ON MAY 24 ...

In 1686 physicist Daniel Fahrenheit, who developed the temperature scale that bears his name, was born in modern-day Gdansk, Poland.

In 1844 Samuel F.B. Morse transmitted the message, “What hath God wrought!” from Washington to Baltimore as he opened America’s first telegraph line.

In 1883 the Brooklyn Bridge, linking Brooklyn and Manhattan, was opened to traffic.

In 1934 Jane Byrne, who would become mayor of Chicago (1978-82), was born in Chicago.

In 1935 Major League Baseball’s first night game was played in Cincinnati. (The Reds defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1.)

In 1976 Britain and France opened trans-Atlantic Concorde service to Washington.

In 1980 Iran rejected a call by the World Court in The Hague to release the American hostages.

In 1994 four men convicted of bombing New York’s World Trade Center were each sentenced to 240 years in prison.

In 1999 the Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, that schools can be sued when officials fail to stop students from sexually harassing each other. Also in 1999 the Supreme Court ruled that police violate people’s privacy rights when they bring television camera crews or other journalists into homes during arrests or searches.

In 2002 President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty in Moscow.