June 24 June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 190 days remaining. Events 1100-1899 1128 - Battle of St.Mamede, near Guimarães. Portuguese forces led by Afonso I beat his mother D.Teresa and D.Fernão Peres de Trava. After this battle, the future king calls himself "Prince of Portugal", the first step towards independence in 1143. 1314 - Battle of Bannockburn. Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce beat Edward II of England. Scotland regains its independence. 1374 - A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance causes people in the streets of Aix-la-Chapelle, Prussia, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion. 1441 - Eton College founded. 1497 - John Cabot lands on North America, either at Newfoundland or Cape Breton; first European discovery of the region since the Vikings. 1497 - Cornish traitors Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank executed at Tyburn, London 1509 - Henry VIII crowned King of England. 1534 - Jacques Cartier makes the European discovery of Prince Edward Island. 1535 - The Anabaptist state of Münster is conquered and disbanded. 1597 - The first Dutch voyage to the East Indies reaches Bantam (on Java). 1662 - Dutch attempt but fail to capture Macao. 1664 - The colony of New Jersey is founded. 1692 - Kingston, Jamaica founded. 1793 - First republican constitution in France adopted. 1812 - Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon's invasion of Russia begins. 1859 - Battle of Solferino (Battle of the Three Sovereigns). Sardinia and France defeat Austria in northern Italy. 1861 - Tennessee becomes the 11th and last state to secede from the US. 1880 - First performance of O Canada, the song that would become the national anthem of Canada, at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français. 1894 - The IOC decides to hold the Olympic Games every four years. 1900-1999 1901 - First exhibition of Pablo Picasso's work opens. 1910 - Japan invades Korea. 1913 - Greece and Serbia annul their alliance with Bulgaria. 1915 - The steamer Eastland capsizes in Chicago. 800 people die. 1916 - Mary Pickford becomes first film star to get million dollar contract. 1918 - First airmail service in Canada from Montreal to Toronto. 1918 - The giant cannon Big Bertha begins bombardments on Paris 1932 - A military coup ends the absolute power of the king of Siam (Thailand). 1940 - France and Italy sign an armistice. 1941 - The Germans capture Vilna, Brest-Litovsk, and Kaunas. 1945 - The U.S.S.R. capture the Free Republic of Schwarzenberg. 1946 - Georges Bidault becomes Prime Minister of France 1947 - First known sighting of UFOs: Kenneth Arnold, flying over Washington, notices nine luminous disks in the form of saucers. 1948 - Start of the Berlin Blockade. The Soviet Union makes overland travel between the West with West Berlin impossible. 1957 - The U.S. Supreme Court rules that obsecnity is not protected by the First Amendment. 1963 - Zanzibar is granted internal self-government by the UK. 1974 - The UPC label is used for the first time to ring up purchases at a supermarket. 1975 - An Eastern Airlines Boeing 727 crashes at John F. Kennedy Airport, New York. 113 people die. 1983 - Sally Ride, first female American astronaut, returns to earth. 1983 - Yasir Arafat banned from Damascus. 1993 - Yale computer science professor Dr. David Gelernter loses the sight in one eye, the hearing in one ear, and part of his right hand after receiving a mailbomb from the Unabomber. 1996 - Michael Johnson breaks the world record in the 400 metres with a time of 19.66 seconds 1999 - The guitar which Eric Clapton recorded Layla is sold at auction for the astounding price of $497,500. Births 1700-1899 1777 - John Ross, naval officer and explorer (d. 1856) 1795 - Ernst Heinrich Weber, anatomist and physiologist (d. 1878) 1803 - George James Webb, composer 1842 - Ambrose Bierce, author (d. 1914, speculative) 1850 - Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, original Order of Merit member (d. 1916) 1882 - Carl Diem, sports scientist (d. 1962) 1883 - Victor Franz Hess, American physicist 1888 - Gerrit Rietveld, Dutch architect (d. 1964) 1895 - Jack Dempsey, boxer (d. 1983) 1900-1999 1901 - Harry Partch, microtonal composer (d. 1974) 1906 - Pierre Fournier, French cellist (d. 1986) 1909 - David Rose, composer, musician (d. 1990) 1911 - Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1995) 1915 - Fred Hoyle, cosmologist, science fiction author (d. 2001) 1922 - Tata Giacobetti, Italian singer and lyricist (Quartetto Cetra) 1928 - Wolfgang Altenburg, German general 1930 - Claude Chabrol, film director 1931 - Billy Casper, professional golfer 1942 - Mick Fleetwood, blues/pop/rock musician (Fleetwood Mac) 1942 - Michele Lee, actress 1944 - Jeff Beck, rock guitarist ("Yardbirds") 1944 - Chris Wood, rock musician 1945 - Colin Blunstone, rock musician ("The Zombies") 1945 - George Pataki, Governor of New York 1946 - Ellison Onizuka, astronaut (d. 1986) 1953 - Garry Shider, musician (P Funk) 1960 - Trisha Meili, author of I Am the Central Park Jogger 1967 - Richard Kruspe-Bernstein, lead guitarist for Rammstein 1969 - Sissel Kyrkjebø, Norwegian singer 1970 - Glenn Medeiros, Hawaiian singer-songwriter 1985 - Matthew Dezendorf, Programmer, actor, and composer 1986 - Solange Knowles, actress, singer Deaths 1500-1899 1519 - Lucrezia Borgia, duchess of Ferrara (b. 1480) 1604 - Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain of England 1900-1999 1908 - Grover Cleveland, former president of the USA (heart failure) 1922 - Walther Rathenau, minister of Foreign Affairs for the Weimar Republic (b. 1867, assassinated) 1947 - Emil Seidel, politician, mayor of Milwaukee, Socialist vice-presidential candidate 1953 - George Herbert Walker, grandfather to President George H. W. Bush 1987 - Jackie Gleason, actor, musician 1993 - Archie Williams, American athlete 2000-2099 2000 - Vera Atkins, Special Operations Executive intelligence officer 2002 - Pierre Werner, former Prime Minister of Luxembourg, "father of the euro" 2003 - Maynard Jackson, former mayor of Atlanta, Georgia 2003 - Leon Uris, author 2004 - Ifigeneia Giannopoulou, Greek songwriter (b. 1957) Holidays and observances Roman Catholic Church - Feast of Saint John the Baptist, patron of farriers Original Midsummer's Eve in Finland and Sweden, although the official holiday is now moved to the nearest Friday One of the four Irish Quarter days in the Irish Calendar. Discovery Day in Newfoundland and Labrador (celebrating the 1497 discovery by John Cabot) Fête nationale du Québec, also called St-Jean-Baptiste Day Day of Indian in Peru Bannockburn Day in Scotland (see 1314 above) Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Rahmat (Mercy) - First day of the sixth month of the Bahá'í Calendar Quarter days in England June 23 - June 25 - May 24 - July 24 -- listing of all days Most Popular Articles: Music    Musical Instruments    Guitar    Classical Music    History    Music Definition    Country Music    Rock Music    Pop Music    Hip Hop    Rap    DJ    Video Games    Casino Games    Poker    Blackjack    Casinos    Real Estate    Loan    Auction    eBay    Marketing    Search Engine Optimization    File Sharing    MP3    Music Industry    Kazaa    Internet    Supermodel    Fashion    Fashion Designers    Erotica    Modeling    Clothing    Boots    Shoes    Diamond Engagement Rings    Diamond    Rugs    Gospel Music    Affiliate    E-Commerce    Radio This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. 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