Chicago Cubs history unpacked, April 24

Cubs Birthdays: Willi Castro, Steven Souza Jr., Welington Castillo*, Will Cunnane, Herman Segelke, Glen Hobbie, Ken Penner. Also notable: Carlos Beltrán HOF. Chipper Jones HOF. Andy Cooper HOF.

Today in history:

• 1184 BC – The Greeks enter Troy using the Trojan Horse (traditional date).
• 1459 – Fra Mauro completes his Map of the World in Venice for King Alfonso V of Portugal – largest known world map from Medieval Europe and the first to show Africa as a free-standing continent.
• 1833 – Jacob Evert and George Dulty patent the first soda fountain.
• 1895 – Canadian-American adventurer Joshua Slocum sets sail from Boston, Massachusetts on a solo around-the-world voyage aboard ‘Spray’, an 11.2-m oyster sloop, 46,000 miles.
• 1908 – Mr & Mrs Jacob Murdock and their children depart Los Angeles in a Packard Thirty, endeavoring to become the first family to travel across the United States by car. They arrive in NYC 32 days, 5 hours and 25 minutes later.
• 1945 – Miles Davis makes recording debut with the Herbie Fields Orchestra, backing singer “Rubberlegs” Wilson, at Savoy Records Studio, Newark, New Jersey.
• 1953 – Winston Churchill knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
• 1969 – Paul McCartney says there is no truth to rumors he is dead (and he’s still not dead).
• 1989  – Massachusetts declares today “New Kids on the Block Day”.
• 2018 – Streaming music services overtake worldwide sales of CDs and vinyl for the first time according to IFPI.

*pictured.