On This Date In History

On August 24, 79 A.D., after centuries of dormancy, Mount Vesuvius erupts in southern Italy, devastating the prosperous Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and killing thousands. The cities, buried under a thick layer of volcanic material and mud, were never rebuilt and largely forgotten in the course of history. In the 18th century, Pompeii and Herculaneum were rediscovered and excavated, providing an unprecedented archaeological record of the everyday life of an ancient civilization, startlingly preserved in sudden death.
The ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum thrived near the base of Mount Vesuvius at the Bay of Naples. In the time of the early Roman Empire, 20,000 people lived in Pompeii, including merchants, manufacturers, and farmers who exploited the rich soil of the region with numerous vineyards and orchards. None suspected that the black fertile earth was the legacy of earlier eruptions of Mount Vesuvius. Herculaneum was a city of 5,000 and a favorite summer destination for rich Romans. Named for the mythic hero Hercules, Herculaneum housed opulent villas and grand Roman baths. Gambling artifacts found in Herculaneum and a brothel unearthed in Pompeii attest to the decadent nature of the cities. There were smaller resort communities in the area as well, such as the quiet little town of Stabiae.
This pleasure and prosperity came to an end when the peak of Mount Vesuvius exploded, propelling a 10-mile mushroom cloud of ash and pumice into the stratosphere. For the next 12 hours, volcanic ash and a hail of pumice stones up to 3 inches in diameter showered Pompeii, forcing the city’s occupants to flee in terror. Some 2,000 people stayed in Pompeii, holed up in cellars or stone structures, hoping to wait out the eruption.
A westerly wind protected Herculaneum from the initial stage of the eruption, but then a giant cloud of hot ash and gas surged down the western flank of Vesuvius, engulfing the city and burning or asphyxiating all who remained. This lethal cloud was followed by a flood of volcanic mud and rock, burying the city.
The people who remained in Pompeii were killed on the morning of August 25 when a cloud of toxic gas poured into the city, suffocating all that remained. A flow of rock and ash followed, collapsing roofs and walls and burying the dead.
Much of what we know about the eruption comes from an account by Pliny the Younger, who was staying west along the Bay of Naples when Vesuvius exploded. In two letters to the historian Tacitus, he told of how “people covered their heads with pillows, the only defense against a shower of stones,” and of how “a dark and horrible cloud charged with combustible matter suddenly broke and set forth. Some bewailed their own fate. Others prayed to die.” Pliny, only 17 at the time, escaped the catastrophe and later became a noted Roman writer and administrator. His uncle, Pliny the Elder, was less lucky. Pliny the Elder, a celebrated naturalist, at the time of the eruption was the commander of the Roman fleet in the Bay of Naples. After Vesuvius exploded, he took his boats across the bay to Stabiae, to investigate the eruption and reassure terrified citizens. After going ashore, he was overcome by toxic gas and died.
According to Pliny the Younger’s account, the eruption lasted 18 hours. Pompeii was buried under 14 to 17 feet of ash and pumice, and the nearby seacoast was drastically changed. Herculaneum was buried under more than 60 feet of mud and volcanic material. Some residents of Pompeii later returned to dig out their destroyed homes and salvage their valuables, but many treasures were left and then forgotten.
In the 18th century, a well digger unearthed a marble statue on the site of Herculaneum. The local government excavated some other valuable art objects, but the project was abandoned. In 1748, a farmer found traces of Pompeii beneath his vineyard. Since then, excavations have gone on nearly without interruption until the present. In 1927, the Italian government resumed the excavation of Herculaneum, retrieving numerous art treasures, including bronze and marble statues and paintings.
The remains of 2,000 men, women, and children were found at Pompeii. After perishing from asphyxiation, their bodies were covered with ash that hardened and preserved the outline of their bodies. Later, their bodies decomposed to skeletal remains, leaving a kind of plaster mold behind. Archaeologists who found these molds filled the hollows with plaster, revealing in grim detail the death pose of the victims of Vesuvius. The rest of the city is likewise frozen in time, and ordinary objects that tell the story of everyday life in Pompeii are as valuable to archaeologists as the great unearthed statues and frescoes. It was not until 1982 that the first human remains were found at Herculaneum, and these hundreds of skeletons bear ghastly burn marks that testifies to horrifying deaths.
Today, Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano on the European mainland. Its last eruption was in 1944 and its last major eruption was in 1631. Another eruption could be devastating for the 700,000 people who live in the “death zones” around Vesuvius.

