This day in history — April 24

Today’s highlight in history

On April 24, 1915, in what’s considered the start of the Armenian genocide, the Ottoman Empire began rounding up Armenian political and cultural leaders in Constantinople.

On this date

In 1792, Capt. Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle began composing “War Song for the Rhine Army,” later known as “La Marseillaise,” the national anthem of France.

In 1800, Congress approved a bill establishing the Library of Congress.

In 1898, Spain declared war on the United States. (The United States responded in kind the next day.)

In 1916, about 1,600 Irish nationalists launched the Easter Rising by seizing several key sites in Dublin. (The rising was put down by British forces five days later.)

In 1962, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology achieved the first satellite relay of a television signal, using NASA’s Echo 1 balloon satellite to bounce a video image from Camp Parks, Calif., to Westford, Mass.

In 1967, Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was killed when his Soyuz 1 spacecraft smashed into the Earth after his parachutes failed to deploy properly during re-entry; he was the first human spaceflight fatality.

In 1980, the United States launched an unsuccessful attempt to free the American hostages in Iran, a mission that resulted in the deaths of eight U.S. servicemen.

Ten years ago: European astronomers announced they had found a potentially habitable planet outside the solar system.

Five years ago: Lakers forward Metta World Peace (formerly known as Ron Artest) was suspended for seven games by the NBA two days after a vicious elbow on Oklahoma City’s James Harden.

One year ago: Billy Paul, 80, a jazz and soul singer best known for the No. 1 hit ballad and “Philadelphia Soul” classic “Me and Mrs. Jones,” died in Blackwood, N.J.

Associated Press