May 24th. TODAY IN HISTORY.

May 24 is the 144th day of the year (145th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 221 days remaining until the end of the year.


1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.

1276 – Magnus Ladulås is crowned King of Sweden in Uppsala Cathedral.

1487 – The 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.

1595 – Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.

1621 – The Protestant Union is formally dissolved.

1626 – Peter Minuit buys Manhattan.

1667 – The French Royal Army crosses the border into the Spanish Netherlands, starting the War of Devolution opposing France to the Spanish Empire and the Triple Alliance.

1689 – The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration protecting Protestants. Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded.

1738 – John 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.

1798 – The Irish Rebellion of 1798 led by the United Irishmen against British rule begins.

1822 – Battle of Pichincha: Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito.

1830 – Mary Had a Little Lamb by Sarah Josepha Hale is published.

1830 – The first revenue trains in the United States begin service on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad between Baltimore, Maryland and Ellicott's Mills, Maryland.

1832 – The First Kingdom of Greece is declared in the London Conference.

1844 – Samuel 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.

1846 – Mexican-American War: General Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey.

1856 – John Brown and his men kill five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.

1861 – American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.

1883 – The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.

1895 – Henry Irving becomes the first person from the theatre to be knighted.

1900 – Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.

1901 – Seventy-eight miners die in the Caerphilly pit disaster in South Wales.

1915 – World War I: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary.

1921 – The trial of Sacco and Vanzetti opens.

1930 – Amy 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).

1935 – The 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.

1940 – Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.

1941 – World 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.

1943 – Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

1948 – Arab–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.

1956 – Conclusion of the Sixth Buddhist Council on Vesak Day, marking the 2,500 year anniversary after the Lord Buddha's Parinibbāna.

1956 – The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland

1958 – United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.

1960 – Following the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, the largest ever recorded earthquake, Cordón Caulle begins to erupt.

1961 – American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus.

1961 – Cyprus joins the Council of Europe.

1962 – Project Mercury: American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.

1967 – Egypt imposes a blockade and siege of the Red Sea coast of Israel.

1968 – FLQ separatists bomb the U.S. consulate in Quebec City.

1970 – The drilling of the Kola Superdeep Borehole begins in the Soviet Union.

1976 – The London to Washington, D.C. Concorde service begins.

1976 – The Judgement of Paris takes place in France, launching California as a worldwide force in the production of quality wine.

1981 – Ecuadorian 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 gave a famous speech regarding the 24 de mayo anniversary of the Battle of Pichincha.

1982 – Liberation of Khorramshahr: Iranians recapture of the port city of Khorramshahr from the Iraqis during the Iran–Iraq War.

1988 – Section 28 of the United Kingdom's Local Government Act 1988, a controversial amendment stating that a local authority cannot intentionally promote homosexuality, is enacted.

1991 – Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia.

1991 – Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

1992 – The last Thai dictator, General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigns following pro-democracy protests.

1994 – Four men convicted of bombing the World Trade Center in New York in
1993 are each sentenced to 240 years in prison.

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 disaster in Jerusalem, Israel, kills 23 and injures over 200

2002 – Russia and the United States sign the Moscow Treaty.

