Check out This Day in History for Oct. 24 in MainStream’s daily look at significant progressive, intersectional historical events.
1929: Dropping stock market prices after a year of bullish price increases lead to ”Black Thursday,” when almost 13 million shares are sold in one day, becoming a pivotal cause of the 10-year Great Depression.
Above, clockwise from top left: the late John Lennon, former United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak; disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker; the Fair Labor Standards Act, a depiction of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius; and Black Thursday in 1929, before the Great Depression.
1940: The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 takes effect, providing workers with a minimum wage of 25 cents per hour, overtime pay, and child labor protections. The FLSA covers most, but not all, private and public sector employees.
1945: The UN Charter takes effect, signed months earlier by 51 countries and codifying key principles like sovereign nations and the prohibition of force between members. “No other global organization gives hope to so many people for a better world and can deliver the future we want,” the United Nations writes, celebrating the 80th year of the charter. The charter has been amended three times since its passage and now is signed by more than 190 countries.
1973: John Lennon, facing a deportation threat by the U.S. government for a marijuana arrest in London years earlier, sues the Federal Bureau of Investigation, demanding it acknowledge whether it is tapping his phone. The case goes on for three years before Lennon is granted permanent residency through a green card.
1989: American televangelist Jim Bakker is sentenced to 45 years in prison for fraud through Heritage USA and PTL (Praise The Lord) Ministries. A few years later, the sentence is thrown out because of the judge’s bias against “money-grubbing preachers,” and Bakker ends up serving eight years.
2008: Many of the world’s stock exchanges experience the worst decline in their history on Bloody Friday, the day when America’s crashing market because of subprime mortgages becomes a global crisis.
2009: The first-ever International Day of Climate Action takes place, focused on influencing delegates at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Organized by 350,0rg, the annual observance continues on Oct. 24 today.
2022: Rishi Sunak becomes the first-ever Person of Color to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, replacing Liz Truss, the UK’s shortest-serving Prime Minister at just six weeks. He’ll serve in the post until 2024.
Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
