What happened on May 24? There are more than 288 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About May 24
May 24 is the 145th day of the year 2024. There are 221 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday. This day falls under the 21st week of the year 2024.
On this day in Lawrenceville, Georgia 30045 sunrise occured at 06:27 AM and sunset occured at 08:38 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Gemini. The modern birthstone for this month is Emerald while the mystical birthstone is Sapphire.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 250 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
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Historical Events For May 24
- 1218The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
- 1276Magnus Ladulås is crowned King of Sweden in Uppsala Cathedral.
- 1487The ten-year-old Lambert Simnel is crowned in Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland with the name of Edward VI in a bid to threaten King Henry VII’s reign.
- 1595Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.
- 1621The Protestant Union is formally dissolved.
- 1626Peter Minuit buys Manhattan.
- 1689The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration protecting Protestants. Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded.
- 1738John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day and a church service is generally held on the preceding Sunday.
- 1798The Irish Rebellion of 1798 led by the United Irishmen against British rule begins.
- 1822Battle of Pichincha: Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito.
- 1830Mary Had a Little Lamb by Sarah Josepha Hale is published.
- 1830The first revenue trains in the United States begin service on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad between Baltimore, Maryland and Ellicott’s Mills, Maryland.
- 1832The First Kingdom of Greece is declared in the London Conference.
- 1844Samuel Morse sends the message “What hath God wrought” (a biblical quotation, Numbers 23:23) from the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the United States Capitol to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore, Maryland to inaugurate the first telegraph line.
- 1846Mexican-American War: General Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey.
- 1856John Brown and his men kill five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.
- 1861American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.
- 1883The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
- 1895Henry Irving becomes the first person from the theatre to be knighted.
- 1900Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
- 1901Seventy-eight miners die in the Caerphilly pit disaster in South Wales.
- 1915World War I: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- 1921The trial of Sacco and Vanzetti opens.
- 1930Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight).
- 1935The first night game in Major League Baseball history is played in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the Cincinnati Reds beating the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 at Crosley Field.
- 1940Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.
- 1941World War II: In the Battle of the Atlantic, the German Battleship Bismarck sinks the then pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood, killing all but three crewmen.
- 1943Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
- 1948Arab–Israeli War: Egypt captures the Israeli kibbutz of Yad Mordechai, but the five-day effort gives Israeli forces time to prepare enough to stop the Egyptian advance a week later.
- 1956Conclusion of the Sixth Buddhist Council on Vesak Day, marking the 2,500 year anniversary after the Lord Buddha’s Parinibbāna.
- 1956The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland
- 1958United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.
- 1960Following the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, the largest ever recorded earthquake, Cordón Caulle begins to erupt.
- 1961American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi for “disturbing the peace” after disembarking from their bus.
- 1961Cyprus joins the Council of Europe.
- 1962Project Mercury: American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.
- 1967Egypt imposes a blockade and siege of the Red Sea coast of Israel.
- 1968FLQ separatists bomb the U.S. consulate in Quebec City.
- 1970The drilling of the Kola Superdeep Borehole begins in the Soviet Union.
- 1973Earl Jellicoe resigns as Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords.
- 1976The Judgement of Paris takes place in France, launching California as a worldwide force in the production of quality wine.
- 1976The London to Washington, D.C. Concorde service begins.
- 1980The International Court of Justice calls for the release of United States embassy hostages in Tehran, Iran. The hostages would not be freed until the following January.
- 1981Ecuadorian president Jaime Roldós Aguilera, his wife and his presidential committee died in an aircraft accident while travelling from Quito to Zapotillo minutes after the president famous speech regarding the 24 de mayo anniversary of the Battle of Pichincha.
- 1982Liberation of Khorramshahr: Iranians recapture of the port city of Khorramshahr from the Iraqis during the Iran–Iraq War.
- 1988Section 28 of the United Kingdom’s Local Government Act 1988, a controversial amendment stating that a local authority cannot intentionally promote homosexuality, is enacted.
- 1988The fourth game of the 1988 Stanley Cup Finals between the Edmonton Oilers and the Boston Bruins had to end in a tie because of a power failure. The Oilers went on to win the Stanley Cup with a 6-3 victory in game 5.
- 1989Sonia Sutcliffe, wife of the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, is awarded £600,000 in damages (later reduced to £60,000 on appeal) after winning a libel action against Private Eye.
- 1990A car carrying American Earth First! activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney explodes in Oakland, California, critically injuring both.
- 1991Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia.
- 1991Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
- 1992The last Thai dictator, General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigns following pro-democracy protests.
- 1994Four men convicted of bombing the World Trade Center in New York in 1993 are each sentenced to 240 years in prison.
- 2000Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.
