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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
- 1846 - Mexican-American War: General Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey.
- 1856 - John Brown and his men murder five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.
- 1883 - The Brooklyn Bridge in New York is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
- 1893 - The Niagara Falls Park and River Railway opens in Ontario.
- 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 - Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
- 1911 - The New York Public Library opened.
- 1915 - World War I: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary.
- 1921 - The trial of Sacco and Vanzetti opens.
- 1929 - The Cocoanuts, the first film to star the Marx Brothers, opens.
- 1930 - Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight).
- 1935 - Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio, hosts major-league baseball's first night game ever as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1.
- 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 crewmen on what was the pride of the Royal Navy.
- 1943 - Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer in Auschwitz concentration camp.
- 1949 - The Soviet Union ends the 11-month Berlin Blockade.
- 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 - American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.
- 1968 - Students set fire to the Paris bourse.
- 1968 - FLQ separatists bomb the U.S. consulate in Quebec City.
- 1970 - The drilling of the Kola Superdeep Borehole begins in the USSR
- 1974 - After a nine-year run, The Dean Martin Show airs for the last time.
- 1976 - London to Washington, DC Concorde service begins.
- 1980 - The International Court of Justice calls for the release of United States embassy hostages in Tehran. The hostages would not be freed until the following January.
- 1980 - Bobby Nystrom scores the game winning overtime goal to lift the New York Islanders to their first of four consecutive Stanley Cups.
- 1981 - First International Women's Day for Disarmament.
- 1988 - Section 28 is passed as law by Parliament in the United Kingdom.
- 1989 - Sonia Sutcliffe, wife of the Yorkshire Ripper, is awarded a six-figure sum in damages after winning a libel action against Private Eye.
- 1990 - A car carrying American Earth First! activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney explodes in Oakland, California, critically injuring both.
- 1991 - Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
- 1992 - The last Thai dictator, General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigns following pro-democracy protests.
- 1993 - Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia.
- 1993 - Microsoft unveils Windows NT.
- 2000 - Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.
- 2001 - Mountain climbing: 15-year-old Sherpa Temba Tsheri becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest.
- 2001 - The Versailles wedding hall collapse in Jerusalem, Israel, kills 23 and injures over 200 in Israel's worst-ever civil disaster.
Births
- 15 BC - Julius Caesar Germanicus, Roman commander (d. 19)
- 1494 - Pontormo, Italian painter (d. 1557)
- 1522 - John Jewel, English bishop (d. 1571)
- 1544 - William Gilbert, English natural philosopher (d. 1603)
- 1616 - John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale, (d. 1682)
- 1671 - Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1737)
- 1686 - Gabriel Fahrenheit, German physicist and engineer (d. 1736)
- 1689 - Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, English politician (d. 1769)
- 1743 - Jean-Paul Marat, French revolutionary (d. 1793)
- 1794 - William Whewell, English scientist, philosopher, and historian of science (d. 1866)
- 1810 - Charles Clark, Governor of Mississippi (d. 1877)
- 1810 - Abraham Geiger, German rabbi and scholar (d. 1874)
- 1816 - Emanuel Leutze, German-born painter (d. 1868)
- 1819 - Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (d. 1901)
- 1830 - Alexei Savrasov, Russian painter (d. 1897)
- 1836 - Joseph Rowntree, British social reformer (d. 1925)
- 1854 - John Riley Banister, American law officer and cowboy (d. 1918)
- 1855 - Arthur Wing Pinero, English playwright (d. 1934)
- 1863 - George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (d. 1938)
- 1868 - Charles E. Taylor, First aircraft maintenance professional (d. 1956)
- 1870 - Benjamin Cardozo, American jurist (d. 1938)
- 1870 - Jan Christian Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1950)
- 1878 - Lillian Moller Gilbreth, American engineer (d. 1972)
- 1886 - Paul Paray, French conductor and composer (d. 1979)
- 1891 - William F. Albright, American archeologist and Biblical scholar (d. 1971)
- 1899 - Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (d. 1938)
- 1899 - Henri Michaux, French poet (d. 1984)
- 1900 - Lionel Conacher, Canadian athlete and politician (d. 1954)
- 1900 - Eduardo De Filippo, Italian actor and screenwriter (d. 1984)
- 1901 - José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1968)
- 1905 - Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
- 1909 - Wilbur Mills, American politician (d. 1992)
