July 24

July 24 is the 205th day of the year (206th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 160 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 1132 – Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily.
• 1148 – Louis VII of France lays siege to Damascus during the Second Crusade.
• 1411 – Battle of Harlaw, one of the bloodiest battles in Scotland, takes place.
• 1487 – Citizens of Leeuwarden, Netherlands strike against ban on foreign beer.
• 1534 – French explorer Jacques Cartier plants a cross on the Gaspé Peninsula and takes possession of the territory in the name of Francis I of France.
• 1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots, is forced to abdicate and replaced by her 1-year-old son James VI.
• 1701 – Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founds the trading post at Fort Pontchartrain, which later becomes the city of Detroit, Michigan.
• 1715 – A Spanish treasure fleet of 10 ships under Admiral Ubilla leaves Havana, Cuba for Spain. Seven days later, 9 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged from these wrecks.
• 1814 – War of 1812: General Phineas Riall advances toward the Niagara River to halt Jacob Brown's American invaders.
• 1823 – Slavery is abolished in Chile.
• 1847 – After 17 months of travel, Brigham Young leads 148 Mormon pioneers into Salt Lake Valley, resulting in the establishment of Salt Lake City. Celebrations of this event include the Pioneer Day Utah state holiday and the Days of '47 Parade.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Kernstown – Confederate General Jubal Anderson Early defeats Union troops led by General George Crook in an effort to keep them out of the Shenandoah Valley.
• 1866 – Reconstruction: Tennessee becomes the first U.S. State to be readmitted to the Union following the American Civil War.
• 1901 – O. Henry is released from prison in Austin, Texas after serving three years for embezzlement from a bank.
• 1910 – The Ottoman Empire captures the city of Shkodër, putting down the Albanian Revolt of 1910.
• 1911 – Hiram Bingham III re-discovers Machu Picchu, "the Lost City of the Incas".
• 1915 – The passenger ship S.S. Eastland capsizes while tied to a dock in the Chicago River. A total of 844 passengers and crew are killed in the largest loss of life disaster from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes.
• 1922 – the draft of The British Mandate of Palestine was formally confirmed by the Council of the League of Nations; and which came into effect on 26 September 1923.
• 1923 – The Treaty of Lausanne, settling the boundaries of modern Turkey, is signed in Switzerland by Greece, Bulgaria and other countries that fought in World War I.
• 1924 – Archeologist Themistoklis Sofoulis becomes Prime Minister of Greece.
• 1927 – The Menin Gate war memorial is unveiled at Ypres.
• 1929 – The Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing war as an instrument of foreign policy, goes into effect (it is first signed in Paris on August 27, 1928 by most leading world powers).
• 1931 – A fire at a home for the elderly in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania kills 48 people.
• 1935 – The world's first children's railway opens in Tbilisi, USSR.
• 1935 – The dust bowl heat wave reaches its peak, sending temperatures to 109°F (44°C) in Chicago and 104°F (40°C) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• 1937 – Alabama drops rape charges against the so-called "Scottsboro Boys".
• 1938 – First ascent of the Eiger north face.
• 1943 – World War II: Operation Gomorrah begins: British and Canadian aeroplanes bomb Hamburg by night, those of the Americans by day. By the end of the operation in November, 9,000 tons of explosives will have killed more than 30,000 people and destroyed 280,000 buildings.
• 1950 – Cape Canaveral Air Force Station begins operations with the launch of a Bumper rocket.
• 1959 – At the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev have a "Kitchen Debate".
• 1966 – Michael Pelkey makes the first BASE jump from El Capitan along with Brian Schubert. Both came out with broken bones. BASE jumping has now been banned from El Cap.
• 1967 – During an official state visit to Canada, French President Charles de Gaulle declares to a crowd of over 100,000 in Montreal: Vive le Québec libre! ("Long live free Quebec!"). The statement, interpreted as support for Quebec independence, delighted many Quebecers but angered the Canadian government and many English Canadians.
• 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean.
• 1972 – Bugojno group is caught by Yugoslav security forces.
• 1974 – Watergate scandal: the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that President Richard Nixon did not have the authority to withhold subpoenaed White House tapes and they order him to surrender the tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor.
• 1974 – Constantine Karamanlis arrives in Greece following the collapse of the Greek military junta, beginning Greece's metapolitefsi era.
• 1977 – End of a four day long Libyan-Egyptian War.
• 1980 – The Quietly Confident Quartet of Australia wins the Men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay at the Moscow Olympics, the only time the United States has not won the event at Olympic level.
• 1982 – Heavy rain causes a mudslide that destroys a bridge at Nagasaki, Japan, killing 299.
• 1983 – George Brett batting for the Kansas City Royals against the New York Yankees, has a game-winning home run nullified in the "Pine Tar Incident".
• 1990 – Iraqi forces start massing on the Kuwait-Iraq border.
• 1998 – Russell Eugene Weston Jr. bursts into the United States Capitol and opens fire killing two police officers. He is later ruled to be incompetent to stand trial.
• 2001 – Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the last Tsar of Bulgaria when he was a child, is sworn in as Prime Minister of Bulgaria, becoming the first monarch in history to regain political power through democratic election to a different office.
• 2001 – Bandaranaike Airport attack is carried out by 14 Tamil Tiger commandos, all died in this attack. They destroyed 11 Aircraft (mostly military) and damaged 15, there are no civilian casualties. This incident slowed down Sri Lankan economy.
• 2002 – Democrat James Traficant is expelled from the United States House of Representatives on a vote of 420 to 1.
• 2005 – Lance Armstrong wins his seventh consecutive Tour de France.
• 2009 – The MV Arctic Sea, reportedly carrying a cargo of timber, is allegedly hijacked in the North Sea by pirates, but much speculation remains as to the actual cargo and events.

Births

• 923 – Emperor Suzaku of Japan (d. 952)
• 1529 – Karl II, Margrave of Baden-Durlach, governor of the Margravate of Durlach (d. 1577)
• 1561 – Maria of Palatinate-Simmern, Duchess of Södermanland (d. 1589)
• 1574 – Thomas Platter the Younger, Swiss physician (d. 1628)
• 1660 – Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, English politician (d. 1718)
• 1725 – John Newton, English cleric and hymnist (d. 1807)
• 1757 – Vladimir Borovikovsky, Russian painter (d. 1825)
• 1783 – Simón Bolívar, Venezuelan military commander (d. 1830)
• 1786 – Joseph Nicollet, French mathematician and explorer (d. 1843)
• 1794 – Johan Georg Forchhammer, Danish geologist (d. 1865)
• 1802 – Alexandre Dumas, père, French writer (d. 1870)
• 1803 – Adolphe Charles Adam, French composer (d. 1856)
• 1821 – William Poole, American racketeer and politician (d. 1855)
• 1826 – Ivan Bloch, Polish military theorist and peace activist (d. 1902)
• 1851 – Friedrich Schottky, German mathematician (d. 1935)
• 1853 – William Gillette, American actor and author (d. 1937)
• 1856 – Charles Émile Picard, French mathematician (d. 1941)
• 1857 – Henrik Pontoppidan, Danish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
• 1860 – Princess Charlotte of Prussia (d. 1919)
• 1860 – Alfons Mucha, Czech artist (d. 1939)
• 1864 – Frank Wedekind, German writer (d. 1918)
• 1867 – Vicente Acosta, Salvadoran poet (d. 1908)
• 1867 – Edward Frederic Benson, English writer (d. 1940)
• 1867 – Fred Tate, English cricketer (d. 1943)
• 1874 – Oswald Chambers, Scottish minister and writer (d. 1917)
• 1877 – Calogero Vizzini, Sicilian mafioso (d. 1954)
• 1878 – Edward Plunkett, Irish writer (d. 1957)
• 1880 – Ernest Bloch, Swiss composer (d. 1959)
• 1880 – Kristian Hellström, Swedish athlete (d. 1946)
• 1886 – Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Japanese novelist (d. 1965)
• 1888 – Arthur Richardson, Australian cricketer (d. 1973)
• 1895 – Robert Graves, English author (d. 1985)
• 1897 – Amelia Earhart, American aviator (d. 1937)
• 1899 – Chief Dan George, Canadian actor (d. 1981)
• 1900 – Zelda Fitzgerald, American artist (d. 1948)
• 1904 – Leo Arnaud, French-American composer (d. 1991)
• 1904 – Richard B. Morris, American constitutional historian (d. 1989)
• 1908 – Cootie Williams, American trumpeter (d. 1985)
• 1910 – Harry Horner, American art director (d. 1994)
• 1912 – Essie Summers, New Zealand writer (d. 1998)
• 1913 – Britton Chance, American molecular biologist and yachtsman (d. 2010)
• 1914 – Ed Mirvish, Canadian businessman and theatrical impresario (d. 2007)
• 1915 – Enrique Fernando, Filipino jurist (d. 2004)
• 1916 – John D. MacDonald, American novelist, (d. 1986)
• 1916 – Bob Eberly, singer with the Jimmy Dorsey Band and Helen O'Connell, (d. 1981)
• 1917 – Robert Farnon, Canadian conductor, composer, and arranger (d. 2005)
• 1917 – Jack Moroney, Australian cricketer (d. 1999)
• 1918 – Ruggiero Ricci, American violinist
• 1919 – Robert Marsden Hope, Australian jurist (d. 1999)
• 1919 – Ferdinand Kübler, Swiss cyclist
• 1920 – Bella Abzug, American politician (d. 1998)
• 1921 – Giuseppe Di Stefano, Italian operatic tenor (d. 2008)
• 1922 – Madeleine Ferron, French Canadian writer (d. 2010)
• 1924 – Aris Poulianos, Greek anthropologist
• 1924 – Wilfred Josephs, English composer (d. 1997)
• 1929 – Alfred Binns, West Indian cricketer
• 1930 – Alfred Balk, American magazine editor and journalist (d. 2010)
• 1930 – Keshubhai Patel, Former Chief Minister of the Western State of Gujarat in India
• 1931 – Ermanno Olmi, Italian director
• 1931 – Éric Tabarly, French sailor (d. 1998)
• 1933 – Doug Sanders, American golfer
• 1933 – John Aniston, American actor
• 1934 – Sante Kimes, American convicted con artist and murderer
• 1935 – Pat Oliphant, Australian political cartoonist
• 1935 – Derek Varnals, South African cricketer
• 1936 – Ruth Buzzi, American actress and comedian
• 1936 – Mark Goddard, American actor
• 1936 – Dan Inosanto, Filipino-American martial artist
• 1937 – Manoj Kumar, Indian actor
• 1938 – Eugene J. Martin, American painter and artist
• 1938 – John Sparling, New Zealand cricketer
• 1939 – Walt Bellamy, American baseketball player
• 1940 – Stanley Hauerwas, American theologian
• 1940 – Dan Hedaya, American actor
• 1942 – Chris Sarandon, American actor
• 1942 – Heinz Burt, bassist and singer (d. 2000)
• 1944 – Jim Armstrong (guitarist), bassist and singer (d. 2000)
• 1945 – Hugh Ross, Canadian scientist and creationist advocate
• 1945 – Azim Premji, Indian businessman
• 1946 – Leo Anthony Gallagher, American comedian
• 1946 – Friedhelm Haebermann, German footballer
• 1947 – Zaheer Abbas, Pakistani cricketer
• 1947 – Robert Hays, American actor
• 1947 – Peter Serkin, American pianist
• 1947 – Geoff McQueen, British television screenwriter (d. 1994)
• 1949 – Yves Duteil, French singer and songwriter
• 1949 – Michael Richards, American comedian
• 1950 – Arliss Ryan, American author
