This Day in History, August 24
On August 24th, 1853, potato chips were first prepared. In 79 A.D., thousands died and the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy. Those born on this date include: - GEORDIE GINA I often want to cry. That is the only advantage women have over men - at least they can cry.Other Notable Events for August 24
In 1814, the British captured Washington and burned the Capitol building and the White House.
In 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly non-stop across the United States.
In 1987, a U.S. Appeals court in Cincinnati ruled public schools could require students to study textbooks not accepted by religious fundamentalists.
In 1990, Irish-British hostage Brian Keenan, held by pro-Iranian Muslim extremists in Lebanon for more than four years, was freed.
In 1991, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev quit as general secretary of the Communist Party central committee. He also ordered his Cabinet to resign.
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida south of Miami with sustained winds of up to 145 mph, carving a path of destruction.
In 1995, Beijing convicted and then expelled Chinese-American human rights activist Harry Wu, arrested in June while trying to enter China from Kazakhstan.
In 1996, four women became students at The Citadel, a military school in South Carolina that had fought in court to remain all-male.
In 2003, a Newsweek poll indicated that Americans were growing increasingly wary of U.S. Military involvement in Iraq.
In 2004, two Russian passenger jetliners crashed within minutes of each other after taking off from Domodedovo Airport in Moscow. A total of 89 people were killed.
In 2005, U.S. President George Bush vowed in an Idaho speech that he would not retreat from Iraq or the rest of the Middle East until U.S. Troops "win the war on terror."
Also in 2005, a Peruvian passenger plane crashed in the jungle of central Peru, killing at least 40 people.
In 2006, Pluto, the small, distant planet that has been around officially since 1930, was demoted to a non-planet status when the International Astronomical Union voted to adopt a new definition of "planet" which excludes Pluto.
Notable Birthdays, August 24
- Pioneer British abolitionist William Wilberforce in 1759
- Joshua Lionel Cowen, inventor of the electric toy train, in 1880
- English author and parodist Max Beerbohm in 1872
- Country music publisher Fred Rose in 1897
- Argentine poet and author Jorge Luis Borges in 1899
- Actor Steve Guttenberg in 1958 (age 49)
- Former baseball star Cal Ripken Jr. In 1960 (age 47)
Classic Quotes by Jean Rhys (1894-1979) Welsh-Dominican writer
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Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere.
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The feeling of Sunday is the same everywhere, heavy, melancholy, standing still. Like when they say, "As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end."
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She could give herself up to the written word as naturally as a good dancer to music or a fine swimmer to water. The only difficulty was that after finishing the last sentence she was left with a feeling at once hollow and uncomfortably full. Exactly like indigestion.
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We can't all be happy, we can't all be rich, we can't all be lucky - and it would be so much less fun if we were ... Some must cry so that others may be able to laugh the more heartily.
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I am sad, sad as a circus-lioness, sad as an eagle without wings, sad as a violin with only one string and one that is broken, sad as a woman who is growing old.
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Age seldom arrives smoothly or quickly. It's more often a succession of jerks.
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