Today In History: G. Washington Bridge, Air Race, 40 Hour Week & The U.N.

I have not posted a item about this day in history for a while, and I hope to get back in the habit.   According to The People History, some interesting events took place on today's date (October 24) during the Swing Era.  

  U.S. 1931 U.S.A. George Washington Bridge Opens: The upper level of the George Washington Bridge, able to carry six lanes of traffic, connecting New York and New Jersey, opened to traffic. Work on the bridge on behalf of the Port of New York Authority had begun in October 1927.

UK 1934 UK The MacRobertson Trophy Air Race: The MacRobertson Trophy Air Race with a prize of over $75,000 starts from RAF Mildenhall in East Anglia to Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, aircraft entered from all over the world including America, Holland, Argentina. New Zealand, Australia and more. The race was over 11,000 miles with stops at at Baghdad, Allahabad, Singapore, Darwin and Charleville, Queensland. A British built de Havilland DH.88 Comet piloted by C.W.A. Scott, T. Campbell Black won the race with an elapsed time of 71hr 0.  

U.S. 1940 U.S.A. 40hr Working Week:  Due to the passing of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S. Code Chapter 8) in 1938 (part of the New Deal) the 40-hour working week goes into effect.  

U.S. 1945 U.S.A. United Nations Oct. 24th, 1945 : The United Nations is formally established as a new international body to maintain peace in the postwar world when its charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and a majority of other signatories.