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The first Supreme Court is established

Born on This Day

John Marshall

1755 - 1835

Fourth Chief Justice of the U.S. who in 1803 established the court’s authority to determine the constitutionality of laws.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

1896 - 1940

American author who depicted Jazz Age society in acclaimed novels like The Great Gatsby and This Side of Paradise.

Jim Henson

1936 - 1990

American puppeteer who created memorable characters like Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and Big Bird.

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1906

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President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower, a massive rock formation in Wyoming, the country’s first national monument. He calls the “lofty and isolated rock” a “natural wonder.”

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on September 24th

Fannie Farmer opens cooking school

According to newspaper reporting at the time, on September 24, 1902, pioneering cookbook author Fannie Farmer, who changed the way Americans prepare food by advocating the use of standardized measurements in recipes, opens Miss Farmer’s School of Cookery in Boston. In addition to teaching women about cooking, Farmer later educated medical professionals about the importance […]

Japanese officials in Hawaii ordered to gather preliminary data on Pearl Harbor

On September 24, 1941, the Japanese consul in Hawaii is instructed to divide Pearl Harbor into five zones and calculate the number of battleships in each zone—and report the findings back to Japan. Relations between the United States and Japan had been deteriorating quickly since Japan’s occupation of Indo-China and the implicit menacing of the […]

Allies begin retreat after massive losses in Operation Market Garden

On September 24, 1944, Allies begin their retreat from the Dutch town of Arnhem after Operation Market Garden, a plan to seize bridges there, fails, and thousands of British and Polish troops are killed, wounded or taken prisoner. British Gen. Bernard Montgomery conceived an operation to take control of bridges that crossed the Rhine River, […]

Mildred Gillars—aka “Axis Sally”—pleads not guilty to treason

On September 24, 1948, Mildred Gillars—the notorious American citizen known as “Axis Sally,” who had been living in Germany and broadcasting Nazi radio propaganda during World War II—pleads not guilty to eight counts of treason. Her lawyer, James J. Laughlin, tells the judge that he wants to call President Harry S. Truman as a witness, […]

Honda Motor Company is incorporated

Motorcycle builder Soichiro Honda incorporates the Honda Motor Company in Hamamatsu, Japan. In the 1960s, the company achieved worldwide fame for its motorcycles (in particular, its C100 Super Cub, which became the world’s best-selling vehicle); in the 1970s, it achieved worldwide fame for its affordable, fuel-efficient cars. Today, in large part because of its continued […]

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Warren Commission report delivered to President Johnson

On September 24, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson receives a special commission’s report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which had occurred on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. Since the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was killed by a man named Jack Ruby almost immediately after murdering Kennedy, Oswald’s motive for assassinating the […]

First episode of “60 Minutes” airs

On September 24, 1968, CBS airs the first episode of 60 Minutes, a show that would become a staple of the American media landscape. A pioneer of the “newsmagazine” format, 60 Minutes is the longest-running primetime show in American television history. The show was similar in tone and style to W5, a Canadian current affairs […]

Chicago 8 trial opens in Chicago

The trial for eight antiwar activists charged with inciting violent demonstrations at the August 1968 Democratic National Convention opens in Chicago before Judge Julius Hoffman. Initially there were eight defendants, but one, Bobby Seale of the Black Panthers, denounced Hoffman as a racist and demanded a separate trial. The seven other defendants, including David Dellinger of […]

A game warden is reported missing

Neil LaFeve, the game warden at Sensiba Wildlife Area in Wisconsin, is reported missing. When LaFeve, who was celebrating his 32nd birthday, did not show up to his own party, his wife called the police. The next morning, authorities found LaFeve’s truck. A pool of blood and two .22-caliber shells lay nearby. LaFeve’s headless body […]

Ben Johnson wins gold, temporarily

On September 24, 1988, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson runs the 100-meter dash in 9.79 seconds to win gold at the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Johnson’s triumph, however, was temporary: He tested positive for steroids three days later and was stripped of the medal. Ben Johnson moved with his family to the suburbs of […]

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The National Museum of African American History and Culture opens

More than 15 years after it was first established, the National Museum of African American History and Culture opens on the National Mall on September 24, 2016. Barack Obama, the nation’s first African American president, leads the ceremony and officially opens the museum by ringing the Freedom Bell, a bell from an African American Baptist […]

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