Today in History: Final bomb linked to the Unabomber explodes
Today is Thursday, April 24, the 114th day of 2025. There are 251 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On April 24, 1995, the final bomb linked to the Unabomber exploded inside the Sacramento, California, offices of the California Forestry Association, killing chief lobbyist Gilbert B. Murray. (Theodore Kaczynski was later sentenced to four lifetimes in prison for a series of bombings that killed three people and injured 23 others.)
Also on this date:
In 1915, in what is considered the start of the Armenian genocide, the Ottoman Empire began rounding up Armenian political and cultural leaders in Constantinople.
In 1916, Irish republicans launched the Easter Rising, a rebellion against British rule in Ireland. Though the rebels surrendered to British forces six days later, the uprising set the stage for republican victories in the Irish general election of 1918 and the establishment of the Irish Free State via the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1922.
In 1960, rioting erupted in Biloxi, Mississippi, after Black protesters staging a 'wade-in' at a whites-only beach were attacked by a crowd of hostile white people.
In 1967, Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was killed when his Soyuz 1 spacecraft smashed into the Earth after his parachutes failed to deploy properly during reentry. He was the first human spaceflight fatality.
In 1980, the United States launched Operation Eagle Claw, an unsuccessful attempt to free 53 American hostages in Iran that resulted in the deaths of eight U.S. service members.
In 1990, Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope.
In 2013, in Bangladesh, a shoddily constructed eight-story commercial building housing garment factories collapsed, killing more than 1,100 people.
In 2018, former police officer Joseph DeAngelo was arrested at his home near Sacramento after DNA linked him to crimes attributed to the Golden State Killer; authorities believed he committed 13 murders and more than 50 rapes in the 1970s and 1980s. (DeAngelo would plead guilty in 2020 to 13 counts of murder and be sentenced to life in prison without parole.)
Today's Birthdays: Actor Shirley MacLaine is 91. Actor-singer-filmmaker Barbra Streisand is 83. Fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier is 73. Actor Eric Bogosian is 72. Actor Michael O'Keefe is 70. Actor-comedian Cedric the Entertainer is 61. Actor Djimon Hounsou is 61. Actor Aidan Gillen is 57. Actor Rory McCann is 56. Latin pop singer Alejandro Fernandez is 54. Baseball Hall of Famer Chipper Jones is 53. Actor Derek Luke is 51. Singer-TV personality Kelly Clarkson is 43. Country singer Carly Pearce is 35. Actor-musician Joe Keery is 33. Actor Jack Quaid is 33. Actor Jordan Fisher is 31. Golfer Lydia Ko is 28.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Two skydivers die in ‘tandem jump' accident
Two skydivers have died after a 'tandem jump' accident in Devon. Police were called to Dunkeswell Airfield, near Honiton, just after 1pm on Friday before it was confirmed the two people had died at the scene. The incident is being investigated by the British Skydiving Board of Inquiry. Robert Gibson, the chief executive of British Skydiving, said: 'British Skydiving has been notified of a tragic accident in which two jumpers lost their lives. 'Our deepest condolences go to their families, friends and the entire skydiving community. 'A British Skydiving Board of Inquiry will investigate the accident.' The report – setting out the Board's conclusions and any recommendations – will be submitted to the coroner, the police, the CAA, the British Skydiving Safety & Training Committee and any other relevant authorities, he added. 'No further details will be provided at this time. We respectfully ask for privacy for all those affected at this difficult time.' A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said: 'Emergency services were called to the area of Dunkeswell Aerodrome at around 1pm on Friday 13 June following concerns for the welfare of two people. 'It was reported that they were skydivers. They were sadly both confirmed deceased at the scene and their families have been informed. 'Scene guards remain in place and enquiries are ongoing by the relevant agencies.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Inside the Bayesian's ‘cursed' rescue mission
