From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 190 days remaining until the end of the year.
[edit] Events
- 109 – Roman emperor Trajan inaugurates the Aqua Traiana, an aqueduct that channels water from Lake Bracciano, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north-west of Rome.
- 637 – The Battle of Moira is fought between the High King of Ireland and the Kings of Ulster and Dalriada. It is the largest battle in the history of Ireland.
- 972 – Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces, takes place.
- 1128 – Battle of São Mamede, near Guimarães: forces led by Alfonso I defeat forces led by his mother Teresa of León and her lover Fernando Pérez de Traba. After this battle, the future king calls himself "Prince of Portugal", the first step towards "official independence" that will be reached in 1139 after the Battle of Ourique.
- 1314 – First War of Scottish Independence: the Battle of Bannockburn concludes with a decisive victory by Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce, though England did not recognize Scottish independence until 1328 with the signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton.
- 1340 – Hundred Years' War: Battle of Sluys – The French fleet is almost destroyed by the English Fleet commanded in person by King Edward III.
- 1374 – A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion.
- 1497 – John Cabot lands in North America at Newfoundland leading the first European exploration of the region since the Vikings.
- 1509 – Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon are crowned King and Queen of England.
- 1535 – The Anabaptist state of Münster is conquered and disbanded.
- 1571 – Miguel Lopez de Legazpi founds Manila, the capital of the Republic of the Philippines.
- 1597 – The first Dutch voyage to the East Indies reaches Bantam (on Java).
- 1604 – Samuel de Champlain discovers the mouth of the Saint John River, site of Reversing Falls and the present day city of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.
- 1622 – Battle of Macau: The Dutch attempt but fail to capture Macau.
- 1717 – The Premier Grand Lodge of England, the first Masonic Grand Lodge in the world (now the United Grand Lodge of England), is founded in London, England.
- 1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Great Siege of Gibraltar begins.
- 1793 – The first Republican constitution in France is adopted.
- 1812 – Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon's Grande Armée crosses the Neman River beginning the invasion of Russia.
- 1813 – Battle of Beaver Dams: a British and Indian combined force defeats the United States Army.
- 1821 – The Battle of Carabobo takes place. It is the decisive battle in the war of independence of Venezuela from Spain.
- 1859 – Battle of Solferino (Battle of the Three Sovereigns): Sardinia and France defeat Austria in Solferino, northern Italy.
- 1866 – Battle of Custoza: an Austrian army defeats the Italian army during the Austro-Prussian War.
- 1880 – First performance of O Canada, the song that would become the national anthem of Canada, at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français.
- 1894 – Marie Francois Sadi Carnot is assassinated by Sante Geronimo Caserio.
- 1902 – King Edward VII of the United Kingdom develops appendicitis, delaying his coronation.
- 1913 – Greece and Serbia annul their alliance with Bulgaria.
- 1916 – Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to sign a million dollar contract.
- 1916 – World War I: the Battle of the Somme begins with a week-long artillery bombardment on the German Line.
- 1918 – First airmail service in Canada from Montreal to Toronto.
- 1932 – A bloodless Revolution instigated by the People's Party ends the absolute power of King Prajadhipok of Siam (now Thailand).
- 1938 – Pieces of a meteor, estimated to have weighed 450 metric tons when it hit the Earth's atmosphere and exploded, land near Chicora, Pennsylvania.
- 1939 – Siam is renamed Thailand by Plaek Pibulsonggram, the country's third prime minister.
- 1947 – Kenneth Arnold makes the first widely reported UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington.
- 1948 – Start of the Berlin Blockade: the Soviet Union makes overland travel between West Germany and West Berlin impossible.
- 1949 – The first television western, Hopalong Cassidy, is aired on NBC starring William Boyd.
- 1957 – In Roth v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment.
- 1963 – The United Kingdom grants Zanzibar internal self-government.
- 1975 – An Eastern Air Lines Boeing 727 crashes at John F. Kennedy Airport, New York. 113 people die.
- 1981 – The Humber Bridge is opened to traffic, connecting Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. It would be the world's longest single-span suspension bridge for 17 years.
