May 24 May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (145th in leap years). There are 221 days remaining. Events 1100-1899 1153 - Malcolm IV becomes King of Scotland. 1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves for Egypt. 1430 - Joan of Arc is captured at Compiègne. 1487 - Imposter Lambert Simnel is crowned as "King Edward VI" at Dublin. 1626 - Peter Minuit buys Manhattan. 1668 - Glen Cove, New York is founded. 1689 - The Act of Toleration passes the English Parliament protecting Protestants (Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded). 1738 - The Methodist Church is established. 1787 - The United States Constitutional Convention is convened after a quorum of delegates arrives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1798 - Irish nationalists rebel against British occupation forces believing that French troops were going to invade Ireland. 1822 - Battle of Pichincha: Simón Bolívar secures the independence of Quito. 1844 - The first electric telegram is sent by Samuel F. B. Morse, from Baltimore, Maryland to Washington, D.C., saying "What hath God wrought?". 1846 - Mexican-American War: General Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey, Mexico. 1861 - American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia. 1883 - The Brooklyn Bridge in New York is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction. 1895 - Henry Irving becomes the first personage from the theatre to be knighted. 1899 - The first public parking garage in the United States is opened in Boston, Massachusetts. 1900-1999 1900 - Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State. 1915 - World War I: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary. 1921 - Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti opens. 1929 - The Cocoanuts, the first film to star the Marx Brothers, opens. 1930 - Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Australia becoming the first woman to fly from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight). 1940 - Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight. 1941 - World War II: In the North Atlantic, the German Battleship Bismarck sinks the HMS Hood killing all but three crewmen on what was the pride of the Royal Navy. 1943 - Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer in Auschwitz concentration camp. 1956 - In Lugano, Switzerland, Lys Assia wins the first Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland singing "Refrain". 1958 - United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service. 1961 - American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus. 1962 - American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule. 1968 - Students set fire to the Paris bourse. 1968 - The Gateway Arch, in St. Louis, Missouri, is dedicated. 1974 - After a nine year run, the Dean Martin Show airs for the last time. 1976 - The London to Washington, DC Concorde service begins. 1980 - The International Court of Justice calls for the release of United States embassy hostages in Tehran. 1988 - Section 28 is passed as law by Parliament in the United Kingdom. 1989 - Sonia Sutcliffe, wife of the Yorkshire Ripper, is awarded a six-figure sum in damages after winning a libel action against Private Eye. 1991 - Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethopian Jews to Israel. 1993 - Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia. 1993 - Microsoft unveils Windows NT. 2000-2099 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. 2003 - In Riga, Latvia, Sertab Erener wins the forty-eighth Eurovision Song Contest for Turkey singing "Everyway [sic] That I Can". Births 1500-1899 1544 - William Gilbert (d. 1603) 1616 - John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale, (d. 1682) 1619 - (baptised) Philips Wouwerman, Dutch Baroque painter (d. 1668) 1743 - Jean-Paul Marat, French revolutionary (d. 1793) 1794 - William Whewell, philosopher (d. 1866) 1810 - Abraham Geiger, rabbi and scholar (d. 1874) 1811 - Charles Clark, Governor of Mississippi 1816 - Emanuel Leutze, painter of Washington Crossing the Delaware (d. 1868) 1819 - Queen Victoria (d. 1901) 1831 - Richard Hoffman, pianist 1836 - Joseph Rowntree, British social reformer (d. 1925) 1855 - Arthur Wing Pinero, playwright (d. 1934) 1858 - Johan C Braakensiek, political cartoonist 1863 - George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (d. 1938) 1866 - Armando Frid (d. 1990) 1870 - Jan Christian Smuts (d. 1950) 1870 - Benjamin Cardozo, US jurist (d. 1938) 1878 - Lillian Moller Gilbreth, mother of modern management (d. 1972) 1886 - Paul Paray, conductor, composer (d. 1979) 1891 - William F. Albright, American archeologist and Biblical scholar (d. 1971) 1899 - Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player 1899 - Henri Michaux, French poet 1900-1999 1905 - Zdenek Blazek, composer (d. 1988) 1909 - Wilbur Mills, United States politician (d. 1992) 1910 - Nils-Eric Fougstedt (d. 1961) 1912 - Joan Hammond, soprano 1913 - Willi Daume, German Olympic organizer (d. 1996) 1914 - Lilli Palmer, actress (d. 1986) 1917 - John Robert Russell, Duke of Bedford (d. 2002) 1922 or 1923 - Siobhan McKenna, actress (d. 1986) 1925 - Mai Zetterling, entertainer (d. 1994) 1926 - Stanley Baxter, actor 1928 - William Trevor, writer 1930 - Hans-Martin Linde, conductor 1934 - Jane Byrne, former mayor of Chicago, Illinois 1935 - Joan Micklin Silver, director, writer 1936 - Harold Budd, musician 1938 - Tommy Chong, actor, comedian 1940 - Joseph Brodsky, poet 1941 - Bob Dylan (aka Robert Allen Zimmerman) 1942 - Derek Quinn, musician 1943 - Gary Burghoff, actor 1944 - Arthur Brown, musician 1944 - Patti LaBelle, singer 1945 - Priscilla Presley, actress 1946 - Irena Kirszenstein-Szewinska, Russian-born Polish athlete 1949 - Jim Broadbent, actor 1953 - Alfred Molina, actor 1955 - Rosanne Cash, singer 1960 - Kristin Scott Thomas, actress 1962 - Bev Lidyoff, volleyball player 1963 - Joe Dumars, basketball star 1965 - John C. Reilly, actor 1966 - Eric Cantona, French footballer 1967 - Heavy D, rap musician, actor 1972 - Greg Berlanti, American television writer and producer 1973 - Dermot O'Leary, TV presenter 1979 - Tracy McGrady, basketball player 1988 - Billy Gilman, singer Deaths 500-1899 592 - St. Simon Stylites the Younger 1153 - King David I of Scotland (b. 1084) 1543 - Nicolas Copernicus, astronomer (b. 1473) 1612 - Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, 1st Viscount Cranborne (b. 1563) 1879 - William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist, writer, publisher (b. 1805) 1881 - Samuel Palmer, English artist (b. 1805) 1883 - Abdel Kadir, Algerian leader (b. 1808) 1900-1999 1903 - Marcel Renault, automobile racer 1933 - Percy C. Mather, pioneer missionary to Eastern Turkestan 1937 - Edward Dunne, mayor of Chicago, IL (b. 1853) 1950 - Archibald Wavell, general (b. 1883) 1959 - John Foster Dulles, United States Secretary of State (b. 1888) 1963 - Elmore James, blues musician (b. 1918) 1969 - Willy Ley, rocket scientist (b. 1906) 1974 - Duke Ellington, composer, musician (b. 1899) 1981 - George Jessel, vaudevillian (b. 1898) 1991 - Wilhelm Kempff, German conductor (b. 1895) 1995 - Harold Wilson, British statesman and prime minister (b. 1916) 1997 - Edward Mulhare, actor (b. 1923) 2000-2099 2003 - Lady Rachel Kempson, actress (b. 1910) 2004 - Henry Ries, American photographer (b. 1917) Holidays and observances Victoria Day is celebrated in Canada on this date or the Monday before it (in Quebec, it is known as Patriotes Day (Journée nationale des patriotes). It is regarded as a public holiday. Bermuda Day, National Day of Bermuda. Eritrea, National Day May 23 - May 25 - April 24 - June 24 - listing of all days FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison 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. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_24