Today is Friday, Oct. 24, the 297th day of 2025
with 68 to follow.
The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.
On this date in history:
In 1901, daredevil Annie Edson Taylor became the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.
In 1929, $5 billion in market values were swept away in the greatest selling wave in the history of the New York Stock Exchange. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 would mark the beginning of a 10-year Depression which would affect the entire Western world.
In 1931, New York City's George Washington Bridge opened to public traffic.
In 1962, the blockade of Cuba was in effect, with a ring of U.S. warships and planes under orders to block by whatever means, further aggressive arm deliveries to Fidel Castro.
In 1992, the Toronto Blue Jays become the first Major League Baseball team based outside the United States to win the World Series.
In 2002, police arrested two suspects in a three-week series of Washington-area sniper attacks that killed 10 people and wounded three others. John Allen Muhammad, 41, and John Lee Malvo, 17, were found sleeping in a car at a rest stop near Frederick, Md. Both were convicted. Muhammad was executed and Malvo sentenced to life in prison.
In 2003, an era in aviation history ended when the supersonic Concorde took off from New York to London on its final flight.
In 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama declared a national emergency related to the outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus, also known as swine flu, to aid local authorities in dealing with the pandemic. Medical officials put the American death toll at 530 with thousands hospitalized.
In 2012, a 41-mile final stretch of Texas Highway 130, a toll road from Mustang Ridge, south of Austin, to Seguin, opened with the highest speed limit in the United States -- 85 mph.
In 2012, Hurricane Sandy made landfall for the first time, in Jamaica, killing two people there. The storm would go on to cause tens of billions of dollars in the northeast United States and kill more than 200 people along its path.
In 2021, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady made his record 600th touchdown pass during a game against the Chicago Bears. During the game, the ball was given to a fan, who returned it to the team in exchange for a replacement game ball and a $1,000 gift certificate to the team store. Experts told UPI the original ball was likely worth $500,000 to $1 million. Brady retired in 2022 with 649 touchdown passes.
In 2022, silent movie actor Anna May Wong became the first Asian American to be featured on U.S. currency as part of the U.S. mint's American Women Quarters Program.
In 2024, Grammy award-winning rapper Lil Durk, recognized as the creative leader of Chicago's "drill" hip-hop scene, was arrested and held without bond in Florida on a charge of murder for hire. He pleaded not guilty to the charge.
