Important Events From This day in History – 24th November

Today in History

• 2012 Fire breaks out in a clothing factory in Dhaka

  At the Tazreen Fashion factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, over 110 people were killed, and 200 were injured. The tragedy brought to light the poor working conditions of Bangladeshi garment workers. It also prompted major labour reforms in the country and in the fashion industry, which promised to take steps to source their products ethically.

• 1971 Hijacking of Northwest Orient Airline 305

  A man named DB Cooper or Dan Cooper hijacked the plane bound for Seattle, Washington, in what is thought to be one of the only unsolved hijacking cases in American history. He released the passengers, refuelled the plane, and asked to be flown to Mexico after his demands of $200,000 in cash and parachutes were met at the Seattle airport. However, on the way, he used a parachute to escape from the plane. Cooper has never been identified or apprehended.

• 1963 Lee Harvey Oswald shot

  Oswald had assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, two days before being shot by Jack Ruby while being transported by police. The murder was broadcast live on television.

• 1877 Black Beauty is published

  Anna Sewell, an English author, wrote the classic novel Black Beauty about a horse’s life. The book quickly became popular and played an important role in the animal rights movement. It was Sewell’s only work that was published.

• 1859 Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species published

  On the Origin of Species, one of the most influential books of all time proposed the theory of evolution and described the process of natural selection.