On September 24, 1789, President George Washington signed a Judiciary Act establishing America’s federal court system and creating the post of attorney general.
In 1869, thousands of businessmen were ruined in a Wall Street panic known as “Black Friday” after financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to corner the gold market.
In 1929, Lt. James H. Doolittle guided a Consolidated NY-2 Biplane over Mitchel Field in New York in the first all-instrument flight.
In 1934, Babe Ruth made his farewell appearance as a player with the New York Yankees in a game against the Boston Red Sox. (The Sox won, 5-0.)
In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a heart attack while on vacation in Denver.
In 1957, The Elvis Presley classic, ‘Jailhouse Rock’ was released. It became his ninth US number one single and stayed on the Billboard chart for nineteen weeks. The film clip from the movie where he sang the song is considered by many historians to be the first rock video.
In 1960, the USS Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched at Newport News, Virginia. “The Howdy Doody Show” ended a nearly 13-year run with its final telecast on NBC.
In 1966. The Association started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Cherish’. The New Christy Minstrels almost recorded the track but Association member and songwriter, Terry Kirkman, held onto ‘Cherish’ instead of selling it for $1000. The finished recording played for 3 minutes and 25 seconds, but the single’s label listed the time as 3:00 so that DJs wouldn’t be discouraged from playing a ‘long song.’
In 1969, the trial of the Chicago Eight (later seven) began. (Five were later convicted of crossing state lines to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic convention, but the convictions were ultimately overturned.)
In 1976, former hostage Patricia Hearst was sentenced to seven years in prison for her part in a 1974 bank robbery in San Francisco carried out by the Symbionese Liberation Army. (Hearst was released after 22 months after receiving clemency from President Jimmy Carter.)
In 1991, children’s author Theodor Seuss Geisel (GY’-zul), better known as Dr. Seuss, died in La Jolla, Calif., at age 87. Also that year, Nirvana‘s album Nevermind was released in America, entering the chart at No. 144 on its first week. The album which peaked at No. 1 in January 1992 has now sold over 30m copies world wide. The idea for the now iconic front cover shot of the baby swimming came after Kurt Cobain and drummer Dave Grohl saw a TV documentary on water babies.
In 1996, the United States and 70 other countries became the first to sign a treaty at the United Nations to end all testing and development of nuclear weapons. (The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty has yet to enter into force because of the refusal so far of eight nations — including the United States — to ratify it.)
In 2012, Mumford & Sons released their second studio album ‘Babel’ which debuted at number one on both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. It became the fastest selling album of 2012 in the UK and was nominated in the category of “Album of the Year” for both a Brit Award and Grammy Award, winning the latter.
In 2015, a stampede and crush of Muslim pilgrims occurred at an intersection near a holy site in Saudi Arabia; The Associated Press estimated that more than 2,400 people were killed, while the official Saudi toll stood at 769.
In 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched a formal impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump; the probe focused partly on whether Trump abused his presidential powers and sought help from the government of Ukraine to undermine Democratic foe Joe Biden. (Trump would be acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate on two impeachment charges.)