lennon.

1989

The Voyager 2 space probe flew by Neptune, sending back striking photographs.

2003

The Justice Department reported the U.S. crime rate in 2002 was the lowest since studies began in 1973.

2007

The NFL indefinitely suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick without pay after he acknowledged in court papers that he had, indeed, bankrolled gambling on dogfighting and helped kill some dogs not worthy of the pit.