May 24

May 24 is the 144th day of the year (145th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 221 days remaining until the end of the year.

• 1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre, in present-day Israel, for Egypt.
• 1276 - Magnus Ladulas is crowned King of Sweden in Uppsala Cathedral.
• 1487 - 10-year-old Lambert Simnel is crowned in Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, with the name Edward VI, in a bid to threaten the reign of King Henry VII of England.
• 1595 - The Nomenclator of Leiden University Library in the Netherlands appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.
• 1607 - 100 English settlers leave for Jamestown, Virginia.
• 1621 – The Protestant Union is formally dissolved.
• 1626 – Peter Minuit buys Manhattan.
• 1667 - The French Royal Army crosses the border into the then-Spanish Netherlands, starting the War of Devolution opposing France to the Spanish Empire and the Triple Alliance.
• 1689 – The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration, protecting Protestants, with Roman Catholics intentionally excluded.
• 1738 – John Wesley is converted, establishing the Methodist Movement.
• 1798 – The Irish Rebellion of 1798 against British rule begins.
• 1813 - Simon Bolivar enters Mérida, Venezuela.
• 1819 – Queen Victoria is born at Kensington Palace in London. At the time of her birth, she is not expected to become Queen.
• 1822 – The Battle of Pichincha in Ecuador: Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito.
• 1830 – Mary had a Little Lamb by Sarah Josepha Hale is published.
• 1832 - The first Kingdom of Greece is declared at the London Conference.
• 1844 – Samuel Morse sends the message What hath God wrought to inaugurate the first telegraph line.
• 1846 – Mexican-American War: Zachary Taylor captures Monterrey.
• 1856 - John Brown and his men kill five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.
• 1861 – American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.
• 1883 – The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened.
• 1895 - Henry Irving becomes the first person from the theatre to be knighted.
• 1900 – Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.

• 1901 – The Caerphilly pit disaster in South Wales kills 78 miners.
• 1913 - Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia marries Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover.
• 1915 – World War I: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary.
• 1921 - In the US, the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti begins.
• 1930 – Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first Woman to fly solo from England to Australia.
• 1935 – In Cincinnati, Ohio the first night game in Major League Baseball is held.
• 1940 – Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.
• 1941 – World War II: In the Battle of the Atlantic, the German battleship Bismarck sinks the Royal Navy's HMS Hood, killing all but three of the sailors on board.
• 1944 - Iceland, then-still under the Danish crown, holds a referendum on its future status, with 97% of voters choosing to become a republic, which is declared on June 17.
• 1950 – The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is proclaimed.
• 1956 – The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland. It is won by Switzerland's Lys Assia.
• 1958 - United Press International is formed.
• 1960 - The Cordon Caulle volcano in Chile erupts, two days after the strongest-ever measured earthquake struck the area.
• 1962 – The rocket Mercury Atlas 7 is launched by NASA.
• 1963 - United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy meets with author James Baldwin in an unsuccessful attempt at improving race relations.
• 1964 - After the Peru national football team had a goal against the Argentina national football team disallowed, in Lima, a mass panic breaks out, killing 328 people.
• 1967 – Egypt imposes a blockade and siege of Israel's Red Sea coast.
• 1968 - Front de la Libération de Québec separatists bomb the US Consulate in Quebec City.
• 1970 - Drilling of the Kola Superdeep Borehole begins in the northwest of the Soviet Union, now northwest Russia, near the border with Finland.
• 1976 - The London to Washington, DC Concorde service begins.
• 1981 – President of Ecuador Jaime Roldos Aguilera is killed in an aircraft accident, along with his wife and Presidential Committee.
• 1992 – The last Thai dictator, General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigns following pro-Democracy protests.
• 1992 - Thomas Klestil is elected to replace Kurt Waldheim as President of Austria.
• 1993 – Eritrea becomes independent from Ethiopia.
• 1994 - Four men are convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and sentenced to 240 years each in prison.
• 1999 - The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands, indicts Slobodan Milosevic and four others for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Kosovo.
• 2000 – Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon, following a 22-year occupation.

• 2001 – 15-year-old Sherpa Temba Tsheri reaches the top of Mount Everest.
• 2001 – The Versailles wedding hall disaster in Jerusalem kills 23 people.
• 2002 – Russia and the United States sign the Moscow Treaty.
• 2003 – Sertab Erener, representing Turkey, wins the 48th Eurovision Song Contest in Riga, Latvia. In the same competition, the United Kingdom, represented by Jemini, finishes with 0 points for the first time.
• 2004 – North Korea bans mobile phones.
• 2008 – Dima Bilan, representing Russia, wins the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, Serbia.
• 2014 - Three people are shot dead at a Jewish Centre in Brussels, Belgium.
• 2014 - For the first time, the UEFA Champions League final is contested by two teams from the same city. In Lisbon, Real Madrid defeat Atlético Madrid 4-1 in extra time.
• 2015 - Andrzej Duda is elected President of Poland.
• 2017 - Taiwan's highest court rules in favour of same-sex marriage.
• 2019 - Taiwan's same-sex marriage law enters into effect, making it the first legalisation of same-sex marriage in Asia.
• 2019 - Theresa May announces her intention to resign as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with her successor to be chosen before the end of July.

• 15 BC – Germanicus, Roman general (d. 19 AD)
• 1084 – King David I of Scotland (d. 1153)
• 1494 – Pontormo, Italian painter (d. 1557)
• 1522 – John Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury (d. 1571)
• 1544 - William Gilbert, English astronomer and philosopher (d. 1603)
• 1671 – Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1737)
• 1686 – Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, Dutch scientist (d. 1736)
• 1743 – Jean-Paul Marat, French revolutionary (d. 1793)
• 1751 – Charles Emmanuel IV of Sardinia (d. 1819)
• 1759 – Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach, German composer (d. 1845)
• 1803 - Alexander von Nordmann, Finnish biologist (d. 1866)
• 1810 – Charles Clark, 24th Governor of Mississippi (d. 1877)
• 1810 – Abraham Geiger, German rabbi and scholar (d. 1874)
• 1816 – Emanuel Leutze, German painter (d. 1868)
• 1819 – Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland (d. 1901)
• 1821 – Juan Bautista Topete, Spanish admiral and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1885)
• 1830 – Alexei Savrasov, Russian painter (d. 1897)
• 1836 – Joseph Rowntree, British social reformer (d. 1925)
• 1851 - Ramón González Valencia, 29th President of Colombia (d. 1928)
• 1852 – Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham, Scottish politician, writer, journalist and adventurer (d. 1936)
• 1854 - John Riley Banister, American lawyer and cowboy (d. 1918)
• 1855 - Arthur Wing Panero, English actor, director and playwright (d. 1934)
• 1856 - Andrew Watson, Guyanese-Scottish footballer (d. 1921)
• 1861 - Gerald Strickland, 4th Prime Minister of Malta and British colonial Governor in Australia (d. 1940)
• 1870 – Jan Christiaan Smuts, Prime minister of South Africa (d. 1950)
• 1874 - Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1878)
• 1875 - Robert Garrett, American athlete (d. 1961)
• 1876 - Maurilio Fossati, Archbishop of Turin (d. 1965)
• 1878 – Lillian Moller Gilbreth, American psychologist and industrial engineer (d. 1972)
• 1879 - H. B. Reese, American candy maker (d. 1956)
• 1886 – Paul Paray, French conductor and composer (d. 1979)
• 1895 - Marcel Janco, Romanian-Israeli artist, writer and architect (d. 1984)
• 1899 – Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi poet (d. 1976)
• 1899 – Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (d. 1938)
• 1899 - Henri Michaux, French poet (d. 1984)
• 1900 – Eduardo De Filippo, Italian actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1984)

