This Day in History: April 24

Here’s a brief look back in time for this day, April 24.

In 1800, the Library of Congress is established. 2nd U.S. President John Adams sought to build a collection of books to use as a reference for Congress. The original collection of around 740 were shipped from London. Most of it was burned during the British invasion and subsequent torching of Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812. Thomas Jefferson, shocked by the destruction of such information, decided to donate all of his personal collection to the library, until it too, fell victim to burning in 1851. This accidental fire destroyed around 35,000 books. It wasn’t until the Civil War when the library greatly expanded. Today, it houses over 173 million different types of media, including books, movies, CDs, etc.

In 1916, armed Irish Republicans launch the first in a series of counteroffensives against the British Empire, who had ruled the neighboring island for centuries. Led by Patrick Pearse, the militia was off on a great start until further deployments of British soldiers overwhelmed them. Pearse and 14 others were executed for treason. However, the Rising only helped the movement gain momentum. The Irish War of Independence began a few years later in 1919, which led to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921: essentially serving as Ireland’s own Declaration of Independence.