- 1982 – "The Jakarta Incident": British Airways Flight 9 flies into a cloud of volcanic ash thrown up by the eruption of Mount Galunggung, resulting in the failure of all four engines.
- 1985 – STS-51-G Space Shuttle Discovery completes its mission, best remembered for having Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a Payload Specialist.
- 2002 – The Igandu train disaster in Tanzania kills 281, the worst train accident in African history.
- 2004 – In New York, capital punishment is declared unconstitutional.
- 2010 – John Isner of the United States defeats Nicolas Mahut of France at Wimbledon, in the longest match in professional tennis history.
[edit] Births
- 1244 – Henry I, Landgrave of Hesse (d. 1308)
- 1343 – Joan of Valois, Queen of Navarre (d. 1373)
- 1386 – John of Capistrano, Italian saint (d. 1456)
- 1485 – Johannes Bugenhagen, German reformer (d. 1558)
- 1519 – Theodore Beza, French theologian (d. 1605)
- 1533 – Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (d. 1588)
- 1535 – Joan of Spain, Spanish-born Queen consort of Portugal (d. 1573)
- 1542 – John of the Cross, Spanish Carmelite mystic and poet (d. 1591)
- 1546 – Robert Parsons, English Jesuit priest (d. 1610)
- 1587 – William Arnold, English settler of Providence Plantation (d. 1675)
- 1663 – Jean Baptiste Massillon, French churchman (d. 1742)
- 1687 – Johann Albrecht Bengel, German scholar (d. 1757)
- 1694 – Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui, Swiss political theorist (d. 1748)
- 1704 – Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens, French writer (d. 1771)
- 1774 – François Nicolas Benoît, Baron Haxo, French general (d. 1838)
- 1774 – Antonio González de Balcarce, Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (d. 1819)
- 1777 – John Ross, British naval officer and explorer (d. 1856)
- 1782 – Juan Larrea, Argentine businessman, member of the Primera Junta (d. 1847)
- 1795 – Ernst Heinrich Weber, German anatomist and physiologist (d. 1878)
- 1803 – George James Webb, English-born composer (d. 1887)
- 1804 – Willard Richards, American religious leader (d. 1854)
- 1811 – John Archibald Campbell, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1889)
- 1813 – Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman and reformer (d. 1887)
- 1821 – Dr. Guillermo Rawson, medical doctor and one of the most influential politicians in nineteenth century Argentina (d. 1890)
- 1825 – Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna of Russia (d. 1844)
- 1826 – George Goyder, surveyor-general of South Australia (d. 1898)
- 1842 – Ambrose Bierce, American author (disappeared ca. 1914)
- 1846 – Samuel Johnson, Yoruba historian and priest (d. 1901)
- 1850 – Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, British field marshal (d. 1916)
- 1860 – Mercedes of Orleans, Queen of Spain (d. 1878)
- 1869 – Prince George of Greece and Denmark (d. 1957)
- 1882 – Athanase David, Canadian politician and businessman (d. 1953)
- 1882 – Carl Diem, German Olympic official (d. 1962)
- 1883 – Victor Franz Hess, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1964)
- 1886 – George Shiels, Northern Irish dramatist (d. 1949)
- 1888 – Gerrit Rietveld, Dutch architect (d. 1964)
- 1893 – Roy O. Disney, American co-founder of the Walt Disney Company (d. 1971)
- 1895 – Jack Dempsey, American boxer (d. 1983)
- 1897 – Daniel K. Ludwig, American shipping magnate (d. 1992)
- 1900 – Wilhelm Cauer, German mathematician (d. 1945)
- 1901 – Harry Partch, American composer (d. 1974)
- 1901 – Charles Hollis "Chuck" Taylor, The man behind the "Chuck Taylor" shoes (d. 1969)
