On the morning of October 24th, 1929, the New York Stock Exchange opened its doors to panic. Within minutes, the air was filled with shouting as brokers fought to unload collapsing stocks. In a single day, more than 12.9 million shares were traded — an all-time record that marked the beginning of Black Thursday. Outside on Wall Street, crowds gathered in disbelief, some clutching newspapers, others simply watching their livelihoods disappear before their eyes.

The 1920s had been an era of excess — easy credit, speculative investing, and the illusion that markets only moved upward. People were buying stocks on margin, borrowing 90% of their investment, convinced the boom would never end. But when confidence cracked, those loans came calling. The smallest tremor sent shockwaves through the financial system, triggering an avalanche of sell orders that no one could stop.

By closing bell, billions in wealth had evaporated. Banks and businesses crumbled under the pressure, and panic spread across the Atlantic. The optimism of the Jazz Age quickly soured into suspicion and fear. Within weeks, thousands were unemployed, and the Great Depression began its long shadow over the world economy.

Nearly a century later, economists still point to Black Thursday as the day America’s dream of infinite growth shattered. It wasn’t just a financial crash — it was a psychological one. It proved that unchecked greed, mass speculation, and human emotion could topple even the mightiest empire built on paper wealth.

On October 24th, 1946, humanity caught its first real glimpse of home. In the quiet desert of White Sands, New Mexico, a captured German V-2 rocket was loaded with a 35mm camera and launched 65 miles into the stratosphere. The camera snapped one image every second with its lens aimed straight down. When the rocket fell back to Earth, the film inside revealed something no human eyes had ever seen — the curved horizon of our planet fading into the blackness of space.

The images were grainy and scarred with static, but they were revolutionary. For the first time, we could see Earth as a sphere, not a map. You could make out clouds, coastlines, and the thin layer of atmosphere separating us from the void. The scientists who recovered the camera knew they were holding history — a moment that would redefine how humanity understood itself.

Just one year after World War II, the symbolism was powerful. A weapon built for destruction had captured something deeply human: perspective. It reminded people that nations and borders were tiny compared to the planet itself. The experiment, meant purely for military research, became a quiet turning point in consciousness.

That single photograph would inspire decades of exploration — from the Apollo missions to Voyager’s Pale Blue Dot. It showed that Earth was fragile, small, and shared by everyone. A simple 35mm camera, bolted to a missile, accidentally gave humanity its first taste of cosmic humility.

Oldest Wanted Poster👑
In 1301, King Edward I issued the first known “wanted” notice for Scottish rebel William Wallace — yes, the Braveheart legend. The decree promised gold and freedom to anyone who betrayed him. It worked. Wallace was captured, tried for treason, and brutally executed. The poster didn’t just hunt a man — it turned rebellion into a royal headline.

Movie Flop🎥
In 1980, Heaven’s Gate became the disaster that bankrupted United Artists. Director Michael Cimino rebuilt entire towns, reshot endlessly, and spent over $44 million on a Western nobody liked. The movie made just $3 million, and the studio folded. Years later, critics called it a misunderstood masterpiece — but by then, the damage was done.

Cadaver Synod☠️
In 897 AD, Pope Stephen VI put his dead rival Formosus on trial. He dug up the corpse, dressed it in papal robes, and screamed accusations in front of horrified clergy. The body was found “guilty” and tossed into the Tiber River. Historians still argue whether Stephen was insane or just weaponizing religion — literally.

The Moons Smell🌕
Apollo astronauts swore that moon dust smelled like burnt gunpowder. The fine, glassy particles clung to their suits and filled the cabin with a metallic odor. But when scientists tried to replicate it on Earth, nothing matched. Whatever chemical reaction causes that scent seems to exist only in the vacuum of space — a smell trapped beyond our world.

If you enjoy this edition of Today In History be sure to send it to a friend and force them to sign up because that’s what good friends do. Until next time, stay curious, question everything, and keep uncovering the mysteries of the past.