April 24

Today in History
• 1061 - Halley's Comet sparks English monk to predict country'll be destroyed
• 1185 - Battle at Danoura: Yoshitsune Minamoto's fleet beats imperial fleet
• 1288 - Jews of Yroyes France are accused of ritual murder
• 1558 - Queen Mary Stuart of Scotland marries French crown prince Francois
• 1704 - "Boston News-Letter," 1st successful newspaper in U.S., forms
• 1762 - Russia and Prussia signs peace treaty
• 1833 - Patent granted for 1st soda fountain
• 1872 - Volcano Vesuvius erupts


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Action Day for Tolerance and Respect between People
• Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day
• Coronation Day of Pope Benedict XVI
• National Pigs in a Blanket Day
• National Skipping Day
• Scream Day
• World Day for Animals in Laboratories
• Yom HaZikaron

Birthdays
• 1533 - William I, Prince of Orange (1544-84)
• 1581 - Vincent de Paul, French Roman Catholic Saint
• 1620 - John Graunt, statistician, founder of science of demography
• 1743 - Edmund Cartwright, England, cleric, inventor, power loom
• 1766 - Robert Bailey Thomas, founder, Farmer's Almanac
• 1769 - Arthur Wellesley, General/Duke of Wellington
• 1867 - Fannie Thomas, became oldest known American, 113 y 273 d at death
• 1828 - Robert Brank Vance, politician, U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina