April 24: Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (1915) Hubble Space Telescope 1837 – A fire broke out in Surat, India, which went on to destroy about 75% of the city. 1914 – The Franck–Hertz experiment, the first electrical measurement to clearly demonstrate quantum mechanics, was presented to the German Physical Society. 1916 – Irish republicans led by Patrick Pearse began the Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland, and proclaimed the Irish Republic an independent state. 1980 – Eight U.S. servicemen died in Operation Eagle Claw, a failed attempt to rescue the captives in the Iran hostage crisis. 1990 – The Hubble Space Telescope (pictured) was launched aboard STS-31 by Space Shuttle Discovery. 1993 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a truck bomb in London's financial district in Bishopsgate, killing one person, injuring forty-four others, and causing damage that cost £350 million to repair. Mellitus (d. 624)Kumar Dharmasena (b. 1971)Estée Lauder (d. 2004)Nancy Dorian (d. 2024) More anniversaries: April 23 April 24 April 25 Archive By email List of days of the year About