Celebrations Today – April 24
Holidays and observances
- Christian feast day:
- Earliest day on which Arbor Day (United States) can fall, while April 30 is the latest; celebrated on the last Friday in April. (United States)
- Earliest day on which Turkmen Racing Horse Festival can fall, while April 30 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in April. (Turkmenistan)
- Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (Armenia)
- Concord Day (Niger)
- Children’s Day (Zambia)
- Democracy Day (Nepal)
- Fashion Revolution Day
- Flag Day (Ireland)
- International Sculpture Day
- Kapyong Day (Australia)
- Labour Safety Day (Bangladesh)
- National Panchayati Raj Day (India)
- Republic Day (The Gambia)
- World Day for Laboratory Animals
Celebrations Today – USA: April 24
National Pigs in a Blanket Day
National Impossible Astronaut Day
International Nose Picking Day
International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day
National Lover’s Day
National Movie Theatre Day
National Lost Dog Awareness Day
National Saint George’s Day
National Slay a Dragon Day
World Book and Copyright Day
World Book Night
World Laboratory Day
Today in US History: April 24
Books for Congress
The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., copyright 1900.
Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920
Today, the Library of Congress celebrates its birthday. On April 24, 1800, President John Adams approved the appropriation of $5,000 for the purchase of “such books as may be necessary for the use of congress.”
The books, the first purchased for the Library of Congress, were ordered from London and arrived in 1801. The collection of 740 volumes and three maps was stored in the U.S. Capitol, the Library’s first home. On January 26, 1802, President Thomas Jefferson approved the first legislation that defined the role and functions of the new institution on January 26, 1802.
The Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. The Library’s mission is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people, and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations. As of 2008, the vast holdings of the Library number well over 135 million items.
Construction of the Library of Congress,
Levin C. Handy, photographer, Washington, D.C., April 19, 1893.
Taking the Long View: Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991
Ainsworth Rand Spofford, Librarian of Congress from 1864 to 1897, was responsible for transforming the Library into an institution of national significance in the Jeffersonian spirit. Appointed by Abraham Lincoln, Spofford centralized the registration and deposit of copyright activities through the Copyright Law of 1870. This law had a direct effect on vastly increasing the Library’s collections as it extended copyright protection to “…a painting, drawing, statue, statuary, model or design for a work of the fine arts, a photograph of the same…” and stipulated that two copies of every published work in the U.S.—books, pamphlets, maps, prints, photographs, and pieces of music registered for copyright—be deposited at the Library. He also linked the legislative and national functions of the Library—first in practice, next by law—through his reorganization of the institution, which was approved by Congress in 1897.
- To learn more about the history of the Library, read Jefferson’s Legacy: A Brief History of the Library of Congress. The online version of the book includes a Concordance of Images, showcasing the history of the Library’s buildings and collections.
- See also the online reconstruction of Jefferson’s library in the exhibit Thomas Jefferson’s Library. Jefferson reinterpreted British philosopher Francis Bacon’s organizational categories of “Memory,” “Reason,” and “Imagination” as “History,” “Philosophy,” and “Fine Arts.”
- Read the Library of Congress Information Bulletin article, “Ainsworth’s Ashes” to learn more about the man responsible for elevating the Library to national prominence.
- Visit the collection Freedom’s Fortress: The Library of Congress, 1939-1953. The online presentation includes correspondence, photographs, documents, and other materials which detail the role of the Library of Congress vis-à-vis the nation’s information needs at this significant time in history—establishing the Library as one of America’s foremost citadels of intellectual freedom. Learn more about the Library of Congress Archives—the primary collection, which contains the historically valuable records of the Library of Congress and depict the development of the Library’s buildings, collections, and staff. The Archives include the correspondence of the Librarians of Congress from 1846 until 1940 and fourteen volumes of General Orders—the official statements of Library policy and procedures as well as annual reports of various divisions and departments.
- See also the Today in History features on the opening of the first Library of Congress building, the birthday of architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe, and the purchase of Thomas Jefferson’s library.
- For more photographs of the Library of Congress’ Jefferson Building, search on the phrase Library of Congress Jefferson Building in Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920 and Washington as It Was: Photographs by Theodor Horydczak, 1923-1959. Search on that same phrase in Taking the Long View: Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991 to see photographs of the excavation and construction for the Jefferson Building.
- The collection Built in America: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey, 1933-Present includes twenty-five interior and exterior black–and-white views of the Library of Congress.
- Search also on Library of Congress in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog for more images of the Library.
Today in History – April 24-External Links
Today’s Weather in History
Today in Earthquake History
This Day in Naval History
Today’s Document from the National Archives
Today’s Events, Births & Deaths –Wikipedia
Today in History by AP
On this Day -1950 to 2005 – Today’s Story–BBC
On This Day: The New York Times
This Day in History –History.com
Today in Canadian History – Canada Channel
History of Britain that took place On This Day
Russia in History –Russiapedia