Today in History: September 24

624: Muhammad and his followers arrive in Medina at the conclusion of their hejira from Mecca.

1664: Dutch West India Company director-general Peter Stuyvesant surrenders the Company’s New Amsterdam community to the English after a surprise attack.

1755: Future U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall is born at what is now Midland, Virginia.

1789: On Marshall’s 34th birthday, The Judiciary Act creates the U.S. Supreme Court and the position of Attorney General.

1852: French engineer Henri Giffard makes the first powered flight, going some 27 kilometers in a steam-powered dirigible.

1869: The “Black Friday” panic hits the U.S. financial markets after Jay Gould and James Fisk try to corner the gold market.  President Grant will break the corner by releasing $4 million in U.S. gold into the market.

1948: Soichiro Honda, who had just made a nice profit selling auto-parts business to Toyota, starts his own company to make motorized bicycles.