The “Twin Towers” of the World Trade Center officially open
in New York City. The buildings replaced the Empire State
Building as the world’s tallest building.
Though they would only hold that title for a year, they remained
a dominant feature of the city’s skyline and were recognizable
the world over long before they were destroyed in a terrorist
attack in 2001.
On August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812 between the United
States and England, British troops entered Washington, D.C.
and burned the White House in retaliation for the American
attack on the city of York in Ontario, Canada, in June 1813.
When the British arrived at the White House, they found that
President James Madison and his first lady Dolley had already
fled to safety in Maryland. Soldiers reportedly sat down to eat
a meal made of leftover food from the White House scullery
using White House dishes and silver before ransacking the
presidential mansion and setting it ablaze.
The fire ruined the white house and the grounds. (Library of Congress)
ROSS SIMPSON
Samuel F.B. Morse formally opening America’s first telegraph line.
The four men convicted of bombing the New York’s World Trade
Center were each sentenced to 240 years in prison on this day in
1994.
Queen Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria)
(May 24, 1819 – January 22, 1901)
Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom from 1837 until
1901. A national emblem of morality, she oversaw a great
period of expansion in the British Empire and had the longest
reign of any monarch (nearly sixty-four years) until Queen
Elizabeth II surpassed her in 2015.
The Brooklyn Bridge on opening night, May 24, 1883. Photo from
Brooklyn Museum.
Bob Dylan (Robert Allen Zimmerman) is 76 years old today.
Legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan revolutionized folk music in the 1960’s
with albums such as The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited, and
Blonde on Blonde and songs such as "The Times They Are a-Changin’," "Like
a Rolling Stone," and "Positively 4th Street." He changed his name to Dylan
after the poet Dylan Thomas. Bod Dylan was born into a Jewish family, but later
converted to Christianity.
ROSS SIMPSON
President George W. Bush, wearing a flight suit after landing on
the flight deck of the Abraham Lincoln in an S3–Viking aircraft.
President George W. Bush declares the end of major combat in
Iraq on this day in 2003.
Francis Gary Powers (August 17, 1929 – August 1, 1977)
The Empire State Building in New York was dedicated and
opened on this day in 1931. It was 102 stories tall and was
the tallest building in the world at the time.
"Citizen Kane," directed and starring Orson Welles, premiered
in New York on this day in 1941.
Orson Welles arriving at the premiere of “Citizen Kane”.
