This Day in History – April 24

1311: General Malik Kafur
After a campaign in South India, General Malik Kafur returned to Delhi.

1929: First non-stop flight from England to India
On April 24, 1929, the first non-stop flight from England to India took off.

1547: Battle of Muhlberg
Protestant princes John Frederick I and Philip I of Hesse was defeated by Catholic forces led by Emperor Charles V on April 24, 1547.

1793: Jean-Paul Marat
The Revolutionary Tribunal in Paris acquitted French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat of charges brought by the Girondin.

1877: Russo-Turkish War
The Ottoman Empire was declared at war by Russia.

1888: Eastman Kodak
George Eastman founded Eastman Kodak on April 24, 1888.

1894: Henri Desgrange made a world record
Henri Desgrange, a French rider, set a world record by riding 100 kilometers in 2:39:18, on April 24, 1894.

1898: Spanish–American War
After refusing a US ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba, Spain declared war.

1904: President Loubet visited King Victor Emmanuel III
France’s President Louis Loubet paid a visit to King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, ignoring the Pope, escalating tensions between France and the Roman Catholic Church.

1916: Easter Proclamation of 1916
In Dublin, the Easter Rising of Irish republicans against British occupation began on April 24, 1916.

1916: The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition’s Ernest Shackleton and five men launched a lifeboat from the uninhabited Elephant Island in the Southern Ocean to organise a rescue for the icebound ship longevity

1946: Symphonic Variations
Sandler’s Wells Ballet made its debut at Covent Garden, London, in the one-act ballet “Symphonic Variations,” choreographed by Frederick Ashton and set to music by César Franck on April 24, 1946.

1953: Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

1961: The Sinking of the Vasa
The Swedish warship Vasa was salvaged after sinking on her maiden voyage in 1628, on April 24, 1953.

1963: Hall of Fame
Bob Cousy, the future Hall of Fame point guard for the Boston Celtics, played his last NBA game for the team as the Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 112-109 in Game 6 to win their fifth consecutive NBA championship.

1967: Vietnam War
In a press conference on April 24, 1967, the American General William Westmoreland said the enemy had “gained support in the United States that gave him hope that he could have achieved politically what he couldn’t win militarily.”

1985: Pulitzer Prize
Carolyn Lizer won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel “Yin”, on April 24, 1985.

1990: Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit around the Earth.

1996: The UN and Iraq
The third round of talks between the UN and Iraq over Iraq’s potential selling of $1 billion in oil for 90 days for a 180-day trial period came to a close.

2005: Pope Benedict XVI
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was enthroned as Pope Benedict XVI, the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church on April 24, 2005.

2018: “÷”
According to the IFPI, Ed Sheeran’s “÷” was the best-selling album of 2017, selling 6.1 million copies.