- 2001Mountain climbing: 15-year-old Sherpa Temba Tsheri becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest.
- 2001The Versailles wedding hall disaster in Jerusalem, Israel, kills 23 and injures over 200
- 2002Russia and the United States sign the Moscow Treaty.
- 2004Communications in North Korea: North Korea bans mobile phones.
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Who Were Born On May 24?
- 15 BCJulius Caesar Germanicus, Roman commander (d. 19)
- 1084King David I of Scotland (d. 1153)
- 1494Pontormo, Italian painter (d. 1557)
- 1522John Jewel, English Bishop of Salisbury (d. 1571)
- 1544William Gilbert, English natural philosopher (d. 1603)
- 1616John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale (d. 1682)
- 1671Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1737)
- 1686Gabriel Fahrenheit, German inventor and thermometer maker (d. 1736)
- 1689Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, English politician (d. 1769)
- 1743Jean-Paul Marat, French revolutionary (d. 1793)
- 1794William Whewell, English scientist and philosopher (d. 1866)
- 1803Alexander von Nordmann, Finnish zoologist (d. 1866)
- 1810Abraham Geiger, German rabbi and scholar (d. 1874)
- 1810Charles Clark, 24th Governor of Mississippi (d. 1877)
- 1816Emanuel Leutze, German-born painter (d. 1868)
- 1819Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (d. 1901)
- 1830Alexei Savrasov, Russian painter (d. 1897)
- 1836Joseph Rowntree, British social reformer (d. 1925)
- 1854John Riley Banister, American law officer and cowboy (d. 1918)
- 1855Arthur Wing Pinero, English playwright (d. 1934)
- 1863George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (d. 1938)
- 1868Charlie Taylor, American mechanic, associate with the Wright brothers (d. 1956)
- 1870Benjamin Cardozo, American jurist (d. 1938)
- 1870Jan Christiaan Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1950)
- 1874Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1878)
- 1878Lillian Moller Gilbreth, American engineer (d. 1972)
- 1879H. B. Reese, American inventor of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and founder of H. B. Reese Candy Co. (d. 1956)
- 1885Susan Sutherland Isaacs, English educational psychologist (d. 1948)
- 1886Paul Paray, French conductor and composer (d. 1979)
- 1887Edward “Mick” Mannock, Irish World War I pilot (d. 1918)
- 1891William F. Albright, American archeologist and Biblical scholar (d. 1971)
- 1895Samuel Irving Newhouse, American publisher (d. 1979)
- 1899Henri Michaux, French poet (d. 1984)
- 1899Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi National poet. (d. 1976)
- 1899Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (d. 1938)
- 1900Eduardo De Filippo, Italian actor and screenwriter (d. 1984)
- 1900Lionel Conacher, Canadian athlete and politician (d. 1954)
- 1901José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1968)
- 1903Milo Burcham, American aviator (d. 1944)
- 1905Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
- 1909Wilbur Mills, U.S. House of Representative from Arkansas (d. 1992)
- 1911Barbara West, English survivor of the Titanic sinking (d. 2007)
- 1913Joe Abreu, Portuguese American Major League Baseball infielder (d. 1993)
- 1913Peter Ellenshaw, American matte designer (d. 2007)
- 1914Giuseppe Valdengo, Italian baritone (d. 2007)
- 1914Lilli Palmer, German-born actress (d. 1986)
- 1916Roden Cutler, Australian diplomat (d. 2002)
- 1923Siobhán McKenna, Irish actress (d. 1986)
- 1925Mai Zetterling, Swedish-born entertainer (d. 1994)
- 1926Stanley Baxter, Scottish actor
- 1928William Trevor, Irish writer
- 1930Hans-Martin Linde, German conductor
- 1931Michael Lonsdale, French actor
- 1932Arnold Wesker, English dramatist
- 1933Aharon Lichtenstein, French-born American Orthodox Jewish rabbi and rosh yeshiva
- 1934Barry Rose, English choir-trainer and organist
- 1934Jane Byrne, 50th Mayor of Chicago
- 1935Joan Micklin Silver, American director
- 1936Harold Budd, American composer and poet
- 1937Archie Shepp, American jazz saxophonist
- 1937Roger Peterson, pilot who flew the plane on The Day the Music Died (d. 1959)
- 1938David Viscott, American psychiatrist (d. 1996)
- 1938Tommy Chong, Canadian-born actor and comedian
- 1940Joseph Brodsky, Russian-born poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
- 1941Bob Dylan, American singer and songwriter
- 1941George Lakoff, American linguist and political activist
- 1942Ali Bacher, South African cricketer and administrator
