As part of our agreement with the American Historical Association, we are legally obligated to bring you, on occasion, This Day In Happen History:

On April 24, 1184 B.C., the Greeks enter Troy using the Trojan Horse (traditional date): This is the “traditional date” because no one thought, at the time, to grab some papyrus and a quill and jot it down. But you know those zany Greeks… (Alexandros: “Did they pull us into the city Tuesday or Wednesday?” Kostas: “How am I supposed to know? I was driving. I think it was Friday. Ask Vagellis.”) And if the Troy folk were stupid enough to pull a giant wooden horse inside the city walls and not think to check it out — as if Santa Cicero had brought it — they deserved to be conquered. (And can you hear them planning this back in Greece? “Dimitri, it’ll never work! But maybe…maybe…it’s just stupid enough.. let’s give it a try! Somebody go get me a really big piece of wood!”

April 24, 1888: George Eastman founded the Eastman Kodak Company. Sadly, no one took a picture.

April 24, 1895: Joshua Slocum completes around-the-world voyage in 11-m boat. (April 25, 1895: Joshua “Oars” Slocum gets drunk as Cooter Brown.)

April 24, 1901: 1st AL game, Chicago beats Cleveland Blues 8-2, three other games rained out. (ESPN shows Yankees-Red Sox highlights anyway, and barely mentions Chicago’s W over the Blues.)

April 24, 1915:  Pitts’ Frank Allen no-hits St Louis (Federal League), 2-0. (Federal League rained out after only two seasons.)

April 24, 1945: Albert B. “Happy” Chandler is named second baseball commissioner. (Coincidentally, at the press conference announcing his commissionership, Happy cries, and all the snap-brim-hatted sportswriters look at each other and say, without saying, “Well THIS is awkward…”

April 24, 1956: AL umpire Frank Umont is first to wear glasses in a regular season game. This is also the first day a fan ever yelled “HEY, BLUE! YOU’RE MISSING A GREAT GAME! GET A PAIR OF GLA…! Oh, never mind.”

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