November 24: What Happened on This Day in History (High_school Level)?

(Page last edited 10/12/2017)

1. 1248 - In the middle of the night a mass on the north side of Mont Granier suddenly collapsed, in one of the largest historical rockslope failures known in Europe.
2. 1642 - Abel Tasman becomes the first European to discover the island Van Diemen's Land (later renamed Tasmania).
3. 1835 - The Texas Provincial Government authorizes the creation of a horse-mounted police force called the Texas Rangers (which is now the Texas Ranger Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety).
4. 1859 - Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species, the anniversary of which is sometimes called "Evolution Day"
5. 1932 - In Washington, D.C., the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens.
6. 1950 - The "Storm of the Century", a violent snowstorm, takes shape on this date before paralyzing the northeastern United States and the Appalachians the next day, bringing winds up to 100 mph and sub-zero temperatures. Pickens, West Virginia, records 57 inches of snow. 353 people would die as a result of the storm.
7. 1963 - Lee Harvey Oswald is murdered by Jack Ruby in the basement of Dallas police department headquarters. The shooting happens to be broadcast live on television.
8. 1969 - Apollo program: The Apollo 12 command module splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second manned mission to the Moon.
9. 1973 - A national speed limit is imposed on the Autobahn in Germany because of the 1973 oil crisis. The speed limit lasted only four months.
10. 1974 - Donald Johanson and Tom Gray discover the 40% complete Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, nicknamed "Lucy" (after The Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"), in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia'sAfar Depression.
11. Famous Birthdays: Charles Theodore Pachelbel (German composer), Charles-Michel de l'épée (French educator), Zachary Taylor (American general and politician, 12th President of the United States), William Webb Ellis (English clergyman, created Rugby football), Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French painter)

For famous birthdays and other daily events in history, visit our Daily Dose Activities.

Click Here for Yesterday in History: November 23

Click Here for Tomorrow in History: November 25

For more history resources on Internet 4 Classrooms, visit our Social Studies and History index. For Pre K-8th Grade Level History and Social Studies Resources, visit our Grade Level Index.