- 1942Ichirō Ozawa, Japanese politician
- 1943Gary Burghoff, American actor
- 1944Patti LaBelle, American R&B singer, songwriter and actress
- 1945Priscilla Presley, American actress
- 1946Irena Szewińska, Russian-born Polish sprinter
- 1947Martin Winterkorn, German automotive executive (Volkswagen Group)
- 1949Jim Broadbent, English actor
- 1949Sybil Danning, Austrian actress
- 1949Tomaž Pisanski, Slovenian mathematician
- 1950Larry Seidlin, American judge
- 1953Alfred Molina, London-born Spanish-Italian actor
- 1953Klaus-Günter Stade, German footballer
- 1953Nell Campbell, American actress and singer
- 1955David Leonard, American guitarist, singer and songwriter
- 1955Rosanne Cash, American singer
- 1956Larry Blackmon, American singer (Cameo)
- 1956Michael Jackson, Northern Irish clergyman
- 1956Richard B. Bernstein, American constitutional and legal historian
- 1959Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish hockey player (d. 1985)
- 1960Doug Jones, American actor
- 1960Guy Fletcher, British keyboardist (Dire Straits)
- 1960Kristin Scott Thomas, English actress
- 1962Gene Anthony Ray, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1962Héctor Camacho, Puerto Rican boxer
- 1963Ivan Capelli, Italian racing driver
- 1963Joe Dumars, American basketball player
- 1963Kathy Leander, Swiss singer
- 1963Michael Chabon, American author
- 1963Rich Rodriguez, American football coach
- 1964Adrian Moorhouse, British swimmer
- 1964Liz McColgan, British runner
- 1964Pat Verbeek, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1965Jens Becker, German bassist (Grave Digger)
- 1965John C. Reilly, American actor
- 1965Shinichiro Watanabe, Japanese anime director
- 1966Eric Cantona, French footballer
- 1966Ricky Craven, American NASCAR driver
- 1966Russell Kun, Nauruan politician
- 1967Bruno Putzulu, French actor
- 1967Carlos Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1967Dana Ashbrook, American actor
- 1967Eric Close, American actor
- 1967Steve McDonald, American bassist (Redd Kross)
- 1968Mo Willems, American author and screenwriter
- 1969Rich Robinson, American musician (Black Crowes)
- 1970Tommy Page, American singer
- 1971Kris Draper, Canadian ice hockey player (Detroit Red Wings)
- 1972Greg Berlanti, American television writer and producer
- 1972Joanna Wiśniewska, Polish discus thrower
- 1973Bartolo Colón, Dominican baseball player
- 1973Dermot O'Leary, English television presenter
- 1973Ruslana, Ukrainian singer
- 1973Vladimír Šmicer, Czech footballer
- 1974Masahide Kobayashi, Japanese baseball player
- 1974Sébastien Foucan, French actor and free-runner
- 1974Will Sasso, Canadian actor and comedian
- 1975Marc Gagnon, Canadian short track speed skater
- 1975Maria Lawson, British singer
- 1975Yannis Goumas, Greek footballer
- 1976Alessandro Cortini, Italian multi-instrumentalist (Nine Inch Nails)
- 1976Bob Maesen, Belgian flatwater canoer
- 1976Catherine Cox, Australian netballer
- 1977Kym Valentine, Australian actress
- 1978Brad Penny, American baseball player
- 1978Brian Ching, American footballer
- 1978Bryan Greenberg, American actor
- 1978Elijah Burke, American wrestler
- 1978Johan Holmqvist, Swedish hockey player
- 1979Frank Mir, American UFC fighter
- 1979Kareem McKenzie, American football player
- 1979Tracy McGrady, American basketball player
- 1980Cecilia Cheung, Hong Kong actress and singer
- 1981Marketa Janska, Czech model
- 1982DaMarcus Beasley, American footballer
- 1982Issah Ahmed, Ghanaian football player
- 1983Woo Seung-yeon, South Korean model and actress (d. 2009)
- 1984Brodney Pool, American football player
- 1984Ryan Wieber, American visual effects compositor and amateur filmmaker
- 1984Sarah Hagan, American actress
- 1985Giannis Kondoes, Greek footballer
- 1985Tim Bridgman, British racing driver
- 1986Jordan Metcalfe, English actor
- 1986Mark Ballas, American professional dancer
- 1987Guillaume Latendresse, Canadian hockey player
- 1988Artem Anisimov, Russian hockey player
- 1988Billy Gilman, American singer
- 1988Monica Lin Brown, American soldier
- 1989Adel Taarabt, Moroccan footballer
- 1989Andrew Jordan, British racing driver
- 1990Joey Logano, American racing driver
- 1991Erika Umeda, Japanese singer
- 1992Travis T. Flory, American actor
- 1993Oliver Davis, American actor
- 1994Cayden Boyd, American actor
- 1995Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein
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Who Died On May 24?