Births

• 15 BC – Julius Caesar Germanicus, Roman commander (d. 19)
• 1494 – Pontormo, Italian painter (d. 1557)
• 1522 – John Jewel, English Bishop of Salisbury (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 inventor and thermometer maker (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 and philosopher (d. 1866)
• 1803 – Alexander von Nordmann, Finnish zoologist (d. 1866)
• 1810 – Charles Clark, 24th 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 – Charlie Taylor, American mechanic, associate with the Wright brothers (d. 1956)
• 1870 – Benjamin Cardozo, American jurist (d. 1938)
• 1870 – Jan Christiaan Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1950)
• 1874 – Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1878)
• 1878 – Lillian Moller Gilbreth, American engineer (d. 1972)
• 1879 – H. B. Reese, American inventor of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and founder of H. B. Reese Candy Co. (d. 1956)
• 1885 – Susan Sutherland Isaacs, English educational psychologist (d. 1948)
• 1886 – Paul Paray, French conductor and composer (d. 1979)
• 1887 – Edward "Mick" Mannock, Irish World War I pilot (d. 1918)
• 1891 – William F. Albright, American archeologist and Biblical scholar (d. 1971)
• 1895 – Samuel Irving Newhouse, American publisher (d. 1979)
• 1899 – Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi National poet. (d. 1976)
• 1899 – Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (d. 1938)
• 1899 – Henri Michaux, French poet (d. 1984)
• 1900 – Eduardo De Filippo, Italian actor and screenwriter (d. 1984)
• 1901 – José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1968)
• 1902 – Lionel Conacher, Canadian athlete and politician (d. 1954)
• 1902 – Sylvia Daoust, one of the first female sculptor in Québec (d. 2004)
• 1903 – Milo Burcham, American aviator (d. 1944)
• 1905 – Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
• 1909 – Wilbur Mills, U.S. House of Representative from Arkansas (d. 1992)
• 1911 – Barbara West, English survivor of the Titanic sinking (d. 2007)
• 1913 – Peter Ellenshaw, American matte designer (d. 2007)
• 1913 – Joe Abreu, Portuguese American Major League Baseball infielder (d. 1993)
• 1913 – Audrey Brown, British athlete (d. 2005)
• 1914 – Lilli Palmer, German-born actress (d. 1986)
• 1914 – Giuseppe Valdengo, Italian baritone (d. 2007)
• 1916 – Roden Cutler, Australian diplomat (d. 2002)
• 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
• 1931 – Michael Lonsdale, French actor
• 1932 – Arnold Wesker, English dramatist
• 1933 – Aharon Lichtenstein, French-born American Orthodox Jewish rabbi and rosh yeshiva
• 1934 – Jane Byrne, 50th Mayor of Chicago
• 1934 – Barry Rose, English choir-trainer and organist
• 1935 – Joan Micklin Silver, American director
• 1936 – Harold Budd, American composer and poet
• 1937 – Archie Shepp, American jazz saxophonist
• 1937 – Roger Peterson, pilot who flew the plane on The Day the Music Died (d. 1959)
• 1938 – Tommy Chong, Canadian-born actor and comedian
• 1938 – David Viscott, American psychiatrist (d. 1996)
• 1940 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian-born poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
• 1941 – Bob Dylan, American singer and songwriter
• 1941 – George Lakoff, American linguist and political activist
• 1942 – Ali Bacher, South African cricketer and administrator
• 1942 – Ichirō Ozawa, Japanese politician
• 1943 – Gary Burghoff, American actor
• 1944 – Patti LaBelle, American R&B; singer, songwriter and actress
• 1945 – Priscilla Presley, American actress
• 1945 – Terry Callier, American jazz, soul and folk guitarist and singer-songwriter
• 1946 – Irena Szewińska, Russian-born Polish sprinter
• 1947 – Martin Winterkorn, German automotive executive (Volkswagen Group)
• 1947 – Mike De Leon, Filipino film director, cinematographer, scriptwriter and film producer
• 1947 – Waddy Wachtel, American musician, producer and composer, known for guitar work
• 1948 – Richard Dembo, French director and screenwriter (d. 2004)
• 1949 – Hubert Birkenmeier, German footballer
• 1949 – Jim Broadbent, English actor
• 1949 – Tomaž Pisanski, Slovenian mathematician
• 1950 – Larry Seidlin, American judge
• 1950 – Terry Scott Taylor, American songwriter, record producer, writer (Daniel Amos, Swirling Eddies, Lost Dogs)
• 1952 – Sybil Danning, Austrian actress
