Today in History
1999 For the first time in its history, NATO attacks a sovereign country
During the Kosovo War, the military alliance bombed Yugoslavia without a UN mandate.
1989 Oil tanker Exxon Valdez runs aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska
The mishap resulted in one of the most devastating environmental disasters in history, killing up to 250,000 seabirds and other wildlife.
1965 Millions watch NASA spacecraft Ranger 9 crash into the Moon
The US space probe returned live images to Earth, allowing TV viewers to follow its approach to the Moon and controlled crash.
1896 Aleksander Popov achieves the world’s first radio transmission
The words “Heinrich Hertz” were transmitted from one building of St. Petersburg University to another by the Russian physicist.
1882 Robert Koch discovers the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis
In 1905, the German scientist who is regarded as the father of modern bacteriology was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.
Births On This Day, March 24
1930 Steve McQueen
American actor
1897 Wilhelm Reich
Austrian/American psychotherapist
1884 Peter Debye
Dutch/American physicist, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
1874 Harry Houdini
Hungarian/American magician, actor
1820 Fanny Crosby
American composer, songwriter
Deaths On This Day, March 24
1976 Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
English army officer
1946 Alexander Alekhine
Russian chess player
1905 Jules Verne
French author
1882 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
American poet
1603 Elizabeth I of England