- 1351Abu al-Hasan 'Ali, Sultan of Morocco (b. c. 1297)
- 1408Taejo of Joseon, ruler of Korea (b. 1335)
- 1425Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, Scottish politician (b. 1362)
- 1456Ambroise de Loré, French military commander (b. 1396)
- 1543Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer (b. 1473)
- 1612Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English statesman (b. 1563)
- 1627Luis de Góngora, Spanish poet (b. 1561)
- 1632Robert Hues, English mathematician and geographer (b. 1553)
- 1725Jonathan Wild, English criminal (b. 1682)
- 1734Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (b. 1660)
- 1792George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, British naval officer (b. 1718)
- 1806John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, British field marshal (b. 1723)
- 1843Sylvestre François Lacroix, French mathematician (b. 1765)
- 1861Elmer E. Ellsworth, American Civil War officer (b. 1837)
- 1872Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, German painter (b. 1794)
- 1876Georgi Benkovski, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1843)
- 1879William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist and publisher (b. 1805)
- 1881Samuel Palmer, English artist (b. 1805)
- 1908Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (b. 1821)
- 1915Private John Condon, English World War I soldier (b. 1896)
- 1919Amado Nervo, Mexican poet (b. 1870)
- 1941Lancelot Holland, British admiral (b. 1887)
- 1945Robert Ritter von Greim, German field marshal (b. 1892)
- 1947Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, Swiss writer (b. 1878)
- 1948Jacques Feyder, Belgian director and screenwriter (b. 1885)
- 1949Aleksey Shchusev, Russian architect (b. 1873)
- 1950Archibald Wavell, British Field Marshal (b. 1883)
- 1959John Foster Dulles, American, 52nd United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
- 1960Avraham Arnon, Israeli educator and a recipient of the Israel Prize (b. 1887)
- 1963Elmore James, American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter (b. 1918)
- 1969Willy Ley, German-born rocket scientist (b. 1906)
- 1972Ismail Yasin, Egyptian comedian and actor (b. 1915)
- 1974Duke Ellington, American composer and musician (b. 1899)
- 1979Sir Ernest Bullock, English organist and composer (b. 1890)
- 1984Vincent J. McMahon, American pro wrestling promoter (b. 1914)
- 1991Gene Clark, American singer and songwriter (The Byrds) (b. 1944)
- 1991Miriam di San Servolo, Italian actress (b. 1912)
- 1992Hitoshi Ogawa, Japanese racing driver (b. 1956)
- 1995Harold Wilson, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1964-1970, 1974-1976 (b. 1916)
- 1996Enrique Álvarez Félix, Mexican actor (b. 1934)
- 1996Joseph Mitchell, American journalist (b. 1908)
- 1997Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (b. 1923)
- 2000Kurt Schork, American reporter (b. 1947)
- 2000Majrooh Sultanpuri, Indian poet and lyricist (b. 1919)
- 2002Wallace Markfield, American writer (b. 1926)
- 2003Lady Rachel Kempson, English actress (b. 1910)
- 2004Edward Wagenknecht, American literary critic (b. 1900)
- 2004Henry Ries, American photographer (b. 1917)
- 2004Milton Shulman, Canadian author and critic (b. 1913)
- 2005Arthur Haulot, Belgian journalist (b. 1913)
- 2005Carl Amery, German writer (b. 1922)
- 2005Vivian Liberto, first wife of Johnny Cash (b. 1934)
- 2006Henry Bumstead, American art director (b. 1915)
- 2006Jesus Ledesma Aguilar, Mexican convicted killer (b. 1963)
- 2006Michał Życzkowski, Polish technician (b. 1930)
- 2007Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer (b. 1922)
- 2008Dick Martin, American comedian (b. 1922)
- 2008Rob Knox, British actor (b. 1989)
- 2009Jay Bennett, American guitarist and singer-songwriter (Wilco) (b. 1963)
- 2010Anneliese Rothenberger, German operatic lyric soprano (b. 1926)
- 2010Morrie Martin, Former Major League Baseball (b. 1922)
- 2010Paul Gray, American bassist (Slipknot) (b. 1972)
- 2010Petr Muk, Czech composer, musician, performer, and singer (b. 1965)
- 2010Ray Alan, English ventriloquist & television entertainer (b. 1930)
- 2010Raymond V. Haysbert, African-American business executive and civil rights leader (b. 1920)
- 2010Tapen Chatterjee, Bengali actor from India (b. 1937)
- 2010Virendra Bhatia, Indian politician (b. 1947)
- 2011Hakim Ali Zardari Pakistani politician (b. 1930 Nawabshah)
- 2011Huguette Clark, Heiress of the Clark Copper fortune, life-long reclusion from society (b. 1906)
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