{"id":17508,"date":"2022-08-24T07:05:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T05:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=214203"},"modified":"2022-08-24T07:20:09","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T05:20:09","slug":"24-august-on-this-day-in-history","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/24-august-on-this-day-in-history\/","title":{"rendered":"24 August: On this day in history"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Elinor Evans\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 24 August 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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24 August AD 79: Pompeii<\/a> is engulfed by ash<\/h3>\n

Vesuvius erupts with furious violence and devastating results<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

On the afternoon of 24 August 79, the commander of the Roman fleet, Pliny the Elder, was at home in Misenum at the northern end of the Bay of Naples. He was working on some papers after\u00a0a leisurely lunch when his sister noticed \u201ca cloud of unusual size and appear- ance\u201d, rising above the peak of Vesuvius. Pliny immediately called for a boat but, even before he had set out, a message arrived from the town at the foot of the mountain where residents were terrified of the looming cloud.<\/p>\n

By the time Pliny had crossed the bay to the town of Stabiae, it was obvious that something terrible was afoot. Vesuvius now seemed ablaze, wrote Pliny\u2019s nephew, known as Pliny the Younger, while \u201cashes were already falling, hotter and thicker as the ships drew near, followed by bits of pumice and blackened stones, charred and cracked by the flames\u201d. With ash filling the sky, the unnatural darkness seemed \u201cblacker and denser than any ordinary night\u201d.<\/p>\n

Barely three miles away on the volcano\u2019s fertile slopes stood Pompeii. That wealthy town was no stranger to disaster \u2013 it had been damaged by an earthquake just 17 years earlier \u2013 but as the ash began to fall, it was obvious that this was far, far worse. Almost certainly thousands were killed, though the true figure will never be known. Even at Misenum, where the elder Pliny\u2019s relatives waited in vain for his return\u00a0\u2013 he collapsed and died in the chaos \u2013 utter panic took hold. \u201cYou could hear the shrieks of women, the wailing of infants, and the shouting of men; some were calling their parents, others their children or their wives,\u201d wrote Pliny\u2019s nephew. It felt, he added, as though \u201cthe whole world was dying with me, and I with it.\u201d | Written by Dominic Sandbrook<\/strong><\/p>\n

24 August 410:\u00a0Rome sacked by the Visigoth army<\/h3>\n

Citizens butchered and valuables stolen as Eternal City falls<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

For centuries afterwards, the sack of Rome by the Visigoths on 24 August 410 reverberated as one of the darkest days in world history. The birthplace of the empire, the spiritual capital of the Christian world, had fallen to the barbarians.<\/p>\n

In fact, Rome\u2019s importance in the early fifth century was largely symbolic. Following the division of the empire, power had moved to the new capitals of Constantinople and Ravenna, and the ageing city was manifestly in decline. Even so, as Alaric\u2019s Visigothic army approached, its fall seemed almost unimaginable.<\/p>\n

But then, according to legend, a group of disaffected slaves opened the Salarian Gate, and in poured the barbarian army. And so, \u201c1163 years after the foundation of Rome\u201d, wrote Edward Gibbon, \u201cthe Imperial city, which had subdued and civilised so considerable a part of mankind, was delivered to the licentious fury of the tribes of Germany and Scythia\u201d.<\/p>\n

The sack lasted three days, during which the Visigoths burned and ransacked some of the city\u2019s landmarks, raped and killed several citizens and seized others as slaves. In fact,\u00a0by the standards of the day they were pretty restrained, but that was little consolation. \u201cMy voice sticks in my throat, and as I dictate, sobs choke me,\u201d the theologian St Jerome recorded. \u201cThe city which had taken the whole world was itself taken\u2026 Who would have believed that mighty Rome, with its careless security of wealth, would be reduced to such extremities as to need shelter, food and clothing?<\/p>\n

24 August 1662\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The Act of Uniformity came into effect in England, enforcing the use of the new English Prayer Book\u00a0and requiring episcopal ordination of all ministers.<\/p>\n

24 August 1759<\/h3>\n

Anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce was born in Kingston upon Hull, the son of a wealthy merchant. At the age of 17 he went to Cambridge University where he formed a lasting friendship with future prime minister William Pitt. In 1785 he underwent an evangelical conversion, from which point he resolved to dedicate the rest of his life to the service of God.<\/p>\n

24 August 1921<\/h3>\n

The R38 airship, which was undergoing trials before being delivered to the US Navy, broke up in the air and crashed into the Humber, killing 44 of the 49 crew members on board.<\/p>\n

Browse more On this day in history<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n