TODAY IN HISTORY

April 24

858		St. Nicholas I begins his reign as Catholic Pope.
1519		Envoys of Montezuma II attend the first Easter mass in Central America.
1547		Charles V's troops defeat the Protestant League of Schmalkalden at the battle of Muhlburg.
1558		Mary, Queen of Scotland, marries the French dauphin, Francis.
1792		Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle composes "La Marseilles". It will become France's national anthem.
1800		The Library of Congress is established in Washington, D.C. with a $5,000 allocation.
1805		U.S. Marines attack and capture the town of Derna in Tripoli from the Barbary pirates.
1833		A patent is granted for first soda fountain.
1877		Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire.
1884		Otto von Bismarck cables Cape Town, South Africa that it is now a German colony.
1898		Spain declares war on United States, rejecting an ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba.
1915		Turks of the Ottoman Empire begin massacring the Armenian minority in their country.
1916		Irish nationalists launch the Easter Uprising against British occupation.
1944		The first B-29 arrives in China, over the Hump of the Himalayas.
1948		The Berlin airlift begins to relieve surrounded city.
1953		Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
1961		President John Kennedy accepts "sole responsibility" for the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.
1968		Leftist students take over Columbia University in protest over the Vietnam War.
1980		A rescue attempt of the U.S. hostages held in Iran fails when a plane collides with a helicopter in the Iranian desert.
1981		The IBM Personal Computer is introduced.
1989		Thousands of Chinese students strike in Beijing for more democratic reforms.