On July 24, 1487, citizens in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, went on strike against a ban on foreign beer.
On the same day of 1823’s calendar, slavery was abolished in Chile.
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the splashdown of the Apollo 11 capsule into the Pacific Ocean. Astronauts Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong spent more than eight days in space. The mission included 30 orbits of Earth’s satellite and a landing upon the lunar surface, an important milestone, so to speak, in humanity’s history of exploration. The astronauts brought back with them over 47 pounds of lunar rock, gravel, and dust.
On this day in 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court told President Richard Nixon that he lacked constitutional authority to withhold the infamous “Nixon Tapes” from Congress.
July 24 serves as Pioneer Day in Utah and as Simón Bolívar Day in Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela.