February 24Birthdays & History

On this day: February 24 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 484King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.AfricaEurope
2. 1303The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence.Europe
3. 1386King Charles III of Naples and Hungary is assassinated at Buda.Europe
4. 1525A Spanish-Austrian army defeats a French army at the Battle of Pavia.Europe
5. 1527Coronation of Ferdinand I as the king of Bohemia in Prague.Europe
6. 1538Treaty of Nagyvárad between Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I and King John Zápolya of Hungary and Croatia.Europe
7. 1582With the papal bull Inter gravissimas, Pope Gregory XIII announces the Gregorian calendar.Europe
8. 1597The last battle of the Cudgel War takes place on the Santavuori Hill in Ilmajoki, Ostrobothnia.Europe
9. 1607L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, one of the first works recognized as an opera, receives its première performance.Europe
10. 1711Rinaldo by George Frideric Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage, is premièred.Europe
11. 1739Battle of Karnal: The army of Iranian ruler Nader Shah defeats the forces of the Mughal emperor of India, Muhammad Shah.Middle EastAsia
12. 1803In Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the principle of judicial review.North America
13. 1809London's Drury Lane Theatre burns to the ground, leaving its owner, Irish writer and politician Richard Brinsley Sheridan, destitute.Europe
14. 1809Britain invades and captures the French colony of Martinique.Europe
15. 1812Treaty of Paris between Napoleon and Frederick William III of Prussia against Russia is signed.Europe
16. 1813Sinking of HMS Peacock by USS Hornet on the Demerara River, Guyana.Latin America
17. 1821Final stage of the Mexican War of Independence from Spain with Plan of Iguala.Latin AmericaEurope
18. 1822The first Swaminarayan temple in the world, Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad, is inaugurated.Asia
19. 1826The signing of the Treaty of Yandabo marks the end of the First Anglo-Burmese War.Asia
20. 1831The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty in accordance with the Indian Removal Act, is proclaimed. The Choctaws in Mississippi cede land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West.North America
21. 1848King Louis-Philippe of France abdicates the throne.Europe
22. 1854A Penny Red with perforations becomes the first perforated postage stamp to be officially issued for distribution.Europe
23. 1863Arizona is organized as a United States territory.North America
24. 1868Andrew Johnson becomes the first President of the United States to be impeached by the United States House of Representatives. He is later acquitted in the Senate.North America
25. 1875The SS Gothenburg hits the Great Barrier Reef and sinks off the Australian east coast, killing approximately 100, including a number of high-profile civil servants and dignitaries.Oceania
26. 1876The stage première of Peer Gynt, a play by Henrik Ibsen with incidental music by Edvard Grieg, takes place in Christiania (Oslo), Norway.Europe
27. 1881China and Russia sign the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty.AsiaEurope
28. 1895Revolution breaks out in Baire, a town near Santiago de Cuba, beginning the Cuban War of Independence; the war ends along with the Spanish–American War in 1898.Latin AmericaEuropeNorth America
29. 1916The Governor-General of Korea establishes a clinic called Jahyewon in Sorokdo to segregate Hansen's disease patients.Asia
30. 1917World War I: The U.S. ambassador Walter Hines Page to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if Mexico declares war on the United States.North AmericaEuropeLatin America
31. 1918Estonian Declaration of Independence.Europe
32. 1920Nancy Astor becomes the first woman to speak in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom following her election as a Member of Parliament (MP) three months earlier.Europe
33. 1920The Nazi Party (NSDAP) is founded by Adolf Hitler in the Hofbräuhaus beer hall in Munich, Germany.Europe
34. 1942The Battle of Los Angeles: A false alarm leads to an anti-aircraft barrage that lasts into the early hours of February 25.North America
35. 1942Voice of America makes its first broadcast.North America
36. 1942Seven hundred ninety-one Romanian Jewish refugees and crew members are killed after the MV Struma is torpedoed by the Soviet Navy.Europe
37. 1943World War II: First large-scale protest march resulting in clashes with the Axis occupation forces and collaborationist police in Athens against rumours of forced mobilization of Greek workers for work in Germany.Europe
38. 1945Egyptian Premier Ahmad Mahir Pasha is killed in Parliament after reading a decree.Middle East
39. 1946Colonel Juan Perón, founder of the political movement that became known as Peronism, is elected to his first term as President of Argentina.Latin America
40. 1949The Armistice Agreements are signed, to formally end the hostilities of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.Middle East
41. 1966Ghanaian coup d'état by National Liberation Council overthrows Kwame Nkrumah's GovernmentAfrica
42. 1967Cultural Revolution: Zhang Chunqiao announces the dissolution of the Shanghai People's Commune, replacing its local government with a revolutionary committee.Asia
43. 1968Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnamese forces led by Ngô Quang Trưởng recapture the citadel of Hué.Asia
44. 1971The All India Forward Bloc holds an emergency central committee meeting after its chairman, Hemantha Kumar Bose, is killed three days earlier. P. K. Mookiah Thevar is appointed as the new chairman.Asia
45. 1976The 1976 constitution of Cuba is formally proclaimed.Latin America
46. 1978The Yuba County Five disappear in California. Four of their bodies are found four months later.North America
47. 1981The 6.7 Ms Gulf of Corinth earthquake affects Central Greece with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). Twenty-two people are killed, 400 are injured, and damage totals $812 million.Europe
48. 1983A special commission of the United States Congress condemns the Japanese American internment during World War II.North AmericaAsia
49. 1984A child and an adult man are killed and 12 others are injured in the 49th Street Elementary School shooting in Los Angeles.North America
50. 1989United Airlines Flight 811, bound for New Zealand from Honolulu, rips open during flight, blowing nine passengers out of the business-class section.Oceania
51. 1991Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war.Middle East
52. 1996Two civilian airplanes operated by the Miami-based group Brothers to the Rescue are shot down in international waters by the Cuban Air Force.North AmericaLatin America
53. 1999China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509, a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft, crashes in Rui'an, Zhejiang, China. All 61 people on board are killed.Asia
54. 2000Pope John Paul II arrives in Egypt for a three-day stay as part of the Great Jubilee, marking the first papal visit in modern Egyptian historyEuropeMiddle East
55. 2004The 6.3 Mw Al Hoceima earthquake strikes northern Morocco with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). At least 628 people are killed, 926 are injured, and up to 15,000 are displaced.Africa
56. 2006Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declares Proclamation 1017 placing the country in a state of emergency in an attempt to subdue a possible military coup.Asia
57. 2007Japan launches its fourth spy satellite, stepping up its ability to monitor potential threats such as North Korea.AsiaAsia
58. 2008Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba and the Council of Ministers after 32 years. He would remain as head of the Communist Party for another three years.Latin America
59. 2011Space Shuttle Discovery launches on its final mission, STS-133.North America
60. 2015A Metrolink train derails in Oxnard, California following a collision with a truck, leaving more than 30 injured.North America
61. 2016Tara Air Flight 193, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft, crashes, with 23 fatalities, in Solighopte, Myagdi District, Dhaulagiri Zone, while en route from Pokhara Airport to Jomsom Airport.North America
62. 2020Mahathir Mohamad resigns as Prime Minister of Malaysia following an attempt to replace the Pakatan Harapan government, which triggered the 2020-2022 Malaysian political crisis.Asia
63. 2022Russo-Ukrainian War: Days after recognising Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states, Russian president Vladimir Putin orders the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.Europe

Source: Wikipedia "February 24" / CC BY-SA 4.0