 

 

On August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812 between the United States and England, British troops enter Washington, D.C. and burn the White House in retaliation for the American attack on the city of York in Ontario, Canada, in June 1812.
When the British arrived at the White House, they found that President James Madison and his first lady Dolley had already fled to safety in Maryland. Soldiers reportedly sat down to eat a meal made of leftover food from the White House scullery using White House dishes and silver before ransacking the presidential mansion and setting it ablaze.
According to the White House Historical Society and Dolley’s personal letters, President James Madison had left the White House on August 22 to meet with his generals on the battlefield, just as British troops threatened to enter the capitol. Before leaving, he asked his wife Dolley if she had the “courage or firmness” to wait for his intended return the next day. He asked her to gather important state papers and be prepared to abandon the White House at any moment.
The next day, Dolley and a few servants scanned the horizon with spyglasses waiting for either Madison or the British army to show up. As British troops gathered in the distance, Dolley decided to abandon the couple’s personal belongings and instead saved a full-length portrait of former president George Washington from desecration. Dolley wrote to her sister on the night of August 23 of the difficulty involved in saving the painting. Since the portrait was screwed to the wall, she ordered the frame to be broken and the canvas pulled out and rolled up. Two unidentified “gentlemen from New York” hustled it away for safe-keeping. The task complete, Dolley wrote “and now, dear sister, I must leave this house, or the retreating army will make me a prisoner in it by filling up the road I am directed to take.” Dolley left the White House and found her husband at their predetermined meeting place in the middle of a thunderstorm.
Although President Madison and his wife were able to return to Washington only three days later when British troops had moved on, they never again lived in the White House. Madison served the rest of his term residing at the city’s Octagon House. It was not until 1817 that newly elected president James Monroe moved back into the reconstructed building.

 

 Federal Republican (Georgetown, D.C.), 30 August 1814, page 3
Here is a transcription of this article:

