Today in History

On this day July 24^th in history, the following notable events occurred

U.S. spacecraft safely returns to Earth, 1969

Apollo 11, the U.S. spacecraft that had taken the first astronauts (Neil Armstrong and co.) to the surface of the moon, safely returns to Earth.The American effort to send astronauts to the moon originated from a famous appeal by President John F. Kennedy to a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: "I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth."

Machu Pichu Discovered, 1911

 On this day, 1911, American archaeologist Hiram Bingham discovers Machu Picchu, an ancient Inca settlement in Peru that has become one of the world's top tourist destinations.

Hidden in the rocky countryside northwest of Cuzco, Machu Picchu is believed to have been a summer retreat for Inca leaders, whose civilization was virtually wiped out by Spanish invaders in the 16th century. For hundreds of years afterwards, its existence was a secret known only to the peasants living in the region. That all changed in the summer of 1911, when Bingham arrived with a small team of explorers to search for the famous "lost" cities of the Incas.

Lance Armstrong wins seventh Tour de France, 2005

This day in 2005, American cyclist Lance Armstrong wins a record-setting seventh consecutive Tour de France and retires from the sport. After Armstrong survived testicular cancer, his rise to cycling greatness inspired cancer patients and fans around the world and significantly boosted his sport's popularity in the United States. Unfortunately, in 2012, in a dramatic fall from grace, the onetime global cycling icon was stripped of his seven Tour titles after being charged with the systematic use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Also in

2012    Vice-President of Ghana John Dramani Mahama becomes President after President John Atta Mills, dies

2011    more than half of the country of Peru enters a state of emergency due to unusually cold weather

2011    BP (British Petroleum) announces plans to commence drilling for oil off the coast of Libya

1993    American actor and voice artist Richard Moll (Night Court) weds Susan Brown

1991    University of Manchester, scientist announces finding a planet outside of solar system. Andrew G. Lyne of the University of Manchester subsequently retracted his claim for a planet around pulsar PSR 1829-10 at the Jan 1992 meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Atlanta.

1969    Muhammad Ali convicted for refusing induction in U.S. Army