On October 24, 2002, police in Washington DC arrested two snipers after their months-long shooting spree left 10 people dead. John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo - known as the Beltway Snipers - were arrested while they were sleeping inside their Chevy Caprice family sedan. The FBI and police found a Bushmaster rifle used in the attacks inside the car, but that was not all.
The pair had also cut a hole in the trunk near the licence plate so that shots could be fired from within the vehicle. It was, in effect, a rolling sniper's nest. Legendary British musician John Lennon sued the US government on October 24, 1973, over claims the FBI was tapping his phone.
Lennon claimed he had been placed under surveillance because of his opposition to the Vietnam War. Global stock markets crashed on October 24, 2008, in what became known as "Bloody Friday". Most indices, including the Dow Jones, collapsed by up 10 per cent, as the debt crisis impacting US financial institutions spread to world markets.
Legendary escape artist Harry Houdini on October 24, 1926, made his final performance in Detroit. Reports said he was suffering a high temperature and cold sweats as he performed his famous escape tricks. Houdini died from peritonitis just a few days later in hospital.
On October 24, 1901, a 63-year-old teacher became the first person to survive a perilous barrel plunge over the Niagara Falls between the northern US and Canada. Annie Edson was strapped inside a wooden ba.