It has been dubbed 'the curse of the Bayesian'. The operation to raise the wreck of the 184ft-long British superyacht had barely got under way last month when tragedy struck. One of the divers involved in the recovery mission died while trying to cut the vessel's boom from its mast using a technique that superheats steel rods to 9,932F (5,500C). Rob Cornelis Huijben, a 39-year-old Dutch diver, was killed while working on the seabed at a depth of 150ft, where the Bayesian rests on its side. His death, which is under investigation, has compounded the original tragedy – the sinking of the boat in a freak storm off the coast of Sicily last August. The disaster claimed the lives of Mike Lynch, the British billionaire tech tycoon, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah, and five others. Efforts to recover the superyacht began last month. Had everything gone according to plan, the $40 million vessel would have been on dry land by now. Instead, it still lies on the seabed off Porticello, a fishing village where coloured boats crowd the harbour and the smell of fried calamari wafts through the narrow streets. After multiple delays, however, the operation is finally under way again, with work resuming in earnest on Wednesday. David Wilson, a spokesman for TMC Marine, the British company overseeing the operation, said there was an 'awful lot of work to be done' and it all depended on progress in the next two weeks. As long as there were no unforeseen complications, the wreck, which weighs 450 tons, was expected to be hauled from the depths at the end of this month, Mr Wilson said. The death of the Dutch diver on May 9 prompted a dramatic change of tack. Work was suspended for six days, after which salvage experts decided to no longer use human divers and instead switch towards employing robot submarines and underwater drones. Known as remotely operated vehicles (Rovs), the submersibles can do the same work without putting divers at risk. To prepare the wreck for lifting, around eight steel cables must be looped beneath it to provide a sling. Messenger lines for four of the steel cables have already been placed under the bow section of the huge yacht. But the stern end has proved more problematic. The stern was found to be resting on a bed of hard-packed clay that impeded dredging efforts by Rovs as they tried to insert the cables beneath the hull. 'When we took away the top layer of sediment, we found really hard clay that was impossible to penetrate. A change of strategy was needed,' a source involved in the operation said. 'So the plan now is to use slings to lift up the stern temporarily and then slip the cables underneath.' Bill Chilton, a British commercial diver with 28 years' experience who is now head of diving at the International Marine Contractors Association, said the fact that submersibles are now being used exclusively on the Bayesian operation begs the question of why that was not the case from the beginning. 'In the North Sea, for instance, more and more work is being done by Rov. The first rule must always be, can you eliminate the risk to humans? 'Remotely operated submersibles can be very versatile and dextrous. Some are the size of a shoebox. Then you have others that weigh many tonnes, and that have grippers and manipulators and cutting tools. It depends on the type of job, which one you would use. The industry is changing fast – Rovs are being used more and more.' Mr Chilton said he was surprised when he heard that the diver who had died was at a depth of 50 metres. Any deeper than 30 metres, divers suffer from a condition known as nitrogen narcosis, which impairs the ability to function effectively. He said the Bayesian operation could have been undertaken by a mixture of Rovs and saturation divers, who can remain on the seabed for longer and are not affected by potential hazards such as nitrogen narcosis. Now the new plan will involve using slings to lift up the stern before slipping the cables underneath. The slings will then be raised by a giant crane attached to a platform positioned above the wreck, called the Hebo Lift 10. The eight cables are part of a complex cat's cradle that will enable the yacht to be lifted safely from the seabed. 'It's a matrix of cables and slings and wires that has been specifically designed for the purpose of raising the Bayesian,' the source said. 'It's now all systems go.' Once the cables are in place, the Bayesian's giant, 236ft-tall mast will be severed using precision cutting tools and the boat will be raised to the surface. It will then be taken to the port of Termini Imerese, a few miles along the coast from the wreck site. The vessel will be placed in a specially manufactured steel cradle on the quayside, ready for examination by investigators. Marcus Cave, the director of TMC Marine, said: 'Following detailed engineering assessment and discussions with the authorities, the works on site are now progressing towards the recovery of the wreck.' The operation to recover the superyacht was 'very complex', he added. Lawyers for the families of the seven victims of the disaster say they want guarantees that the lifting operation is minutely documented. Once on dry land, the Bayesian will be pored over by experts searching for clues as to what may have contributed to it capsizing so quickly. 