• 1953 – Nell Campbell, American actress and singer
• 1953 – Alfred Molina, London-born Spanish-Italian actor
• 1953 – Klaus-Günter Stade, German footballer
• 1955 – Rosanne Cash, American singer
• 1955 – Philippe Lafontaine, Belgian singer and songwriter
• 1955 – David Leonard, American guitarist, singer and songwriter
• 1956 – Michael Jackson, Northern Irish clergyman
• 1956 – Richard B. Bernstein, American constitutional and legal historian
• 1956 – Larry Blackmon, American singer (Cameo)
• 1959 – Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish hockey player (d. 1985)
• 1960 – Kristin Scott Thomas, English actress
• 1960 – Guy Fletcher, British keyboardist (Dire Straits)
• 1960 – Doug Jones, American actor
• 1961 – Alain Lemieux, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1962 – Gene Anthony Ray, American actor (d. 2003)
• 1962 – Héctor Camacho, Puerto Rican boxer
• 1963 – Ivan Capelli, Italian racing driver
• 1963 – Michael Chabon, American author
• 1963 – Joe Dumars, American basketball player
• 1963 – Kathy Leander, Swiss singer
• 1963 – Rich Rodriguez, American football coach
• 1964 – Liz McColgan, British runner
• 1964 – Adrian Moorhouse, British swimmer
• 1964 – Pat Verbeek, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1965 – Jens Becker, German bassist (Grave Digger)
• 1965 – John C. Reilly, American actor
• 1965 – Shinichiro Watanabe, Japanese anime director
• 1966 – Eric Cantona, French footballer
• 1966 – Ricky Craven, American NASCAR driver
• 1966 – Russell Kun, Nauruan politician
• 1967 – Dana Ashbrook, American actor
• 1967 – Andrey Borodin, Russian banker
• 1967 – Carlos Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1967 – Eric Close, American actor
• 1967 – Steve McDonald, American bassist (Redd Kross)
• 1967 – Bruno Putzulu, French actor
• 1968 – Mo Willems, American author and screenwriter
• 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
• 1972 – Joanna Wiśniewska, Polish discus thrower
• 1973 – Bartolo Colón, Dominican baseball player
• 1973 – Dermot O'Leary, English television presenter
• 1973 – Ruslana, Ukrainian singer
• 1973 – Vladimír Šmicer, Czech footballer
• 1974 – Will Sasso, Canadian actor and comedian
• 1974 – Masahide Kobayashi, Japanese baseball player
• 1974 – Sébastien Foucan, French actor and free-runner
• 1975 – Marc Gagnon, Canadian short track speed skater
• 1975 – Yannis Goumas, Greek footballer
• 1975 – Maria Lawson, British singer
• 1976 – Alessandro Cortini, Italian multi-instrumentalist (Nine Inch Nails)
• 1976 – Catherine Cox, Australian netballer
• 1976 – Bob Maesen, Belgian flatwater canoer
• 1977 – Kym Valentine, Australian actress
• 1978 – Brian Ching, American footballer
• 1978 – Bryan Greenberg, American actor
• 1978 – Brad Penny, American baseball player
• 1978 – Johan Holmqvist, Swedish hockey player
• 1978 – Elijah Burke, American wrestler
• 1979 – Tracy McGrady, American basketball player
• 1979 – Frank Mir, American UFC fighter
• 1979 – Kareem McKenzie, American football player
• 1980 – Cecilia Cheung, Hong Kong actress and singer
• 1980 – Anthony Minichiello, Australian rugby league player
• 1981 – Marketa Janska, Czech model
• 1982 – Issah Ahmed, Ghanaian football player
• 1982 – DaMarcus Beasley, American footballer
• 1983 – Woo Seung-yeon, South Korean model and actress (d. 2009)
• 1984 – Sarah Hagan, American actress
• 1984 – Brodney Pool, American football player
• 1984 – Ryan Wieber, American visual effects compositor and amateur filmmaker
• 1985 – Tim Bridgman, British racing driver
• 1985 – Giannis Kondoes, Greek footballer
• 1986 – Jordan Metcalfe, English actor
• 1986 – Mark Ballas, American professional dancer
• 1987 – Déborah François, Belgian actress
• 1987 – Guillaume Latendresse, Canadian hockey player
• 1987 – Matt Prior, Australian rugby league player
• 1988 – Monica Lin Brown, American soldier
• 1988 – Artem Anisimov, Russian hockey player
• 1988 – Billy Gilman, American singer
• 1989 – Adel Taarabt, Moroccan footballer
• 1989 – Mohammed Fellah, Norwegian footballer
• 1989 – Andrew Jordan, British racing driver
• 1990 – Joey Logano, American racing driver
• 1991 – Erika Umeda, Japanese singer (Cute)
• 1992 – Travis T. Flory, American actor
• 1993 – Oliver Davis, American actor
• 1994 – Cayden Boyd, American actor
• 1995 – Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein

