What happened on November 24 ?

380 - Theodosius I makes his adventus, or formal entry, into Constantinople.

642 - Theodore succeeds John IV as Pope.

1190 - Isabella of Jerusalem marries Conrad of Montferrat at Acre, making him de jure King.

1639 - Jeremiah Horrocks observes the transit of Venus (November 24 in the Julian calendar, or December 4 in the Gregorian calendar).

1642 - Abel Tasman becomes the first European to discover the island Van Diemen's Land (later renamed Tasmania).

1859 - Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species.

1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Lookout Mountain - Near Chattanooga, Tennessee, Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant capture Lookout Mountain and begin to break the Confederate siege of the city led by General Braxton Bragg.

1904 - The first successful caterpillar track is made.

1922 - Author and Irish Republican Army member Robert Erskine Childers is executed by an Irish Free State firing squad for illegally carrying a revolver.

1932 - In Washington, DC, the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens.

1935 - The Senegalese Socialist Party holds its second congress.

1941 - World War II: The United States grants Lend-Lease to the Free French.

1944 - World War II: Bombing of Tokyo - The first bombing raid against the Japanese capital from the east and by land was made by 88 American aircraft.

1947 - Red Scare: After refusing to co-operate with the House Un-American Activities Committee concerning allegations of Communist influence in the movie industry, the United States House of Representatives votes 346 to 17 to approve citations of contempt of Congress against the so-called Hollywood 10.

1947 - Robert Schuman becomes Prime Minister of France

1951 - The Broadway play Gigi opens with little-known actress Audrey Hepburn in the title role.

1962 - The West Berlin branch of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany forms a separate party, the Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin.

1963 - John F. Kennedy assassination: Alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald is mortally shot by Jack Ruby in Dallas, Texas on live national television.

1963 - Vietnam War: Newly sworn-in US President Lyndon B. Johnson confirms that the United States intends to continue supporting South Vietnam both militarily and economically.

1965 - Joseph Désiré Mobutu seizes power in the Congo and becomes President; he goes on to rule the country (which he renames Zaire in 1971) for over 30 years, until being overthrown by rebels in 1997.

1969 - Apollo program: The Apollo 12 spacecraft splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second manned mission to the Moon.

1971 - During a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a hijacker calling himself Dan Cooper (AKA D.B. Cooper) parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane with US$200,000 in ransom money - neither he nor the money are ever found.

1974 - The skeleton of "Lucy", a 3.18 million years old female hominid, of the genus Australopithecus, was discovered in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia.

1976 - The Band gives its last public performance, documented by Martin Scorsese in the film The Last Waltz.

1991 - Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen, dies of AIDS at age 45.

1992 - In the People's Republic of China, a China Southern Airlines domestic flight crashes, killing all 141 people on-board.

1993 - In Liverpool, 11-year-olds Robert Thompson and Jon Venables are convicted of the murder of 2-year-old James Bulger.

1996 - Rusty Wallace wins the Suzuka NASCAR Thunder 100 racing event at Suzuka Circuitland in Suzuka City (this was the first NASCAR competition held in Japan).

1996 - Crowded House play a farewell concert in front of the Sydney Opera House for an estimated crowd of 250,000.

1998 - America Online announces it will acquire Netscape Communications in a stock-for-stock transaction worth US$4.2 billion.

2000 - The PlayStation 2 is released in Europe, for around ?449/£299.

2002 - Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off on mission STS-113, the final successful shuttle flight before the ill-fated STS-107 Columbia mission.

2003 - Nintendo NSider Forums is created.

2005 - The Licensing Act 2003 comes into force in England and Wales, introducing flexibility in the hours during which alcoholic beverages may be sold.

2005 - Conservative leader Stephen Harper, the leader of the Official Opposition in the Canadian Parliament, introduced a motion of no confidence, which NDP leader Jack Layton seconded. The motion was passed on November 28 which led to the dissolution to the 38th Canadian Parliament.