October 24

1601: Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe died. 1804: German physicist Wilhelm Weber, after whom the unit of magnetic flux is named, was born. 1861: The first transcontinental telegraph message was sent as Justice Stephen Field of CA transmitted a telegram to President Lincoln. 1836: Alonzo Phillips received the U.S. patent #68 for the phosphorous friction safety match. 1901: Annie Edson Taylor made the first barrel ride over the Niagara Falls. 1910: Blanche Scott became the first woman to make a solo, public airplane flight, reaching an altitude of 12 feet at a park in Fort Wayne, IN. 1938: The Fair Labor Standards Act established the first minimum wage of 33 cents per hour. 1940: The 40-hour work week went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. 1940: French physicist Pierre-Ernest Weiss, who determined the Weiss magneton unit of magnetic moment, died. 1941: William Noyes, who was the first chemist hired by the U.S. Bureau of Standards, died. 2003: The Concord SST made its final landing at Heathrow airport.