Deaths

• 1153 – David I of Scotland, King of Scots (b. c. 1083)
• 1351 – Abu al-Hasan 'Ali, Sultan of Morocco (b. c. 1297)
• 1408 – Taejo of Joseon, ruler of Korea (b. 1335)
• 1425 – Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, Scottish politician (b. 1362)
• 1456 – Ambroise de Loré, French military commander (b. 1396)
• 1543 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer (b. 1473)
• 1612 – Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English statesman (b. 1563)
• 1627 – Luis de Góngora, Spanish poet (b. 1561)
• 1632 – Robert Hues, English mathematician and geographer (b. 1553)
• 1725 – Jonathan Wild, English criminal (b. 1682)
• 1734 – Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (b. 1660)
• 1792 – George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, British naval officer (b. 1718)
• 1806 – John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, British field marshal (b. 1723)
• 1843 – Sylvestre François Lacroix, French mathematician (b. 1765)
• 1861 – Elmer E. Ellsworth, American Civil War officer (b. 1837)
• 1872 – Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, German painter (b. 1794)
• 1876 – Georgi Benkovski, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1843)
• 1879 – William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist and publisher (b. 1805)
• 1881 – Samuel Palmer, English artist (b. 1805)
• 1901 – Louis-Zéphirin Moreau, Canadian bishop (b. 1824)
• 1908 – Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (b. 1821)
• 1915 – Private John Condon, Irish World War I soldier (b. 1896)
• 1919 – Amado Nervo, Mexican poet (b. 1870)
• 1941 – Lancelot Holland, British admiral (b. 1887)
• 1945 – Robert Ritter von Greim, German field marshal (b. 1892)
• 1947 – Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, Swiss writer (b. 1878)
• 1948 – Jacques Feyder, Belgian director and screenwriter (b. 1885)
• 1949 – Aleksey Shchusev, Russian architect (b. 1873)
• 1950 – Archibald Wavell, British Field Marshal (b. 1883)
• 1959 – John Foster Dulles, American, 52nd United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
• 1960 – Avraham Arnon, Israeli educator and a recipient of the Israel Prize (b. 1887)
• 1963 – Elmore James, American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter (b. 1918)
• 1969 – Willy Ley, German-born rocket scientist (b. 1906)
• 1972 – Ismail Yasin, Egyptian comedian and actor (b. 1915)
• 1974 – Duke Ellington, American composer and musician (b. 1899)
• 1979 – Sir Ernest Bullock, English organist and composer (b. 1890)
• 1984 – Vincent J. McMahon, American pro wrestling promoter (b. 1914)
• 1991 – Gene Clark, American singer and songwriter (The Byrds) (b. 1944)
• 1991 – Miriam di San Servolo, Italian actress (b. 1912)
• 1992 – Hitoshi Ogawa, Japanese racing driver (b. 1956)
• 1995 – Harold Wilson, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1964-1970, 1974-1976 (b. 1916)
• 1996 – Joseph Mitchell, American journalist (b. 1908)
• 1996 – Enrique Álvarez Félix, Mexican actor (b. 1934)
• 1997 – Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (b. 1923)
• 2000 – Kurt Schork, American reporter (b. 1947)
• 2000 – Majrooh Sultanpuri, Indian poet and lyricist (b. 1919)
• 2002 – Wallace Markfield, American writer (b. 1926)
• 2003 – Lady Rachel Kempson, English actress (b. 1910)
• 2004 – Henry Ries, American photographer (b. 1917)
• 2004 – Milton Shulman, Canadian author and critic (b. 1913)
• 2004 – Edward Wagenknecht, American literary critic (b. 1900)
• 2005 – Carl Amery, German writer (b. 1922)
• 2005 – Arthur Haulot, Belgian journalist (b. 1913)
• 2005 – Vivian Liberto, first wife of Johnny Cash (b. 1934)
• 2005 – Guy Tardif, Canadian politician (b. 1935)
• 2006 – Henry Bumstead, American art director (b. 1915)
• 2006 – Jesus Ledesma Aguilar, Mexican convicted killer (b. 1963)
• 2006 – Claude Piéplu, French actor (b. 1923)
• 2006 – Michał Życzkowski, Polish technician (b. 1930)
• 2007 – Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer (b. 1922)
• 2008 – Rob Knox, British actor (b. 1989)
• 2008 – Dick Martin, American comedian (b. 1922)
• 2008 – Jimmy McGriff, American jazz organist (b. 1936)
• 2009 – Jay Bennett, American guitarist and singer-songwriter (Wilco) (b. 1963)
• 2010 – Ray Alan, English ventriloquist & television entertainer (b. 1930)
• 2010 – Virendra Bhatia, Indian politician (b. 1947)
• 2010 – Tapen Chatterjee, Bengali actor from India (b. 1937)
• 2010 – Paul Gray, American bassist (Slipknot) (b. 1972)
• 2010 – Raymond V. Haysbert, African-American business executive and civil rights leader (b. 1920)
• 2010 – Morrie Martin, Former Major League Baseball (b. 1922)
• 2010 – Petr Muk, Czech composer, musician, performer, and singer (b. 1965)
• 2010 – Anneliese Rothenberger, German operatic lyric soprano (b. 1926)
• 2011 – Huguette Clark, Heiress of the Clark Copper fortune, life-long reclusion from society (b. 1906)
• 2011 – Hakim Ali Zardari Pakistani politician (b. 1930 Nawabshah)