- 1904 – Phil Harris, American singer, songwriter and comedian (d. 1995)
- 1906 – Pierre Fournier, French cellist (d. 1986)
- 1906 – Willard Maas, American educator and experimental filmmaker (d. 1971)
- 1907 – Arseny Tarkovsky, Russian poet (d. 1989)
- 1908 – Hugo Distler, German composer (d. 1942)
- 1908 – Guru Gopinath, Indian classical dancer (d. 1987)
- 1908 – Alfons Rebane, Estonian military officer (d. 1976)
- 1911 – Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentine Formula One driver (d. 1995)
- 1911 – Ernesto Sabato, Argentine writer (d. 2011)
- 1912 – Brian Johnston, British cricket commentator (d. 1994)
- 1913 – Gustaaf Deloor, Belgian cyclist (d. 2002)
- 1914 – Pearl Witherington CBE, British World War II secret agent (d. 2008)
- 1915 – Sir Fred Hoyle, British astronomer (d. 2001)
- 1916 – William B. Saxbe, American politician (d. 2010)
- 1919 – Al Molinaro, American actor
- 1922 – Tata Giacobetti, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra) (d. 1988)
- 1923 – Margaret Olley, Australian artist (d. 2011)
- 1924 – Brian Bevan, Australian rugby league footballer (d. 1991)
- 1924 – Kurt Furgler, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 2008)
- 1924 – Archie Roy, Scottish astronomer, academic and paranormal researcher
- 1927 – Martin Lewis Perl, American physicist, Nobel laureate
- 1930 – Claude Chabrol, French film director (d. 2010)
- 1930 – William Bernard Ziff, Jr., American publishing executive (d. 2006)
- 1931 – Billy Casper, American golfer
- 1933 – Sam Jones, American basketball player
- 1934 – Ferdinand Biwersi, German football referee
- 1934 – Jean-Pierre Ferland, Canadian singer
- 1935 – Terry Riley, American composer
- 1938 – Lawrence Block, American writer
- 1939 – Michael Gothard, English actor (d. 1992)
- 1939 – HA Schult, German artist
- 1940 – Vittorio Storaro, Italian Cinematographer
- 1941 – Julia Kristeva, Bulgarian-French philosopher, psychoanalyst and novelist
- 1941 – Erkin Koray, Turkish rock musician
- 1942 – Michele Lee, American actress
- 1942 – Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, Chilean president
- 1944 – Jeff Beck, English guitarist (The Yardbirds)
- 1944 – Arthur Brown, English singer
- 1944 – John "Charlie" Whitney, English guitarist (Family, Streetwalkers, Axis Point)
- 1944 – Chris Wood, English saxophonist (Traffic) (d. 1983)
- 1945 – Colin Blunstone, English singer and songwriter (The Zombies)
- 1945 – Wayne Cashman, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1945 – George Pataki, American politician
- 1945 – Nora Valsami, Greek actress
- 1946 – David Collenette, Canadian politician
- 1946 – Ellison Onizuka, American astronaut (d. 1986)
- 1946 – Robert Reich, American politician and political commentator
- 1947 – Peter Weller, American actor
- 1947 – Mick Fleetwood, English drummer (Fleetwood Mac)
- 1948 – Patrick Moraz, Swiss keyboard player (Yes)
- 1949 – John Illsley, English bassist (Dire Straits)
- 1950 – Nancy Allen, American actress
- 1950 – Mercedes Lackey, American fantasy writer
- 1951 – David Rodigan, Germany-born British radio DJ and actor
- 1952 – Stephen Pusey, British public artist
- 1953 – Ivo Lill, Estonian glass artist
- 1955 – Edmund Malura, German footballer
- 1955 – Betsy Randle, American actress
- 1956 – Joe Penny, English actor
- 1957 – Mark Parkinson, American politician, 45th Governor of Kansas
- 1958 – Kenneth Biros, American murderer (d. 2009)
- 1958 – Jean Charest, 29th Premier of Québec
- 1958 – Tom Lister, Jr., American actor and professional wrestler
- 1958 – John Tortorella, American ice hockey coach
- 1958 – Kathy Troccoli, American singer
- 1960 – Siedah Garrett, American singer
