On April 24:
- 1792 - La Marseillaise ( French national anthem) was composed.
- 1913 - The opening ceremony of the Woolworth Building was held in New York City.
- 1916 - The Irish Republican Brotherhood started the Easter Rising rebellion in Ireland.
- 1967 - The Soyuz 1 spacecraft crashed in Siberia, killing Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov.
- 1990 - The Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off with the Hubble Space Telescope aboard.