'We asked for assurances that everything be documented. It is very probable that when the yacht is raised, there will be some damage done to the hull,' said Mario Bellavista, a lawyer who represents the family of Recaldo Thomas, a chef of Canadian and Antiguan nationality who was one of the seven people who lost their lives. He said it will be important for investigators to be able to distinguish between any damage done to the yacht on the night it sank, and damage it may sustain during the recovery operation. Italian prosecutors have placed three crew members under investigation for manslaughter and causing a shipwreck: James Cutfield, the New Zealand skipper; Tim Parker Eaton, the chief engineer; and Matthew Griffith, who was on watch on the night of the storm. The seven deaths on the Bayesian and the death of the Dutch diver are not the only human tragedies associated with the so-called 'curse' of the Bayesian. Just two days before the yacht was struck by a column of torrential rain and hurricane-force winds, a business associate of Mr Lynch was killed after being hit by a car. Stephen Chamberlain, 52, a finance executive, died in hospital after being struck by a vehicle while running near his home in Longstanton, Cambridgeshire. The pair had both been defendants in a trial in the US in which allegations of fraud were made over the $11 billion sale of Mr Lynch's software firm, Autonomy, to Hewlett-Packard in 2011. Both were found not guilty in June last year following a federal court trial in San Francisco. Mike Lynch had organised the cruise to Sicily as a way of celebrating his acquittal. In March, Mr Chamberlain's family said they had concerns about the police investigation into his death. At a pre-inquest review, lawyers representing the family said that key information was missing from the police collision investigation report. Last month, a preliminary report by the UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch said that the superyacht capsized due to design flaws that the captain and crew could have had no knowledge of. The assertion runs counter to claims by the builders of the Bayesian that it was 'unsinkable' and that the tragedy must have been caused by human error. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
New York Post
17 hours ago
- New York Post
Anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil can remain in detention, judge rules
The Trump administration can continue to hold anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil at the Louisiana detention facility where he's been locked up since March, a federal judge ruled Friday. Judge Michael Farbiarz had issued a preliminary injunction earlier this week barring the Trump administration from deporting the ex-Columbia University student and ordering his release. On Friday, however, the New Jersey judge determined that federal authorities can continue to hold Khalil on a separate alleged immigration violation discovered after his initial arrest. 3 Farbiarz previously ordered the Trump administration to release Khalil by Friday. Senate Judiciary Committee 'It would plainly be unlawful to detain [Khalil] on a charge the Court preliminarily enjoined,' Farbiarz wrote in his order. 'But by their letter of this afternoon … the [Trump administration] have now represented that [Khalil] is being detained on another, second charge.' 'That second charge has not been preliminary enjoined by the court.' Farbiarz noted that Khalil's legal team has not 'put forward factual evidence as to why it might be unlawful to detain him on the second charge' and 'failed to make meaningful legal arguments as to that second charge.' The second charge accuses Khalil of failing to disclose on his green card application that he was a member of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) and the Columbia University Apartheid Divestment coalition, as well as his work for the Syria Office in the British Embassy in Beirut. 'We are profoundly disappointed that Mahmoud has to bear any more delay and detention from this historically outrageous government conduct,' Baher Azmy, an attorney for Khalil, told Politico. 3 The Trump administration claims Khalil engaged in pro-Hamas activities at Columbia University and hid information about his background on his green card application. James Keivom 3 Khalil has been held in a Louisiana detention facility since March. REUTERS Farbiarz, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, noted that Khalil has 'a number of avenues' for release still available, including filing a bail application with the immigration judge handling his case. 'To the extent the Petitioner requests relief from this Court, the request is denied,' the judge wrote. On Wednesday, Farbiarz determined that it was 'overwhelmingly likely' that the alleged green card application was not the reason for his detainment, but rather Secretary of State Marco Rubio's initial decision to revoke his legal status over his role in anti-Israel protests at Columbia University. The Trump administration claims Khalil engaged in activities 'aligned to Hamas,' the Palestinian terror group, while attending the Ivy League School.
