May 24
May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (145th in leap years). There are 221 days remaining.
Events
- 1153 - Malcolm IV becomes King of Scotland.
- 1218 - Fifth Crusade embarks for Egypt
- 1430 - Joan of Arc captured at Compiègne
- 1487 - Imposter Lambert Simnel is crowned as "King Edward VI" at Dublin.
- 1626 - Peter Minuit buys Manhattan.
- 1689 - The Act of Toleration passes the English Parliament protecting Protestants (Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded).
- 1738 - The Methodist Church is established.
- 1787 - The United States Constitutional Convention is convened after a quorum of delegates arrives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1798 - Irish nationalists rebel against British occupation forces believing that French troops were going to invade Ireland.
- 1810 - Argentina begins its revolt against Spain.
- 1822 - Battle of Pichincha: Simón Bolívar secures the independence of Quito.
- 1844 - First electrical telegram sent by Samuel F. B. Morse from Baltimore, Maryland to Washington, D.C., saying "What hath God wrought?".
- 1846 - Mexican-American War: General Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey, Mexico.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.
- 1883 - The Brooklyn Bridge is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
- 1895 - Henry Irving becomes the first personage from the theatre to be knighted.
- 1899 - The first public parking garage in the United States is opened in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1900 - Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
- 1915 - World War I: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- 1921 - Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti opens
- 1929 - The Cocoanuts, the first film to star the Marx Brothers, opens.
- 1930 - Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Australia becoming the first woman to fly from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight).
- 1940 - Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.
- 1941 - World War II: In the North Atlantic, the German Battleship Bismarck sinks the HMS Hood killing all but three crewman on what was the pride of the Royal Navy.
- 1943 - Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer in Auschwitz concentration camp.
- 1956 - In Lugano, Switzerland the first Eurovision Song Contest is held.
- 1958 - United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.
- 1961 - American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus.
- 1962 - Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.
- 1968 - Students set fire to the Paris bourse.
- 1968 - The Gateway Arch, in St. Louis, Missouri, is dedicated
- 1974 - After a nine year run, the Dean Martin Show airs for the last time.
- 1976 - Washington, DC Concorde service begins.
- 1980 - The International Court of Justice calls for the release of United States embassy hostages in Tehran.
- 1988 - Section 28 is passed as law by Parliament in the United Kingdom.
- 1993 - Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia.
- 1993 - Microsoft unveils Windows NT.
- 2001 - Mountain climbing: 15-year-old Sherpa Temba Tsheri becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest.
Births
- 1544 - William Gilbert (d. 1603)
- 1616 - John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale, (d. 1682)
- 1619 - Philips Wouwerman, painter (d. 1668)
- 1650 - John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough (d. 1722)
- 1743 - Jean-Paul Marat, French revolutionary (d. 1793)
- 1794 - William Whewell, philosopher (d. 1866)
- 1810 - Abraham Geiger, rabbi and scholar (d. 1874)
- 1811 - Charles Clark, Governor of Mississippi
- 1816 - Emanuel Leutze, painter of Washington Crossing the Delaware (d. 1868)
- 1819 - Queen Victoria (d. 1901)
- 1831 - Richard Hoffman, pianist
- 1855 - Arthur Wing Pinero, painter (d. 1934)
- 1858 - Johan C Braakensiek, political cartoonist
- 1863 - George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (d. 1938)
- 1866 - Armando Frid (d. 1990)
- 1864 - Zo d'Axa (aka Alphonse Gallaud, anarchist traveler and lampoonist
- 1870 - Jan Christian Smuts (d. 1950)
- 1870 - Benjamin Cardozo, US jurist (d. 1938)
- 1878 - Lillian Moller Gilbreth, mother of modern management (d. 1972)
- 1886 - Paul Paray, conductor, composer (d. 1979)
- 1891 - William F. Albright, American archeologist and Biblical scholar (d. 1971)
- 1893 - Walter Baade, astronomer (d. 1960)
- 1899 - Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player
- 1899 - Henri Michaux, French poet
- 1905 - Zdenek Blazek, composer (d. 1988)
- 1909 - Wilbur Mills, United States politician (d. 1992)
- 1910 - Nils-Eric Fougstedt (d. 1961)
- 1912 - Joan Hammond, soprano
- 1913 - Willi Daume, Olympic organizer (d. 1996)
- 1914 - Lilli Palmer, actress (d. 1986)
- 1917 - John Robert Russell, Duke of Bedford (d. 2002)
- 1922 or 1923 - Siobhan McKenna, actress (d. 1986)
- 1925 - Mai Zetterling, entertainer (d. 1994)
- 1928 - Stanley Baxter, actor
- 1928 - William Trevor, writer
- 1930 - Hans-Martin Linde, conductor
- 1934 - Jane Byrne, former mayor of Chicago, Illinois
- 1935 - Joan Micklin Silver, director, writer
- 1936 - Harold Budd, musician
- 1938 - Tommy Chong, actor, comedian
- 1940 - Joseph Brodsky, poet
- 1941 - Bob Dylan (aka Robert Allen Zimmerman)
- 1942 - Derek Quinn, musician
- 1943 - Gary Burghoff, actor
- 1944 - Arthur Brown, musician
- 1944 - Patti LaBelle, singer
- 1944 - Frank Oz, puppeteer, writer, producer, actor, director
- 1945 - Priscilla Presley, actress
- 1946 - Irena Kirszenstein-Szewinska, Polish athlete
- 1949 - Jim Broadbent, actor
- 1953 - Alfred Molina, actor
- 1955 - Rosanne Cash, singer
- 1960 - Kristin Scott Thomas, actress
- 1962 - Bev Lidyoff, volleyball player
- 1963 - Joe Dumars, basketball star
- 1965 - John C. Reilly, actor
- 1966 - Eric Cantona, French footballer
- 1967 - Heavy D, rap musician, actor
- 1979 - Tracy McGrady, basketball player
- 1988 - Billy Gilman, singer
==Deaths== (not all cross-checked)
- 592 - St. Simon Stylites the Younger
- 1153 - King David I of Scotland (b. 1084)
- 1543 - Nicolas Copernicus, astronomer (b. 1473)
- 1612 - Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, 1st Viscount Cranborne (b. 1563)
- 1848 - Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (b. 1797)
- 1879 - William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist, writer, publisher (b. 1805)
- 1883 - Abdel Kadir, Algerian leader (b. 1808)
- 1903 - Marcel Renault, automobile racer
- 1933 - Percy C. Mather, pioneer missionary to Eastern Turkestan
- 1950 - Archibald Wavell, general (b. 1883)
- 1959 - John Foster Dulles, United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
- 1963 - Elmore James, blues musician (b. 1918)
- 1969 - Willy Ley, rocket scientist (b. 1906)
- 1974 - Duke Ellington, composer, musician (b. 1899)
- 1981 - George Jessel, vaudevillian
- 1995 - Harold Wilson, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1916)
- 1997 - Edward Mulhare, actor (b. 1923)
- 2003 - Lady Rachel Kempson, actress (b. 1910)
- 2004 - Henry Ries, American photographer (b. 1917)
Holidays and Observances
Clear Rain Day, in the Mansfield and Trinity areas of Hawick, Scotland, is celebrated on this day (and the weekend preceding it). It is rumoured that two people found some unknown power and were able to use it on many things, mental and physical, on this night, and it also rained when it was clear (hence the name).
Victoria Day is celebrated in Canada on this date or the Monday before it (in Quebec, it is known as Patriotes Day (Journée nationale des patriotes). It is regarded as a public holiday.
May 23 - May 25 - April 24 - June 24 - listing of all days