- 1914 - Lilli Palmer, German-born actress (d. 1986)
- 1923 - Siobhán McKenna, Irish actress (d. 1986)
- 1925 - Mai Zetterling, Swedish-born entertainer (d. 1994)
- 1926 - Stanley Baxter, Scottish actor
- 1928 - William Trevor, Irish writer
- 1930 - Hans-Martin Linde, German conductor
- 1934 - Jane Byrne, Mayor of Chicago
- 1934 - Barry Rose, English choir-trainer and organist
- 1935 - Joan Micklin Silver, American director
- 1936 - Harold Budd, American musician
- 1938 - Tommy Chong, Canadian-born actor and comedian
- 1940 - Joseph Brodsky, Russian-born poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
- 1941 - Bob Dylan, American singer and songwriter
- 1943 - Gary Burghoff, American actor
- 1944 - Patti LaBelle, American singer
- 1945 - Priscilla Presley, American actress
- 1946 - Irena Kirszenstein-Szewinska, Russian-born Polish athlete
- 1949 - Jim Broadbent, English actor
- 1955 - Rosanne Cash, American singer
- 1956 - Michael Jackson, Northern Irish clergyman
- 1959 - Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish professional goaltender (d. 1985)
- 1960 - Kristin Scott Thomas, English actress
- 1962 - Gene Anthony Ray, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1962 - Mo Willems, American Author and screenwriter
- 1963 - Joe Dumars, American basketball player
- 1963 - Kathy Leander, Swiss singer
- 1964 - Adrian Moorhouse, British swimmer
- 1964 - Pat Verbeek, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1965 - John C. Reilly, American actor
- 1965 - Shinichiro Watanabe, Japanese anime director
- 1966 - Eric Cantona, French footballer
- 1967 - Heavy D, American rapper and actor
- 1967 - Carlos Hernández, baseball player
- 1969 - Rich Robinson, American musician (Black Crowes)
- 1970 - Tommy Page, American singer
- 1971 - Kris Draper, Canadian ice hockey player (Detroit Red Wings)
- 1972 - Greg Berlanti, American television writer and producer
- 1973 - Bartolo Colón, Dominican Major League Baseball player
- 1973 - Dermot O'Leary, English television presenter
- 1973 - Ruslana, Ukrainian singer
- 1973 - Ramón Ortiz, Baseball player
- 1975 - Marc Gagnon, Canadian short track speed skater
- 1976 - Alessandro Cortini, Italian musician
- 1978 - Bryan Greenberg, American actor
- 1978 - Brian Ching, Hawai'i soccer player
- 1979 - Tracy McGrady, American basketball player
- 1980 - Cecilia Cheung, Hong Kong actress
- 1982 - Issah Ahmed,Ghana footbal player
- 1984 - Sarah Hagan, American actress
- 1987 - Dominika Kasprzycka, Polish singer
- 1988 - Billy Gilman, American singer
- 1995 - Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein
Deaths
- 1153 - King David I of Scotland (b. 1084)
- 1351 - Abu al-Hasan 'Ali, Sultan of Morocco
- 1425 - Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, Scottish politician (b. 1362)
- 1456 - Ambroise de Loré, French military commander (b. 1396)
- 1543 - Nicolas Copernicus, astronomer (b. 1473)
- 1612 - Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English statesman and spymaster (b. 1563)
- 1627 - Luis de Góngora, Spanish poet (b. 1561)
- 1725 - Jonathan Wild, English criminal (b. 1683)
- 1734 - Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (b. 1660)
- 1749 - Graf Valentin Potocki, Polish nobleman (burned at the stake)
- 1792 - George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, British naval officer (b. 1718)
- 1806 - John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, British field marshal (b. 1723)
- 1879 - William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist, writer, and publisher (b. 1805)
- 1881 - Samuel Palmer, English artist (b. 1805)
- 1883 - Abdel Kadir, Algerian leader (b. 1808)
- 1919 - Amado Nervo, Mexican poet (b. 1870)
- 1945 - Robert Ritter von Greim, German field marshal (b. 1892)
- 1947 - C. F. Ramuz, Swiss writer (b. 1878)
- 1948 - Jacques Feyder, Belgian director and screenwriter (b. 1885)
- 1949 - Aleksey Shchusev, Russian architect (b. 1873)
- 1950 - Archibald Wavell, American general (b. 1883)
- 1959 - John Foster Dulles, United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
- 1963 - Elmore James, American musician (b. 1918)
- 1969 - Willy Ley, German-born rocket scientist (b. 1906)
- 1974 - Duke Ellington, American composer and musician (b. 1899)
- 1984 - Vincent J. McMahon, American pro wrestling promoter (b. 1914)
- 1991 - Gene Clark, American singer and songwriter (The Byrds) (b. 1944)
- 1995 - Harold Wilson, British statesman and prime minister (b. 1916)
- 1997 - Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (b. 1923)
- 1999 - Owen Hart, Professional wrestler (b. 1965)
- 2000 - Kurt Schork, American reporter and war correspondent (b. 1947)
- 2003 - Rachel Kempson, Lady Redgrave, English actress, widow of Sir Michael Redgrave, and the mother of Corin Redgrave, Vanessa Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave (b. 1910)
- 2004 - Henry Ries, American photographer (b. 1917)
- 2005 - Arthur Haulot, Belgian journalist and resistance fighter (b. 1913)
- 2005 - Vivian Liberto, first wife of Johnny Cash (b. 1934)
Holidays and observances
Liturgical feasts
External links
May 23 - May 25 - April 24 - June 24 – listing of all days
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