Destruction of the American Capitol
On the morning of Wednesday the 24th inst. the troops of this District, which had encamped in the City of Washington the preceding evening, were ordered on to Bladensburg, where a body of men from Baltimore was stationed. The approach of the enemy being ascertained, the united forces were drawn up in order of battle, near the bridge, which crosses the Eastern Branch of the Potomac, about four miles from the Capital.
The whole number of men composing the American army was about 7000. In and near the road which leads to the city, Com. Barney’s men and the marine corps were posted, with a formidable battery of artillery. In their rear to the left of the road, was Major Peter’s artillery. Another battery of six pieces from Baltimore was placed in such a position on the left as to rake the bridge, and was covered by a rifle corps. The infantry of the District under the command of Gen. Smith, were placed on the left of the road.  Gen. Stansbury’s brigade, of which the noted Mumma is a member, and the 5th Baltimore Regiment under Col. Sterett, were posted further to the left, the extreme of which was brought up by Capt. Burch’s artillery and Capt. Doughty’s riflemen.
About half past 12 o’clock the enemy’s advance appeared and pushed for the bridge, when the Baltimore artillery opened a galling fire upon them. They proceeded on with great rapidity, and passing the bridge divided into two columns. One charged on the Baltimore artillery and compelled them to retreat. Burch’s artillery, 5th Baltimore Regiment and Stansbury’s brigade began firing, but an apple orchard prevented the fire of the latter being effective. The other column proceeded along the road, the passage of which was gallantly contested by Barney and the marines under Captain Miller.
The battle continued about three quarters of an hour. The 5th Baltimore Regiment maintained their ground with firmness and fought well. Stansbury’s brigade gave way as soon as exposed to the enemy’s fire, and the general himself, as we have been assured by several officers, was the first in flight. The example of these men was soon followed by the militia of the District, and a general retreat was ordered before all the troops were brought into the action.
Great praise is due to Barney’s men, who fought with desperation as did the marine corps. Com. Barney and Capt. Miller of the marines, were both severely wounded and were taken prisoners, with many of their men also wounded. All the volunteer corps of the District displayed great bravery, and no want of firmness was shown by the militia until after the flight of Stansbury’s men.
The right wing which had no share in the action, was composed of the regular troops, belonging to the 36th and 38th Regiments, amounting to 500, and part of the militia from Montgomery, Alleghany and Prince George Counties, in Maryland, and several hundred men from Virginia.
The retreat was rapid and disorderly. At Capitol Hill the district volunteers and some companies of militia were rallied, but orders were given to continue the retreat, and the inhabitants of Washington and Georgetown had the mortification to see the whole body pass through their streets in disgraceful flight.
The retreat was continued till the troops reached Montgomery courthouse, 13 miles from the battleground, almost exhausted with fatigue, and without camp equipage, the baggage wagons having been sent across the Potomac bridge and ordered up the Virginia shore.
Before the retreating troops reached Georgetown, the secretary of the navy passed through the place, and recommended to the citizens to make the best terms they could with the enemy. The President made his escape by crossing Mason’s ferry into Virginia. The second day after the battle he passed through Rockville, Montgomery County, to Brookville, in the same county, where he arrived at nine in the night, escorted by twenty dragoons. He was taken in at the house of one of the Society of Friends, having “rode thirty miles since breakfast,” as he stated, “over a dreadful road, without any dinner.” The next day being joined by Col. Monroe, he found his way to the District, late in the evening, and his quarters have since been at the houses of his different friends.
No pursuit was kept up by the enemy, who entered Washington at his leisure, and in the evening, with one hundred men, destroyed the Capitol, the President’s House [i.e., the White House], and the Treasury Office. A few of our men left at the Navy yard destroyed, by order, the sloop of war Argus, the frigate on the stocks, and the public buildings there, and the arsenal at Greenleaf’s Point.
The General Post Office was spared on the representation of Dr. Thornton, that a part of the building was a museum of the arts, containing models of the patent machines, and the cause of general science would suffer by its conflagration.
On Thursday the War Office and two rope-walks in Washington were burnt. In the evening a party was dispatched to Greenleaf’s Point, and while employed in burning a number of gun-carriages, a quantity of powder which had been thrown into a well, exploded and destroyed a considerable number of men and mangled many others.
After the retreat of the troops called to the defense of the Capital, the enemy took possession of the battleground and many of them actually sank to the ground with fatigue. They rested on their knapsacks, and were so exhausted by their rapid march, carrying on their backs four days’ provision and eighty rounds of cartridges, that they were unable to follow up the advantage gained, and pursue our army on their route through the city. The force that marched to the city two hours after the skirmish at Bladensburg, consisted of about 1500 men, that were not in the action, as it terminated before they could be brought up. They proceeded slowly and with the greatest caution, as they apprehended an ambuscade, and were persuaded the decisive battle was yet to be fought, which was to decide the fate of the late city of Washington. Arrived at the entrance of the town, opposite Mr. Gallatin’s late dwelling, [British] Gen. Ross, at the head of his troops, halted, expecting that the city would propose terms of capitulation. While in this situation, a shot from Gallatin’s house killed the horse on which Gen. Ross rode. The house was instantly set on fire and orders were at once given to burn the Capitol.
We have stated nothing that we do not religiously confide in as true. We have many precious anecdotes which will be given at leisure. In the present situation of affairs, when all is confusion and alarm, and we can scarcely be said to have a government, we have been barely able to get our paper to press, but when order and security are restored our readers will receive all the information it may be in our power to give them.
At a late hour on Thursday night, the British troops evacuated the city, leaving behind them the men wounded by the explosion.

