October 24 in Pop Culture History

October 24th History, Trivia, and Fun Facts

October 24th History Highlights

  • 1901 – Annie Edison Taylor went over Niagra Falls in a barrel, and survived.
  • 1929 – Black Thursday in the stock market.
  • 1945 – The United Nations was founded.
  • 2007 – China successfully launched its first space probe, Chang’e-1.
  • If you were born on October 24th,
    You were likely conceived the week of… January 31st (same year)

Black Thursday

On October 24, 1929, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) suffered a catastrophic day of losses known as “Black Thursday,” a day that essentially ushered in the Great Depression. The Wall Street crash of 1929 lasted until October 29, 1930, but two dates can be described as Black Thursday. During the panic selling that day, nearly thirteen million shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.6% on October 23, the day before Black Thursday, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The New York Stock Exchange opened at 9: 30 am ET on October 24, 1929, with investors already panicking and the stock market at its lowest level in more than 30 years.

October 24th is…

Bologna Day
Crazy Day
Food Day
Take Back Your Time Day
United Nations Day
World Polio Day

October 24th Birthday Quotes

“I’m not a musician, I just play bass.”
– Bill Wyman

“The bipartisan approach filtered up through my typewriter. I used to say, “Mad takes on both sides.” We even used to rake the hippies over the coals. They were protesting the Vietnam War, but we took aspects of their culture and had fun with it. Mad was wide open. Bill (Gaines) loved it, and he was a capitalist Republican. I loved it, and I was a liberal Democrat. That went for the writers, too; they all had their own political leanings, and everybody had a voice. But the voices were mostly critical. It was social commentary, after all.”
– Al Feldstein

“I was born to make mistakes, not to fake perfection.”
– Drake

“I think every American actor wants to be a movie star. But I never wanted to do stupid movies, I wanted to do films. I vowed I would never do a commercial, nor would I do a soap opera – both of which I did as soon as I left the Acting Company and was starving.”
– Kevin Kline

“Stay awesome bros, I know you will.”
– PewDiePie

October 24th Birthdays

1903 – Melvin Purvis, American FBI agent (died in 1960)
1915 – Bob Kane, American comic book author and illustrator, co-created Batman (died in 1998)
1925 – Al Feldstein, American comic book author, and illustrator (died in 2014)
1930 – The Big Bopper, American singer-songwriter (died in 1959) #thedaythemusicdied
1931 – Ken Utsui, Japanese actor (died in 2014)
1936 – Bill Wyman, English singer-songwriter and bass player, The Rolling Stones
1939 – F. Murray Abraham, American actor
1947 – Kevin Kline, American actor
1960 – BD Wong, American actor
1986 – Drake, Canadian rapper and actor
1989 – PewDiePie, Swedish YouTuber
1998 – Daya, American singer

October 24th History

1901 – Annie Edson Taylor, at age 63, became the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

1902 (Volcano Eruption) Santa MarĂ­a.

1926 – Harry Houdini’s last performance took place at the Garrick Theatre in Detroit.

1929 – Stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange: “Black Thursday”

1931 – Over the Hudson River, and connecting the Washington Heights, Manhattan in New York City to Fort Lee, New Jersey, the George Washington Bridge opened to public traffic.

1946 – A camera onboard the V-2 No. 13 rocket took the first photograph of earth from outer space.

1947 – Walt Disney testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

1960 – #1 Hit October 24, 1960 – November 13, 1960: Brenda Lee – I Want to Be Wanted

1974 – Broadway Show – Equus (Play) October 24, 1974

1987 – #1 Hit October 24, 1987 – November 6, 1987: Michael Jackson – Bad

2002 – Broadway Show – Movin’ Out (Dance Musical) October 24, 2002

2008 – Presidential candidate Barack Obama aired a 30-minute infomercial on CBS, NBC, Fox, BET, Univision, MSNBC, and TV One.

2008 – Many of the world’s stock exchanges experienced their worst declines in history – “Bloody Friday”

October 24, 2008 – High School Musical 3:Senior Year was released in theaters

2009 – #1 Hit October 24, 2009 – November 6, 2009: Britney Spears – 3

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

The Capital of Iran is Tehran

TV Quotes… “Don’t make me angry …” (David Banner) on “The Incredible Hulk”

A group of people who work outside of an office together is a Crew.

The term “trailer” comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening, but people often left the theater after the films ended.

I wonder how many calories I burn when I run away from my problems.

Ben Folds Five (a trio) released an album titled Party Night: Five Songs About Jesus. The EP had four songs, none mentioning Jesus.

The Susan B. Anthony dollar has 133 ridges around the edge.

US President #23 Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893) The first President to watch a baseball game while in office, he watched the Cincinnati Reds beat the Washington Senators 7 to 4 on June 6, 1892

The Watchtower, the illustrated religious magazine distributed by Jehovah’s Witnesses, is the most widely circulated magazine in the world, with a print run of 59 million copies bimonthly.

The Capital of Indonesia is Jakarta

“Here’s Johnny!” – Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) in The Shining, 1980

Piper Laurie – Real Name: Rosetta Jacobs

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