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Headlines from September 24, 1984

CORRECTION

By Unknown Author

A report in the Finance/New Issues column of Business Day on Tuesday misidentified the parent company of Robert Bruce Industries. It is Savoy Industries.

Metropolitan Desk24 words

SOME ELDERLY CHOOSE SUICIDE OVER LONELY, DEPENDENT LIFE

By Andrew H. Malcolm, Special To the New York Times

Wylie Boyle sent his housekeeper on ahead to the post office that wintry Saturday morning in Paducah, Tex., early this year. Then, as he had every day, the 86-year-old retired insurance salesman went to visit his wife, Avis, at Richards Memorial Hospital. Mrs. Boyle suffered from Alzheimer's disease, a progressive, irreversible deterioration of the brain that, over time, can turn simple chores into impossible ones and loved ones into strangers. At times in church the 84-year-old Mrs. Boyle would start talking loudly in the middle of the sermon. At home, in front of others, she would harshly criticize her husband for faults that only she saw. That morning a nurse, Bobby Chaney, heard a strange sound when she passed by the hospital room, as if an oxygen tank had overturned. She pushed open the door. And there was Mrs. Boyle in bed, a small red stain growing larger on the front of her nightgown.

National Desk3196 words

NEW DISNEY TEAM'S STRATEGY

By Thomas C. Hayes

The new leaders of Walt Disney Productions, Michael D. Eisner and Frank G. Wells, said today that they were given a mandate by the company's directors to put the struggling Disney studios on an equal footing with the biggest and best of Hollywood's film companies. ''We want to build the entertainment group back to being as strong as the non-entertainment group'' at Disney, Mr. Eisner said in an interview. ''This is going to be a full-service entertainment company, with a regular stream of products.'' Disney formally announced today that Mr. Eisner was elected chairman and chief executive, and Mr. Wells, president and chief operating officer, by a unanimous board vote.

Financial Desk1160 words

METS WIN AS CUBS CLINCH TIE FOR TITLE

By Jane Gross

In the upper reaches of Shea Stadium yesterday, the banners that tally Dwight Gooden's strikeouts rippled in the breeze for the last time this season. The brilliant rookie did not accommodate those who are only satisfied by double digits, but otherwise his last 1984 appearance in New York was a fitting finale. Despite a head cold that weakened Gooden, slowed his fastball and forced his removal after eight innings, the 19-year-old pitcher beat the Montreal Expos, 6-1, and lifted his record to 17-9. He struck out nine batters to bring his season total to 276, best in the major leagues by a wide margin. He also singled twice, scored a run and held runners on base more successfully than he has all season, with Andre Dawson picked off in the first inning and caught stealing in the sixth.

Sports Desk854 words

CORRECTIONS

By Unknown Author

A picture caption in the Metropolitan Report Tuesday about kosher cheese for the needy incorrectly identified the site where the cheese was being distributed by the Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty. It was the United Jewish Council/Bialystoker Houses on the Lower East Side.

Metropolitan Desk46 words

JETS TOP BILLS, 28-26

By Gerald Eskenazi

The Jets continued to prove today that they can beat mediocre clubs in an age of parity, which means they may be much better than they appeared to be at the season's start. They produced a fine, exciting and exhausting 28-26 victory over the Buffalo Bills, with more than the usual number of dramas being played out. The key to the offense was the ability of Pat Ryan and Wesley Walker to hook up deep for the first time this season. Ryan, who was always a backup before this season, continued to show increasing command of the starting job. He tossed three touchdown passes to Walker, the receiver who missed all of training camp as a holdout, as the Jets increased their record to 3-1.

Sports Desk1412 words

Music on My Birthday

Billboard 200

The Top 50 albums for the chart week of September 19, 1984, covering September 24, 1984.

  1. 1
    Album cover for Purple Rain (Soundtrack) by Prince And The Revolution

    Purple Rain (Soundtrack)

    Prince And The Revolution

    Last week
    1
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    11
  2. 2
    Album cover for Born In The U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen

    Born In The U.S.A.

    Bruce Springsteen

    Last week
    2
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    14
  3. 3
    Album cover for Sports by Huey Lewis & The News

    Sports

    Huey Lewis & The News

    Last week
    3
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    51
  4. 4
    Album cover for Private Dancer by Tina Turner

    Private Dancer

    Tina Turner

    Last week
    4
    Peak
    4
    Weeks
    15
  5. 5
    Album cover for Heartbeat City by The Cars

    Heartbeat City

    The Cars

    Last week
    5
    Peak
    3
    Weeks
    25

Notable Births

Bobby Brown (basketball)

1984Bobby Brown, American basketball player[†]

Robert Douglas Brown is an American former professional basketball player who is the director of player development for the Cal State Fullerton Titans men's basketball team. Standing at 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m), he played the point guard position.

Notable Deaths

Neil Hamilton (actor)

1984Neil Hamilton, American actor (born 1899)[†]

James Neil Hamilton was an American stage, film and television actor, best remembered for his role as Commissioner Gordon on the Batman TV series of the 1960s, having first played a character by that name in 1928's Three Week-Ends. During his motion picture career, which spanned more than a half century, Hamilton performed in over 260 productions in the silent and sound eras.

Famous People Who Share Your Birthday

Birthday Twins

10 notable people born on September 24, across different years.

Portrait of F. Scott Fitzgerald, born in 1896

Photo: Photographer unknown. The publicity photo was distributed by… · Public domain · Commons

Full image credit

Creator: Photographer unknown. The publicity photo was distributed by Fitzgerald's publisher, Scribner's (source: Curtis, William (April 15, 1922). "Some Recent Books". Town & Country , Vol. LXXIX, pp. 62, 76; see photo caption). First known publication in The World's Work monthly magazine.

Credit: The photograph was first published in The World's Work (June 1921), p. 192 (Internet Archive). This scan of the photograph is sourced via OprahDaily.com .

View source and license details

Born 1896

F. Scott Fitzgerald

American writer (1896–1940)

Portrait of İsmet İnönü, born in 1884

Photo: Unknown. Official photo of President. · Public domain · Commons

Full image credit

Creator: Unknown. Official photo of President.

Credit: http://www.tccb.gov.tr/sayfa/cumhurbaskanlarimiz/ismet_inonu/

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Born 1884

İsmet İnönü

Turkish politician (1884–1973)

Portrait of Horace Walpole, born in 1717

Photo: Joshua Reynolds · Public domain · Commons

Full image credit

Creator: Joshua Reynolds

Credit: one or more third parties have made copyright claims against Wikimedia Commons in relation to the work from which this is sourced or a purely mechanical reproduction thereof . This may be due to recognition of the " sweat of the brow " doctrine, allowing works to be eligible for protection through skill and labour, and not purely by originality as is the case in the United States (where this website is hosted). These claims may or may not be valid in all jurisdictions. As such, use of this image in the jurisdiction of the claimant or other countries may be regarded as copyright infringement . Please see Commons:When to use the PD-Art tag for more information.

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Born 1717

Horace Walpole

British politician, writer, historian and antiquarian (1717–1797)

Portrait of Severo Ochoa, born in 1905

Photo: Irwin Gooen (NY University) · Public domain · Commons

Full image credit

Creator: Irwin Gooen (NY University)

Credit: File:Severo Ochoa 1958.jpg

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Born 1905

Severo Ochoa

Spanish biochemist and Nobel laureate (1905–1993)

Portrait of Jim Henson, born in 1936

Photo: Gotfryd, Bernard, photographer · Public domain · Commons

Full image credit

Creator: Gotfryd, Bernard, photographer

Credit: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2020731151/

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Born 1936

Jim Henson

American puppeteer (1936–1990)

Weekend Movie Rankings

Box Office

The top 10 movies ranked at the US/Canada box office for September 24, 1984.

Market
US/Canada
Reported period
September 24, 1984
Source
Box Office Mojo

Direct period match: This is the reported box-office period matched to September 24, 1984.

  1. 1
    Movie poster for All of Me

    All of Me

    Universal Pictures

    Weekend gross
    $5,803,848
    Theaters
    1,192
    Average / theater
    $4,869
    Total gross
    $5,803,848
    Weeks in release
    1
  2. 2
    Movie poster for The Evil That Men Do

    The Evil That Men Do

    TriStar Pictures

    Weekend gross
    $4,538,400
    Theaters
    1,464
    Average / theater
    $3,100
    Total gross
    $4,538,400
    Weeks in release
    1
  3. 3
    Movie poster for Ghostbusters

    Ghostbusters

    Columbia Pictures

    Weekend gross
    $2,850,809
    Theaters
    1,389
    Average / theater
    $2,052
    Total gross
    $201,036,554
    Weeks in release
    16
  4. 4
    Movie poster for Purple Rain

    Purple Rain

    Warner Bros.

    Weekend gross
    $2,157,231
    Theaters
    1,006
    Average / theater
    $2,144
    Total gross
    $55,547,623
    Weeks in release
    9
  5. 5
    Movie poster for Tightrope

    Tightrope

    Warner Bros.

    Weekend gross
    $2,053,476
    Theaters
    1,140
    Average / theater
    $1,801
    Total gross
    $43,588,929
    Weeks in release
    6
Source: Box Office Mojo · Source period September 21, 1984–September 23, 1984.

Historical Context for September 24, 1984

In 1984, the world population was approximately 4,782,175,519 people[†]

I was wondering if anything interesting on the news was going on when I was born, and decided to create this website for fun. The purpose is to show people what was going on when they were born. With this website I've found out that it was a pretty slow news day on my birthday, but I bet it would feel cool to know a historical event happened on your birthday.

The data used in this project is provided by the New York Times API. They have by far the best API I was able to find, with articles dating back to the 1950s. There weren't any other major newspapers that had an API with close to as much data. The closest was the Guardian API, but theirs only went back to the 1990s. I decided to only use articles from the New York Times because their API was by far the best. This tool works if you have a birthday after the 1950s or so.

Some important dates in history I'd recommend looking up on this website are:

  • 9/11/2001: The September 11 Attacks happened on this day, the news articles from this date provide great context to the tragedy our nation suffered and the immediate response from the American people. The headlines capture the shock, confusion, and unity that emerged in the aftermath of this devastating event.
  • 7/20/1969: The historic Apollo 11 moon landing, when humans first set foot on another celestial body. The articles from this date showcase humanity's greatest achievement in space exploration and the culmination of the space race.
  • 11/9/1989: The fall of the Berlin Wall, marking the beginning of the end of the Cold War. The coverage provides fascinating insights into this pivotal moment in world history and the emotions of people as decades of division came to an end.
  • 1/20/2009: Barack Obama's inauguration as the first African American President of the United States, a watershed moment in American history that represented a major milestone in the ongoing journey toward racial equality.
  • 8/15/1969: The Woodstock Music Festival began, marking a defining moment in American counterculture and music history. The coverage captures the spirit of the era and the unprecedented gathering of young people.

These historical events are just a few examples of the fascinating moments in history you can explore through this tool. Whether you're interested in your own birthday, significant historical dates, or just curious about what was making headlines on any given day, this website offers a unique window into the past through the lens of contemporary news coverage.

You can read more on our blog.