24 September 1936: American puppeteer Jim Henson, born this day, was the creator of the Muppets (a meld of “marionettes” and “puppets”), whose characters included Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big Bird, and the Cookie Monster.

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24 September 1789: Congress passed the First Judiciary Act which provided for a U.S. attorney general and the Supreme Court.

1869: Plummeting gold prices led to a panic known as Black Friday, when U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, after learning of an attempt by Jay Gould and James Fisk to drive up the gold market, ordered $4 million of government gold to be sold on the market.

24 September 1877: Saigo Takamori, a hero of the Meiji Restoration, was killed after reluctantly leading a rebellion against the Meiji government.

24 September 1934: Babe Ruth played in his last baseball game for the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

24 September 1938: Don Budge won the U.S. Open, becoming the first player to win a grand slam title in tennis.

24 September 1957: The Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field.

24 September 1957: Federal troops sent into Little Rock, Arkansas

24 September 1960: The Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched.

24 September 1960: The first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Enterprise, was launched by the United States.

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Coming home from very lonely places, all of us go a little mad: whether from great personal success, or just an all-night drive, we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen.
- John le Carre

Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.
- Ernest Hemingway

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