Túpac Amaru is executedSpanish authorities beheaded the last Sapa Inca in the main square of Cuzco, ending the final independent remnant of the Inca Empire.September 24 in history
From the fall of the last Inca to a grunge album that remade rock, September 24 links endings, births, and debuts over more than four centuries.
September 24 opens in the Andes. In 1572, Spanish authorities beheaded Túpac Amaru, the last Sapa Inca, before a vast crowd in Cuzco, closing the final chapter of the Inca Empire. More than three centuries later, the date turns to beginnings. F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1896, and grew up to capture the glitter and unease of the Jazz Age. On the feast of La Mercè in 1957, FC Barcelona opened Camp Nou, a stadium built on borrowed money that became the largest in Europe.
The later events belong to popular culture. On this day in 1991, Nirvana released Nevermind, an album its label hoped might sell a quarter of a million copies. It sold tens of millions and pulled alternative rock into the mainstream. In 2007, CBS premiered The Big Bang Theory, a sitcom about awkward physicists that grew from weak early ratings into one of the most watched comedies on television. Together, the five stories trace how a single date can hold both the end of an empire and the start of things people still argue about, watch, and read.
Túpac Amaru is executedSpanish authorities beheaded the last Sapa Inca in the main square of Cuzco, ending the final independent remnant of the Inca Empire.
F. Scott Fitzgerald is bornThe future author of The Great Gatsby was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and grew up to define the Jazz Age in American fiction.
Camp Nou opensFC Barcelona inaugurated its new stadium before about 90,000 people, opening what became the largest football ground in Europe.
Nirvana releases NevermindA Seattle trio's second album reached stores with modest hopes, then topped the charts and carried grunge and alternative rock into the mainstream.
The Big Bang Theory premieresCBS launched a sitcom about two Pasadena physicists and their neighbor. It grew from a slow start into a 12-season hit with 279 episodes.