24 AUGUST

79 Mt Vesuvius erupts, buries Roman Pompeii & Herculaneum, 15,000 die

410 Rome overrun by Visigoths under Alaric I for the first time in nearly 800 years, seen as the fall of the Western Roman Empire

1516 Battle of Marj Dabiq: Ottoman forces decisively beat the Mamluk Sultanate

1572 St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of Protestants by Roman Catholics begins in Paris and later spreads to the French provinces

1662 Act of Uniformity requires English to accept Book of Common Prayer

1814 British forces capture Washington, D.C. and destroy many landmarks (War of 1812)

1968 France becomes the world's fifth thermonuclear power with a detonation on Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific

Famous Birthday's

William Wilberforce
(1759 - 1833)

Carlo Gambino
(1902 - 1976)

Yasser Arafat
(1933 - 2004)

Cal Ripken Jr
57 Years Old

Marlee Matlin
52 Years Old

Rupert Grint
29 Years Old

Famous Deaths

Getulio Vargas
(1883 - 1954)

Henry J. Kaiser
(1882 - 1967)

Famous Weddings

1561 Willem of Orange marries duchess Anna of Saxon

1899 Businessman James Cash Penney (24) weds Bertha Alva Hess

1970 Actor Peter Sellers (44) weds model Miranda Quarry

1987 Actor Patrick Dempsey (21) weds manager Rocky Parker (47)

1996 Actress-model Vendela (30) weds Norwegian politician Olaf Thommessen (30) in Stockholm, Sweden

Famous Divorces

1976 Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor (59) divorces her sixth husband, toy inventor Jack Ryan (49) after 1 year of marriage

2009 American actor Eddie Cibrian (36) divorces TV personality Brandi Glanville (35) due to irreconcilable differences