- 1960 – Karin Pilsäter, Swedish politician
- 1960 – Erik Poppe, Norwegian film director
- 1961 – Dennis Danell, American guitarist (Social Distortion) (d. 2000)
- 1961 – Iain Glen, Scottish actor
- 1961 – Bernie Nicholls, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1961 – Ralph Reed, American political figure and religious leader
- 1961 – Curt Smith, English bassist, keyboardist, singer and songwriter (Tears for Fears)
- 1963 – Preki (Predrag Radosavljević), Serbian-born American soccer player
- 1963 – Mike Wieringo, American comic book artist (d. 2007)
- 1964 – Gary Suter, American ice hockey player
- 1965 – Uwe Krupp, German ice hockey player
- 1966 – Hope Sandoval, American singer and songwriter (Mazzy Star, Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions)
- 1966 – Adrienne Shelly, American actress, director and screenwriter (d. 2006)
- 1967 – Bill Huard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1967 – Richard Z. Kruspe, German guitarist (Rammstein)
- 1967 – Janez Lapajne, Slovenian film director
- 1967 – John Limniatis, Greek-Canadian footballer
- 1967 – Scott Oden, American writer
- 1967 – Sherry Stringfield, American actress
- 1968 – Alaa Abdelnaby, Egyptian-American basketball player
- 1969 – Sissel Kyrkjebø, Norwegian soprano
- 1970 – Glenn Medeiros, American singer and songwriter
- 1971 – Ji Jin Hee, South Korean actor
- 1971 – Christopher Showerman, American actor
- 1972 – Robbie McEwen, Australian cyclist
- 1972 – Denis Žvegelj, Slovenian rower
- 1973 – Alexander Beyer, German actor
- 1974 – Chris Guccione American baseball umpire
- 1975 – Carla Gallo, American actress
- 1975 – Marek Malik, Czech ice hockey player
- 1975 – Federico Pucciariello, Argentine-born Italian rugby player
- 1976 – Louisa Leaman, English writer and behaviour expert
- 1976 – Brock Olivo, American football player
- 1977 – Dimosthenis Dikoudis, Greek basketball player
- 1977 – Jeff Farmer, Australian footballer
- 1977 – Cas Jansen, Dutch actor
- 1978 – Luis García, Spanish footballer
- 1978 – Pantelis Kafes, Greek footballer
- 1978 – Shunsuke Nakamura, Japanese footballer
- 1978 – Ariel Pink, American recording artist
- 1978 – Juan Román Riquelme, Argentine footballer
- 1978 – Emppu Vuorinen, Finnish guitarist (Nightwish)
- 1979 – Mindy Kaling, American actress and TV producer
- 1979 – Petra Němcová, Czech model
- 1979 – Craig Shergold, British internet folklore subject
- 1980 – Liane Balaban, Canadian actress
- 1980 – Cicinho, Brazilian footballer
- 1980 – Andrew Jones, Australian racing driver
- 1980 – Minka Kelly, American actress
- 1982 – Clint Bajada, Maltese television and radio presenter
- 1982 – Kevin Nolan, English footballer
- 1982 – Mark Penney, Canadian film director
- 1982 – Jarret Stoll, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1983 – Rebecca Cooke, British swimmer
- 1983 – John Lloyd Cruz, Filipino actor
- 1984 – Andrea Raggi, Italian footballer
- 1984 – J. J. Redick, American basketball player
- 1985 – Diego Alves Carreira, Brazilian footballer
- 1985 – Kyle Searles, American actor
- 1985 – Yukina Shirakawa, Japanese gravure idol
- 1986 – Stuart Broad, English cricketer
- 1986 – Phil Hughes, American baseball player
- 1986 – Solange Knowles, American singer
- 1987 – Serdar Güneş, Turkish footballer
- 1987 – Craig Henderson, New Zealand footballer
- 1987 – Arturo Lupoli, Italian footballer
- 1987 – Lionel Messi, Argentine footballer
- 1988 – Nichkhun Horvejkul, Thai-American singer active in South Korea (2PM)
- 1990 – Michael Del Zotto, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1990 – Richard Sukuta-Pasu, German footballer
- 1998 – Coy Stewart, American actor