 

On August 24, 2006, in Prague, the International Astronomical Union votes to demote Pluto from the ninth planet from the Sun to one of dozens of known dwarf planets.
The vote followed a week of debate by the IAU, who voted on multiple proposals including one that kept not just Pluto as a planet but added two new planets, the asteroid Ceres and Pluto’s moon Charon. The ultimate proposal defined the word “planets” (which comes from the Greek word planets, or “wanderers”) supposedly once and for all: planets are celestial objects large enough to be made rounded by their gravitational orbit around the Sun and to have pushed away nearby planetary objects and debris. Two years later, the IAU decided on a name for dwarf planets similar to Pluto, “plutoid”, grouping Pluto with Eris.
Some influential astronomers were caught off guard by the procedure, questioning the final proposal’s logic and pointing to the low turnout of voters (424 astronomers out of about 10,000 professional astronomers worldwide) at the IAU conference. One astronomer pointed to the contradiction that Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Neptune all have nearby asteroids. “I’m embarrassed for astronomy,” he said. “Less than 5 percent of the world’s astronomers voted.”
This scientific reclassification has had a worldwide cultural impact, as suggested by the American Dialect Society’s choice of “plutoed” as 2006’s Word of the Year, meaning “to demote or devalue someone or something. “Our members believe the great emotional reaction of the public to the demotion of Pluto shows the importance of Pluto as a name,” the society’s president said. Some state legislatures have even named March 13 Pluto Day, in stubborn dismissal of Pluto’s demotion.

 

On August 24, 1954, Congress passes the Communist Control Act in response to the growing anticommunist hysteria in the United States. Though full of ominous language, many found the purpose of the act unclear.
In 1954, the Red Scare still raged in the United States. Although Senator Joseph McCarthy, the most famous of the “red hunters” in America, had been disgraced earlier in the summer of 1954 when he tried to prove that communists were in the U.S. Army, most Americans still believed that communists were at work in their country. Responding to this fear, Congress passed the Communist Control Act in August 1954. The act declared that, “The Communist Party of the United States, though purportedly a political party, is in fact an instrumentality of a conspiracy to overthrow the Government of the United States.” The act went on to charge that the party’s “role as the agency of a hostile foreign power renders its existence a clear and continuing danger to the security of the United States.” The conclusion seemed inescapable: “The Communist Party should be outlawed.” Indeed, that is what many people at the time believed the Communist Control Act accomplished.
A careful reading of the act, however, indicates that the reality was a bit fuzzier. In 1950, Congress passed the Internal Security Act. In many respects, it was merely a version of the Communist Control Act passed four years later. It used the same language to condemn communism and the Communist Party of the United States, and established penalties for anyone belonging to a group calling for the violent overthrow of the American government. However, it very specifically noted that mere membership in the Communist Party, or affiliated organizations, was not in and of itself sufficient cause for arrest or penalty. The 1954 act went one step further by removing the “rights, privileges, and immunities attendant upon legal bodies created under the jurisdiction of the laws of the United States” from the Communist Party. The Communist Control Act made it clear that “nothing in this section shall be construed as amending the Internal Security Act of 1950.” Thus, while the Communist Control Act may have declared that the Communist Party should be outlawed, the act itself did not take this decisive step.
In the years to come, the Communist Party of the United States continued to exist, although the U.S. government used legislation such as the Communist Control Act to harass Communist Party members. More ominously, the government also used such acts to investigate and harass numerous other organizations that were deemed to have communist “leanings.” These included the American Civil Liberties Union, labor unions, and the NAACP. By the mid-to-late 1960s, however, the Red Scare had run its course and a more liberal Supreme Court began to chip away at the immense tangle of anticommunist legislation that had been passed during the 1940s and 1950s. Today, the Communist Party of the United States continues to exist and regularly runs candidates for local, state, and national elections.