Learn Our History Today: April 24

Learn Our History Today: On April 24, 1800 in Washington D.C. the Library of Congress was established. $5,000 was originally raised for the purchase of books for use by Congress. Unfortunately, the first collection was destroyed during the infamous burning of Washington during the War of 1812. After the war, Thomas Jefferson’s personal collection was used to replace the destroyed collection. Today the Library of Congress has approximately 140 million items and roughly 10,000 items are added daily.

Also on April 24, the post-Civil War reconstruction of the south was ended. In 1877 the final U.S. soldiers stationed in New Orleans, Louisiana, were removed by President Rutherford B. Hayes.

Another April 24th event was the Operation Eagle Claw debacle. On April 24, 1980, the United States launched a raid to free the Tehran hostages. Before the U.S. Special Forces troops even began their advance to rescue the hostages there was a devastating crash in the Iranian desert. A C-130 airplane and a RH-53 helicopter crashed into each other and burst into flames. 8 crewmen lost their lives. While this event was a tragedy for the service members and our nation as a whole, the military was able to examine and learn from this event and make procedural changes to ensure the safety of its forces in the future. The hostages would later be freed on January 21, 1981 as Jimmy Carter left office and Ronald Reagan was sworn in.