• 1950 – Marc Jampole, American poet
• 1951 – Lynda Carter, American actress
• 1951 – Chris Smith, British politician
• 1952 – Gus Van Sant, American film director
• 1953 – Claire McCaskill, American politician
• 1953 – Jon Faddis, American jazz trumpet player and composer
• 1956 – Charles Crist, American politician
• 1956 – Pat Finn, American game show host and producer
• 1957 – Pam Tillis, American singer
• 1957 – Larry Gott, English musician
• 1958 – Joe Barry Carroll, American basketball player
• 1958 – Mick Karn, English musician (d. 2011)
• 1958 – Jim Leighton, Scottish goalkeeper
• 1961 – Kerry Dixon, English footballer
• 1962 – Johnny O'Connell, American race car driver
• 1963 – Paul Geary, American musician
• 1963 – Julie Krone, American jockey
• 1963 – Karl Malone, American basketball player
• 1964 – Barry Bonds, American baseball player
• 1964 – John Rosengren, American writer and author
• 1964 – Banana Yoshimoto, Japanese author
• 1965 – Andrew Gaze, Australian basketball player
• 1965 – Kadeem Hardison, American actor
• 1965 – Doug Liman, American film director
• 1966 – Martin Keown, English footballer
• 1968 – Kristin Chenoweth, American singer and actress
• 1968 – Colleen Doran, American comic book writer and artist
• 1968 – Malcolm Ingram, Canadian director
• 1968 – Laura Leighton, American actress
• 1969 – Rick Fox, Bahamian basketball player
• 1969 – Jennifer Lopez, American actress and singer
• 1970 – Stephanie Adams, American model and author
• 1970 – Elli Kokkinou, Greek singer
• 1971 – Dino Baggio, Italian footballer
• 1971 – John Partridge, English singer
• 1972 – Kaiō Hiroyuki, Japanese sumo wrestler
• 1972 – Rev. Jen Miller, American performance artist
• 1975 – Jamie Langenbrunner, American ice hockey player
• 1975 – Eric Szmanda, American actor
• 1975 – Torrie Wilson, American wrestler
• 1975 – Dafydd James, Welsh rugby player
• 1976 – Rafer Alston, American basketball player
• 1976 – Nate Bump, American baseball player
• 1976 – Tiago Monteiro, Portuguese racing driver
• 1977 – Danny Dyer, English actor and television presenter
• 1977 – Mehdi Mahdavikia, Iranian football player
• 1977 – Aitor Pérez, Spanish cyclist
• 1978 – Andy Irons, American professional surfer (d. 2010)
• 1979 – Rose Byrne, Australian actress
• 1979 – Lee Si-yeon, South Korean actress
• 1979 – Stat Quo, American rapper
• 1979 – Valerio Scassellati, Italian racing driver
• 1979 – Anne-Gaëlle Sidot, French tennis player
• 1979 – Mark Andrew Smith, American graphic novelist
• 1979 – José Valverde, American baseball player
• 1980 – Wilfred Bungei, Kenyan runner
• 1980 – Gauge, American pornographic actress
• 1981 – Summer Glau, American actress
• 1981 – Mark Robinson, English footballer
• 1982 – Élise Crombez, Belgian model
• 1982 – Thiago Medeiros, Brazilian racing driver
• 1982 – Anna Paquin, Canadian-born New Zealand actress
• 1982 – Michael Poppmeier, South African-born German rugby player
• 1983 – Daniele De Rossi, Italian footballer
• 1984 – Dhani Lennevald, Swedish singer
• 1985 – Patrice Bergeron, Canadian hockey player
• 1985 – Teagan Presley, American pornographic actress
• 1985 – Eric Wright, American football player
• 1986 – Andrei Lutai, Russian figure skater
• 1986 – Megan Park, Canadian actress
• 1987 – Cafu, Brazilian footballer
• 1987 – Mara Wilson, American actress
• 1987 – Nathan Gerbe, American hockey player
• 1988 – Ricky Petterd, Australian rules footballer
• 1988 – Han Seung-yeon, South Korean singer/dancer
• 1989 – Kim Tae-Hwan, South Korean footballer
