May 24
1844
Samuel Morse transmitted the first telegraph message, in which he asked, “What hath God wrought?”
1883
The Brooklyn Bridge, linking Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City, opened to traffic.
1899
W.T. McCullough of Boston, Mass., opened the first public garage. One could rent space for selling, storing and repairing vehicles.
1935
Major League Baseball’s first night game was played under the lights at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field as the hometown Reds defeated Philadelphia, 2–1.
1958
The United Press and the International News Service merged to form United Press International (UPI).
1976
The British and French Concordes made their first commercial flights.
2000
Israeli troops pulled out of Lebanon after 18 consecutive years of occupation.
2001
Vermont senator James Jeffords quit the Republican Party and became an Independent, giving Democrats control of the Senate.
Birthdays
Queen Victoria
(Alexandrina Victoria), 1819–1901, queen of Great Britain and Ireland (1837–1901) and empress of India (1876–1901).
Jean Paul Marat
revolutionary (1743)
Lillian Gilbreth
engineer (1878)
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov
novelist (1905)
Bob Dylan
singer (1941)