May 24
May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (145th in leap years). There are 221 days remaining. Events1153 - Malcolm IV becomes King of Scotland.1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.1430 - Joan of Arc is captured at Compičgne in Oise.1487 - Imposter Lambert Simnel is crowned as "King Edward VI" at Dublin.1626 - Peter Minuit buys Manhattan.1668 - Glen Cove, New York is founded.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.1822 - Battle of Pichincha: Simón Bolívar secures the independence of Quito. 1830 - Mary had a little lamb by Sarah Hale is published.1844 - The first electric telegram is 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.1856 - John Brown and his men murder five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas1861 - American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.1883 - The Brooklyn Bridge in New York 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, Northern Territory, 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 crewmen 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, Lys Assia wins the first Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland singing "Refrain".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 American consulate in Quebec City1968 - 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 - London to Washington, DC Concorde service begins. 1980 - The International Court of Justice calls for the release of United States embassy hostages in Tehran.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 Ethopian 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.2003 - In Riga, Latvia, Sertab Erener wins the forty-eighth Eurovision Song Contest for Turkey singing "Everyway [sic] That I Can".
Births1544 - William Gilbert (d. 1603)1616 - John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale, (d. 1682)1619 - (baptised) Philips Wouwerman, Dutch Baroque painter (d. 1668) 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 Mississippi1816 - Emanuel Leutze, painter of Washington Crossing the Delaware (d. 1868)1819 - Queen Victoria (d. 1901)1831 - Richard Hoffman, pianist1836 - Joseph Rowntree, British social reformer (d. 1925)1855 - Arthur Wing Pinero, playwright (d. 1934)1858 - Johan C Braakensiek, political cartoonist1863 - George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (d. 1938)1865 - Zo d'Axa, French anarchist, satirist and traveller 1866 - Armando Frid (d. 1990)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)1899 - Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player1899 - Henri Michaux, French poet1991 - Jack Ostrand, Duke of Wellington1905 - Zdenek Blazek, composer (d. 1988)1909 - Wilbur Mills, United States politician (d. 1992)1910 - Nils-Eric Fougstedt (d. 1961)1912 - Joan Hammond, soprano1913 - Willi Daume, German 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)1926 - Stanley Baxter, actor1928 - William Trevor, writer1930 - Hans-Martin Linde, conductor1934 - Jane Byrne, former mayor of Chicago1935 - Joan Micklin Silver, director, writer1936 - Harold Budd, musician1938 - Tommy Chong, actor, comedian1940 - Joseph Brodsky, poet1941 - Bob Dylan (aka Robert Allen Zimmerman), singer and songwriter1942 - Derek Quinn, musician1943 - Gary Burghoff, actor1944 - Arthur Brown, musician 1944 - Patti LaBelle, singer1945 - Priscilla Presley, actress1946 - Irena Kirszenstein-Szewinska, Russian-born Polish athlete1949 - Jim Broadbent, actor1953 - Alfred Molina, actor1955 - Rosanne Cash, singer1960 - Kristin Scott Thomas, actress1962 - Bev Lidyoff, volleyball player1963 - Joe Dumars, basketball star1965 - John C. Reilly, actor1966 - Eric Cantona, French footballerer1967 - Heavy D, rap musician, actor1972 - Greg Berlanti, American television writer and producer1973 - Dermot O'Leary, TV presenter1974 - Ruslana, Famous Ukrainian Singer and winner 49th Eurovision Song Contest 20041979 - Tracy McGrady, basketball player1983 - Nathan Braun, poet, writer and musician1988 - Billy Gilman, singer
Deaths592 - St. Simon Stylites the Younger1153 - 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)1879 - William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist, writer, publisher (b. 1805)1881 - Samuel Palmer, English artist (b. 1805)1883 - Abdel Kadir, Algerian leader (b. 1808)1903 - Marcel Renault, automobile racer1933 - Percy C. Mather, pioneer missionary to Eastern Turkestan1937 - Edward Dunne, mayor of Chicago (b. 1853)1947 - C. F. Ramuz, Swiss writer (b. 1878)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 (b. 1898)1991 - Wilhelm Kempff, German conductor (b. 1895)1995 - Harold Wilson, British statesman and prime minister (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
May 23 - May 25 - April 24 - June 24 - listing of all days
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