On This Day for April 24 - Installation of Pope Benedict XVI, Barbra Streisand is featured, and more

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, click here to view. April 24 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Barbra Streisand READ MORE   FEATURED EVENT 2005 Installation of Pope Benedict XVI READ MORE   Advertisement Advertisement   MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2004: American businesswoman Estée Lauder, who cofounded the hugely profitable fragrance and beauty company that bore her name, died in Manhattan. 2003: Officials of North Korea informed U.S. diplomats that it had nuclear weapons and was making bomb-grade plutonium. [ Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Korea.] 1980: U.S. forces launched a mission to rescue American hostages in Iran, but the attempt failed, and eight U.S. service members were killed. 1949: Communist forces occupied the Chinese capital, Nanking (Nanjing), after crossing the Yangtze River virtually unopposed by adherents to the Nationalist government under President Chiang Kai-shek. [Take our China quiz.] 1905: American novelist, poet, and critic Robert Penn Warren—who was best known for his treatment of moral dilemmas in a South beset by the erosion of its traditional rural values—was born. [Test your knowledge of all things literary.] 1904: Painter Willem de Kooning, one of the leading exponents of Abstract Expressionism, was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands. [ From symbolism to sculpture, test your knowledge of art.] SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1973 Sachin Tendulkar Indian cricketer 1942 Barbra Streisand American actress, singer, director, producer 1982 Kelly Clarkson American singer-songwriter 1934 Shirley MacLaine American actress 1856 Philippe Pétain French general 1930 Richard Donner American director SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY   Advertisement   FOLLOW: To unsubscribe from Britannica e-mails, click here. Encyclopædia Britannica 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 United States © 2020 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Privacy Policy • Help