24 July

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 24 July:

1. Amelia Earhart, US aviation pioneer was born on this date in 1897. Earhart was the first woman to fly solo over the Atlantic Ocean in 1932. In 1935, she made the first solo flight from Honolulu to the Mainland America. Two years later she attempted the first round-the-world flight along the equator with navigator Frederick Noonan; her plane vanished after take-off from New Guinea. She was never seen again and nobody knows what happened to her. She said: "Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others."
2. In 1701, the US city of Detroit was founded by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac as a fur trading post which he called Font-Pontchartain du Détroit, between Lakes St. Clair and Erie. Cadillac named the settlement Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit. "Detroit" is French for straits and there were some near the settlement.
3. In 1946, Norma Jean Dougherty signed her first contract with 20th Century Fox. A condition of the contract was that she had to change her name. She chose "Monroe", her mother's maiden name. It was Ben Lyon who suggested "Marilyn" as her first name.
4. In 1969, the Apollo XI astronauts, two of whom had been the first men to set foot on the moon, splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean. President Richard Nixon commented, “The greatest week in the history of the world since the creation”.
5. Instant Coffee was invented on this date in 1938.
6. Patricia Cheeseman, aged 6, received the first successful treatment with insulin at Guy’s Hospital, London on this date in 1925.
7. In 1908, 56 runners ran the London Marathon beginning at the east lawn of Windsor Castle. An extra 385 yards was added to the 26 mile course so they’d finish in front of the Royal Box at White City Stadium.
8. In 1847, Brigham Young and his Mormon followers arrived at the Valley of Salt Lake, where they would establish the centre of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Brigham Young founded the State of Deseret; the Federal government later changed the name to Utah.
9. In 1992 Yokohama Rubber Co. was forced to recall its tyres after it was discovered their computer-designed tread resembled the Islamic word for Allah.
10. In 1911, Hiram Bingham discovered the Lost City of the Incas, Vilcapampa (now called Machu Picchu), where the last Incan Emperors found refuge from the conquistadors.

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