On this day, April 24

1927 After a Sunday concert, which drew an audience of 4,000, nine members of the executive board of the Pittsburgh Symphony were arrested on charges of violating “blue laws.” All were found guilty and fined $25 each by Alderman Samuel McKinley; the group included Richard S. Rauh, secretary of the society; Edward Specter, chairman of the orchestra committee; Elias Breeskin, assistant conductor, and seven others.

1997 H.J. Heinz Co. Chairman Anthony O'Reilly broke ground for the new home of the Pittsburgh Public Theater to be built on Penn Avenue and be named the O'Reilly Theater.

2008 In Somerset Township, a tractor-trailer slammed into a van from a Bentleyville group home for adults with mental disabilities, killing five.

Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).

— Compiled by Molly Born Today's birthdays: Movie director-producer Richard Donner, 87. Actress Shirley MacLaine, 83. Author Sue Grafton, 77. Actress-singer-director Barbra Streisand, 75. Former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, 75. Rock singer-musician Rob Hyman, 67. Rock musician Patty Schemel, 50. Actor Aidan Gillen, 49. Actress Melinda Clarke, 48. Actor Rory McCann, 48. Actor Derek Luke, 43. Actor Eric Balfour, 40. Actress Rebecca Mader, 40. Singer Kelly Clarkson, 35.

Thought for today: “That is happiness; to be dissolved into something completely great.” — Willa Cather (1873-1947).