September 24 is the 267th day of the year (268th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 98 days remain until the end of the year.
787 – Second Council of Nicaea: The council assembles at the church of Hagia Sophia.
1568 – Spanish naval forces defeat an English fleet, under the command of John Hawkins, at the Battle of San Juan de Ulúa near Veracruz.
1645 – The Battle of Rowton Heath in England is a Parliamentarian victory over a Royalist army commanded in person by King Charles.
1789 – The United States Congress passes the Judiciary Act, creating the office of the Attorney General and federal judiciary system and ordering the composition of the Supreme Court.
1846 – Mexican– American War: General Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey.
1852 – The first powered, passenger-carrying airship, the Giffard dirigible, travels 17 miles from Paris to Trappes.
1869 – Black Friday of 1869: Gold prices plummet after United States President Ulysses Grant orders the Treasury to sell large quantities of gold after Jay Gould and James Fisk plot to control the market.
1890 – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounces polygamy.
1906 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower in Wyoming as the nation's first National Monument. 1906 – Racial tensions exacerbated by rumors lead to the Atlanta Race Riot, further increasing racial segregation.
1911 – His Majesty's Airship No. 1, Britain's first rigid airship, is wrecked by strong winds before her maiden flight at Barrow-in-Furness.
1929 – Jimmy Doolittle performs the first flight without a window, proving that full instrument flying from take off to landing is possible.
1932 – Gandhi and Dr. Ambedkar agree to the Poona Pact, which reserved seats in the Indian provincial legislatures for the 'Depressed Classes'
1935 – Earl and Weldon Bascom produce the first rodeo ever held outdoors under electric lights.
1946 – Cathay Pacific Airways is founded in Hong Kong.
1946 – The top-secret Clifford-Elsey Report on the Soviet Union is delivered to President Truman.
1948 – The Honda Motor Company is founded.
1950 – The eastern United States is covered by a thick haze from the Chinchaga fire in western Canada
1954 – AEC Routemaster, the iconic introduced London bus was introduced.
1957 – President Eisenhower sends the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation.
1960 – USS Enterprise, the world's first nuclearpowered aircraft carrier, is launched.
1975 – Southwest Face expedition members become the first persons to reach the summit of Mount Everest by any of its faces, instead of using a ridge route.
1993 – The Cambodian monarchy is restored, with Norodom Sihanouk as king.
1996 – Representatives of 71 nations sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty at the United Nations.
2005 – Hurricane Rita makes landfall in the United States, devastating portions of southwestern Louisiana and extreme southeastern Texas.
2013 – A 7.7-magnitude tude Pakistan earthquake strikes southern Pakistan, killing at least 327 people.
2014 – The Mars Orbiter Mission makes India the first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit, and the first nation in the world to do so in its first attempt.
2015 – At least 1,100 people are killed and another 934 wounded after a stampede during the Hajj in Saudi Arabia.