Associated Press

On Oct. 24, 1861, the first transcontinental telegraph message was sent by Chief Justice Stephen J. Field of California from San Francisco to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C.

In 1929, a massive sell-off at the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange led to chaos as stockbrokers couldn’t keep up with trade requests. Though the market recovered some loses by the end of the day, “Black Thursday” marked the beginning of the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

In 1945, the United Nations formally came into existence as the Charter of the United Nations, ratified by 29 nations, took effect. The date is now observed as United Nations Day.

In 2003, a British Airways flight from New York to London marked the final commercial flight of the supersonic Concorde jet.

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy roared across Jamaica and Cuba on its way to the eastern United States.