Daily Almanac: August 24, 2023

Sunrise/Sunset:

RISE: 7:06 a.m.
SET: 8:33 p.m.

High/Low Temperatures:

HIGH: 98 °F
LOW: 76 °F

Today is…:

• Can Opener Day
• National Knife Day
• Pluto Demoted Day

What Happened On This Day:

• 2006 Pluto is Declassified as a Planet. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) declassified Pluto as a planet and classified it as a dwarf planet. According to the IAU definition, a dwarf planet is neither a planet or a natural satellite. It is ‘a celestial object orbiting a star that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity but has not cleared its orbit of space debris’.
• 1949 NATO is Established. The North Atlantic Treaty, which established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an intergovernmental military alliance, came into effect on this day. The Treaty, which was signed on April 4, 1949 in Washington DC, created a collective defense system, where an attack on one member is considered an attack on all the other signatories.
• 1814 The British Burn Down Washington. British troops under the leadership of Major General Robert Ross occupied Washington D.C. and burnt down the city, including the Presidential Mansion and the Capitol building.

Births On This Day:

• 1957 Stephen Fry

English comedian, actor, journalist, author
• 1899 Jorge Luis Borges

Argentine writer

Deaths On This Day:

• 1983 Scott Nearing

American writer, educator
• 1946 James Clark McReynolds

American lawyer, judge