This Day in History: October 24: In 1945, the United Nations formally came into existence as the Charter of the United Nations, ratified by 29 nations, took effect. In 1537, Jane Seymour, the third wife of England’s King Henry VIII, died 12 days after giving birth to Prince Edward, later King Edward VI. In 1861, the first transcontinental telegraph message was sent by Chief Justice Stephen J. Field of California from San Francisco to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C. In 1929, a massive sell-off at the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange led to chaos. Though the market recovered some loses by the end of the day, “Black Thursday” marked the beginning of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. In 1931, the George Washington Bridge, connecting New York City with New Jersey, was dedicated; it was the world’s longest suspension bridge at that time. In 1952, Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower vowed to go to Korea as he promised to end the ongoing conflict there. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy roared across Jamaica and headed toward Cuba on its way to the eastern United States. In 2021, heavily protected crews in Washington state worked to destroy the first nest of so-called murder hornets discovered in the United States.