- 2003 – Marcus Fiesel, American murder victim (d. 2006)
[edit] Deaths
- 238 – Maximinus Thrax, Roman Emperor (b. 173)
- 803 – Higbald, Bishop of Lindisfarne (birth year unknown)
- 1398 – Hongwu Emperor, founder of the Ming Dynasty of China (b. 1328)
- 1439 – Duke Frederick IV of Austria (b. 1382)
- 1519 – Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara (b. 1480)
- 1520 – Hosokawa Sumimoto, Japanese samurai commander (b. 1489)
- 1604 – Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, Lord Great Chamberlain of England (b. 1550)
- 1637 – Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, French astronomer (b. 1580)
- 1643 – John Hampden, English politician (b. 1595)
- 1766 – Adrien-Maurice, 3rd duc de Noailles, French soldier (b. 1678)
- 1778 – Pieter Burmann the Younger, Dutch philologist (b. 1714)
- 1803 – Matthew Thornton, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1714)
- 1817 – Thomas McKean, American lawyer and politician (b. 1734)
- 1835 – Andreas Vokos Miaoulis, Greek admiral and politician (b. 1769)
- 1894 – Marie François Sadi Carnot, French statesman (b. 1837)
- 1908 – Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States (b. 1837)
- 1909 – Sarah Orne Jewett, American writer (b. 1849)
- 1922 – Walther Rathenau, German Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1867)
- 1931 – Xiang Zhongfa, Head of the Chinese Communist Party (b. 1880)
- 1931 – Otto Mears, Russian-born American railroad executive (b. 1840)
- 1935 – Carlos Gardel, Argentine tango singer (b. 1890)
- 1946 – Louise Whitfield Carnegie, American philanthropist (b. 1857)
- 1947 – Emil Seidel, Mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (b. 1864)
- 1968 – Tony Hancock, British comedian (b. 1924)
- 1976 – Imogen Cunningham, American photographer (b. 1883)
- 1977 – André-Gilles Fortin, Canadian politician (b. 1943)
- 1978 – Robert Charroux, French writer (b. 1909)
- 1984 – Clarence Campbell, Canadian president of the National Hockey League (b. 1905)
- 1987 – Jackie Gleason, American actor and musician (b. 1916)
- 1989 – Hibari Misora, Japanese singer and actress (b. 1937)
- 1991 – Sumner Locke Elliott, Australian-born novelist (b. 1917)
- 1991 – Rufino Tamayo, Mexican painter (b. 1899)
- 1997 – Don Hutson, American football player (b. 1913)
- 1997 – Brian Keith, American actor (b. 1921)
- 2000 – Vera Atkins, Romanian-born intelligence officer (b. 1908)
- 2000 – David Tomlinson, English actor (b. 1917)
- 2000 – Rodrigo Bueno, Argentine singer {b. 1973}
- 2002 – Pierre Werner, Prime Minister of Luxembourg (b. 1913)
- 2003 – Vladimir Garin, Russian actor (b. 1987)
- 2004 – Ifigeneia Giannopoulou, Greek songwriter (b. 1957)
- 2005 – Yedidia Shofet, former chief rabbi of Iran (b. 1908)
- 2005 – Paul Winchell, American voice actor and ventriloquist (b. 1922)
- 2006 – Patsy Ramsey, mother of JonBenét Ramsey (b. 1956)
- 2007 – Byron Baer, American politician (b. 1929)
- 2007 – Chris Benoit, Canadian wrestler (b. 1967)
- 2007 – Derek Dougan, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1938)
- 2007 – Natasja Saad, Danish reggae and dance hall artist (b. 1974)
- 2008 – Gerhard Ringel, Austrian mathematician (b. 1919)
- 2008 – Ira Tucker, American gospel singer (The Dixie Hummingbirds) (b. 1925)
- 2009 – Roméo LeBlanc, 25th Governor General of Canada (b. 1927)
- 2009 – Ed Thomas, American High School football coach (b. 1951)
- 2010 – Tomislav Gotovac, Croatian movie director, actor, performer, multimedia and conceptual artist (b. 1937)
- 2011 – Tomislav Ivić, Croatian football manager (b. 1933)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] External links