• 1990 – Daveigh Chase, American actress
• 1990 – Dean Stoneman, British racing driver
• 1991 – Lin Yue, Chinese athlete
• 1992 – Dmitry Abyzov, Russian professional footballer
• 1998 – Bindi Irwin, Australian entertainer

Deaths

• 1115 – Matilda, Countess of Tuscany (b. 1046)
• 1129 – Emperor Shirakawa, of Japan (b. 1053)
• 1240 – Konrad von Thüringen, fifth Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights
• 1568 – Prince Don Carlos of Spain (b. 1545)
• 1594 – John Boste, Catholic saint and martyr (b. 1544)
• 1739 – Benedetto Marcello, Italian composer (b. 1686)
• 1768 – Nathanial Lardner, English theologian (b. 1684)
• 1862 – Martin Van Buren, 8th President of the United States (b. 1782)
• 1908 – Vicente Acosta, Salvadoran poet (b. 1867)
• 1910 – Arkhip Kuindzhi, Russian painter (b. 1841)
• 1927 – Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Japanese writer (b. 1892)
• 1957 – Sacha Guitry, French actor, director, screenwriter and playwright (b. 1885)
• 1962 – Wilfrid Noyce, English mountaineer (b. 1917)
• 1965 – Constance Bennett, American actress (b. 1904)
• 1966 – Tony Lema, American golfer (b. 1934)
• 1969 – Witold Gombrowicz, Polish novelist and dramatist (b. 1904)
• 1970 – Peter de Noronha, Indian businessman (b. 1897)
• 1973 – Konstantinos Dovas, Greek general and Prime Minister (b. 1898)
• 1974 – James Chadwick, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
• 1980 – Uttam Kumar, Indian actor (b. 1926)
• 1980 – Peter Sellers, British comedian and actor (b. 1925)
• 1985 – Father Ezechiele Ramin MCCJ, Italian Comboni missionary priest and martyr (b. 1953)
• 1986 – Fritz Albert Lipmann, American biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
• 1991 – Isaac Bashevis Singer, Polish-born Yiddish author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
• 1992 – Arletty, French singer and actress (b. 1898)
• 1992 – Sam Berger, Canadian football owner (b. 1900)
• 1993 – Rene Requiestas, Filipino comedian (b. 1957)
• 1995 – Jerry Lordan, English composer and singer (b. 1934)
• 1995 – Marjorie Cameron, American writer, painter, actress, and occultist (b. 1922)
• 1995 – George Rodger, British photojournalist (b. 1908)
• 1996 – Alphonso Roberts, West Indian cricketer and politician (b. 1937)
• 1997 – William J. Brennan, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1906)
• 1997 – Saw Maung, Burmese dictator (b. 1928)
• 2000 – Ahmad Shamlou, Iranian poet (b. 1925)
• 2001 – Georges Dor, Canadian author, composer, singer and playwright (b. 1931)
• 2004 – Bob Azzam, Egyptian singer (b. 1925)
• 2005 – Richard Doll, English epidemiologist (b. 1912)
• 2007 – Albert Ellis, American psychologist (b. 1913)
• 2007 – Chaney Kley, American actor (b. 1972)
• 2007 – Nicola Zaccaria, Greek bass (b. 1923)
• 2008 – Norman Dello Joio, American composer (b. 1913)
• 2009 – E. Lynn Harris, American author (b. 1955)
• 2010 – Alex Higgins, Northern Irish snooker player (b. 1949)
• 2011 – Frank Dietrich, German politician (b. 1966)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Charbel
  • Christina the Astonishing
  • Christina of Bolsena
  • Declán of Ardmore
  • Kinga of Poland
  • July 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Pioneer Day (Utah) and its related observances:
  • Stirling Settler Days (Stirling, Alberta)
• Simón Bolívar Day (Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, and Bolivia)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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