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History might have seen days less diverse than today, July 24. Born on this day: Simon Bolivar (1783), who freed 6 Latin American republics from Spanish rule, Alexandre Dumas (1802), who told the Count of Monte Christo how to escape, and Amelia Earhart (1898), the first woman to fly solo over the Atlantic. Maria Stuart resigned (1567), the city of Detroit founded (1701), Gibraltar captured from Spain (1704), results of the first public opinion poll published in a newspaper (1824), Machu Picchu discovered (1911), Eiger-Nordwand defeated (1938), Mussolini deprived of his power (1943).

Today in the same year, allied Operation Gomorrha starts. Seven air raids between July 24/25 and August 2/3 will leave half Hamburg wiped out, in the July 27/28 night, the first "Firestorm" ever will turn the city into a giant fire, 40,000 die.

This day in 1959, Khrushchev and Nixon have their famous Kitchen Debate: "In the end, Mr Nixon apologised for being a poor host and the two men agreed to thank the exhibit hostess for letting them argue in her kitchen."

UPDATE
Papa Scott points to series on the Hamburg firebombing in the Hamburger Abendblatt (German language) : "The series asks the question that cannot be answered and is even more relevant today: When good fights evil, how evil can good allow itself to become?"