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HISTORY & TIMELINE
24 September

A journey through
24 September in history

From the first national monument in 1906 to India’s arrival at Mars in 2014, 24 September has brought new nations, new companies and new firsts. This timeline follows the date across more than a century.

Begin the Timeline ↓ ← Back to Explore This Day
JUMP THROUGH TIME
V
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

The 1900s

War and peace, technological leaps, social change, politics, sport and popular culture.

1906
Devils Tower, Wyoming.Devils Tower, Wyoming.Image: Ildar Sagdejev (Specious) · CC BY-SA 4.0
world · Americas

Devils Tower becomes the first national monument

On 24 September 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower in Wyoming the first national monument under the Antiquities Act. The proclamation protected a reservation of 1,152 acres around the ‘lofty and isolated rock’, describing it as an extraordinary example of erosion and an object of great scientific interest. Before leaving office in 1909 Roosevelt proclaimed eighteen national monuments, more than any other president.

Source: National Park Service: The proclamation of national monuments under the Antiquities Act ↗
1948
Soichiro Honda.Soichiro Honda.Image: 財界研究社、撮影者不明 · Public domain
world · Asia

Honda Motor Company is founded

Honda Motor Company was founded on 24 September 1948 in Hamamatsu, Japan, with capital of one million yen. Soichiro Honda and Takeo Fujisawa were its co-founders, and with the president there were 34 employees. Honda had earlier founded the Honda Technical Research Institute. In August 1949 the company introduced its first full-fledged motorcycle, the Dream D-Type, developed entirely in-house.

Source: Honda Global: Do you remember September 24, 1948? ↗
1957
Camp Nou during a match against Inter in 2019.Camp Nou during a match against Inter in 2019.Image: kallerna · CC BY-SA 4.0
sport · Europe

Camp Nou opens

Camp Nou opened on 24 September 1957, on the feast of La Mercè, Barcelona’s patron saint. It held 93,053 spectators at first and cost 288 million pesetas, replacing FC Barcelona’s old ground at Les Corts. The inauguration included a mass, a blessing by the Archbishop of Barcelona and a match against a selection of Warsaw players, which Barça won 4-2, with Eulogio Martínez scoring the first goal.

Source: FC Barcelona: 24 September 1957, the day the Camp Nou dream came true ↗
1957
Elizabeth Eckford faces a hostile crowd outside Central High School on 4 September 1957, three weeks before the troops arrived.Elizabeth Eckford faces a hostile crowd outside Central High School on 4 September 1957, three weeks before the troops arrived.Image: Ira Wilmer Counts Jr. · Public domain
politics · Americas

Eisenhower sends troops to Little Rock

On 24 September 1957 President Dwight Eisenhower ordered units of the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock, Arkansas, and federalised the state’s National Guard, to enforce the integration of Central High School by nine Black students, the Little Rock Nine. The next morning paratroopers escorted the nine through the front doors of the school. In a televised address Eisenhower said that mob rule could not be allowed to override the decisions of the courts.

Source: National Park Service: Dwight Eisenhower and the Central High crisis ↗
1973
Amílcar Cabral, founder of the PAIGC.Amílcar Cabral, founder of the PAIGC.Image: AnonymousUnknown author · Public domain
politics · Africa

Guinea-Bissau declares independence

On 24 September 1973 the independence of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau was proclaimed at a gathering of guerrilla fighters at Madina do Boé, near the border with Guinea. It came eight months after the assassination of Amílcar Cabral, the founder of the PAIGC, on 20 January 1973. Lisbon called the announcement a fantasy, but Portugal later agreed to recognise the new state, and full independence was achieved on 10 September 1974.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Guinea-Bissau, independence ↗
VI
2000 TO TODAY

Modern Day

The events of recent decades that have already become part of the historical record.

1996
Map of countries that have signed and ratified the test-ban treaty.Map of countries that have signed and ratified the test-ban treaty.Image: derivative work: Allstar86 (talk) BlankMap-World6,_compact.svg: Canuckguy et al. · CC BY-SA 3.0
politics · Global

The nuclear test-ban treaty opens for signature

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty opened for signature at the United Nations in New York on 24 September 1996. The United States was the first to sign it, and within 24 hours 71 countries had signed, including all five nuclear-weapon states. The treaty prohibits any nuclear weapon test explosion or other nuclear explosion anywhere in the world.

Source: United Nations: Secretary-General declares the Treaty open for signature ↗
2014
Mars.Mars.Image: Kevin Gill from Nashua, NH, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
science · Asia

India’s Mars Orbiter Mission reaches Mars

On 24 September 2014 India’s Mars Orbiter Mission, or Mangalyaan, entered orbit around Mars, making the Indian Space Research Organisation the fourth space agency to place a probe there, after the American, Russian and European agencies. It was India’s first interplanetary mission. The spacecraft, launched on 5 November 2013 by a PSLV-C25 rocket, cost about $69 million and took about two years from concept to orbit. It entered a highly elliptical orbit of 423 by 80,000 km.

Source: NASA Science: Mars Orbiter Mission ↗
RESEARCH

Sources & Further Reading

Selected authoritative references supporting the events on this page.

WHY THESE MOMENTS?

Significance before volume

This page is not the longest possible list of events. It is a chronological journey through 24 September, where each entry is chosen for historical significance, human interest and reliability.

Facts are checked against authoritative museums, archives, universities and reference works. Where sources disagree, the page says so.

EXPLORED THE DEEPER STORY?

Return to the highlights of 24 September

Discover the lighter side of the date with famous birthdays, culture, firsts and lives remembered.

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