• 1901 – José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1968)
• 1902 - Sylvia Daoust, Canadian sculptor (d. 2004)
• 1903 - Milo Burcham, American pilot (d. 1944)
• 1903 - Wladyslaw Orlicz, Polish mathematician (d. 1990)
• 1905 – Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, Russian writer (d. 1984)
• 1910 - Jimmy Demaret, American golfer (d. 1983)
• 1911 - Ne Win, Burmese officer and politician (d. 2002)
• 1914 – Lilli Palmer, German actress (d. 1986)
• 1914 - George Tabori, Hungarian-German writer, screenwriter and dramatist (d. 2007)
• 1914 - Giuseppe Valdengo, Italian baritone (d. 2007)
• 1916 - Roden Cutler, Australian diplomat (d. 2002)
• 1921 - Maria Michi, Italian actress (d. 1980)
• 1924 - Mike Bongiorno, Italian-American television presenter (d. 2009)
• 1924 - Aleksander Arulaid, Estonian chess player and engineer (d. 1995)
• 1925 – Mai Zetterling, Swedish entertainer (d. 1994)
• 1925 - Carmine Infantino, American illustrator (d. 2013)
• 1925 - Carlo Annovazzi, Italian footballer (d. 1980)
• 1926 – Stanley Baxter, Scottish actor
• 1928 - Adrian Frutiger, Swiss typeface designer (d. 2015)
• 1928 - Jacobo Zabludovsky, Mexican lawyer and journalist (d. 2015)
• 1928 - Kurt Weber, Polish cinematographer (d. 2015)
• 1930 - Matthew Meselson, American geneticist and molecular biologist
• 1931 - Michael Lonsdale, French actor
• 1932 – Arnold Wesker, British dramatist (d. 2016)
• 1933 - Aharon Lichtenstein, French-Israeli rabbi (d. 2015)
• 1934 – Jane Byrne, 50th Mayor of Chicago (d. 2014)
• 1936 - Harold Budd, American composer and poet
• 1937 - Dick Balharry, Scottish conservationist (d. 2015)
• 1937 – Roger Peterson, American pilot (d. 1959)
• 1938 - Prince Buster, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2016)
• 1940 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian poet (d. 1996)
• 1941 – Bob Dylan, American musician
• 1942 – Ichiro Ozawa, Japanese politician
• 1942 - Hannu Mikkola, Finnish rally driver
• 1942 - Fraser Stoddart, Scottish-American chemist
• 1944 - Susana Baca, Peruvian singer
• 1944 – Patti LaBelle, American singer
• 1945 – Priscilla Presley, American actress and wife of Elvis Presley
• 1945 - Terry Callier, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2012)
• 1945 - Driss Jetou, former Prime Minister of Morocco
• 1946 - Tansu Ciller, former Prime Minister of Turkey
• 1946 - Irena Szewinska, Polish athlete
• 1946 - Thomas Nordahl, Swedish footballer
• 1947 - Waddy Wachtel, American composer, musician, bandleader and producer
• 1947 - Martin Winterkorn, German businessman
• 1948 - Richard Dembo, French director and screenwriter
• 1949 – Jim Broadbent, British actor
• 1949 - Hubert Birkenmeier, German-American soccer player and coach

• 1953 – Alfred Molina, British actor
• 1955 – Rosanne Cash, American musician
• 1955 - Philippe Lafontaine, Belgian singer-songwriter
• 1956 - Michael Jackson, Archbishop of Dublin
• 1956 - Larry Blackmon, American singer-songwriter, musician, producer and actor
• 1956 - Dominic Grieve, English politician
• 1957 – Walter Moers, German comic artist and writer
• 1959 – Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish ice hockey player (d. 1985)
• 1960 – Guy Fletcher, British musician (Dire Straits)
• 1960 – Kristin Scott Thomas, British actress
• 1961 - Alain Lemieux, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1962 - Massimo Mauro, Italian footballer
• 1962 - Héctor Camacho, Puerto Rican boxer (d. 2012)
• 1964 – Liz McColgan, Scottish athlete
• 1964 – Adrian Moorhouse, English swimmer
• 1964 – Pat Verbeek, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1965 - Jens Becker, German musician
• 1965 - John C. Reilly, American actor, singer, producer and screenwriter
• 1965 - Shinichiro Watanabe, Japanese director, producer and screenwriter
• 1966 – Eric Cantona, French footballer and actor
• 1966 - Ella Guru, American painter and musician
• 1967 – Heavy D, American rapper (d. 2011)
• 1967 - Dana Ashbrook, American actor
• 1967 - Andrey Borodin, Russian economist and businessman
• 1967 - Eric Close, American actor
• 1969 – Richard Lochhead, Scottish politician
• 1969 - Jacob Rees-Mogg, English politician
• 1972 - Greg Berlanti, American director, producer and screenwriter
• 1972 - Jim McIntyre, Scottish footballer and coach
• 1973 – Ruslana, Ukrainian singer
• 1973 - Jill Johnson, Swedish singer
• 1973 – Dermot O'Leary, British television presenter
• 1973 – Vladimir Smicer, Czech footballer
• 1973 - Shirish Kunder, Indian director, producer and screenwriter
• 1974 - Magnus Manske, German biochemist and computer programmer
• 1974 - Masahide Kobayashi, Japanese baseball player
• 1975 - Marc Gagnon, Canadian speed skater
• 1975 - Giannis Goumas, Greek footballer

• 1976 – Alessandro Cortini, Italian musician
• 1976 – Catherine Cox, Australian netball player
• 1978 - Johan Holmqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1978 - Jo Joyner, English actress
• 1978 – Brian Ching, American soccer player
• 1982 – DaMarcus Beasley, American soccer player
• 1982 - Roberto Colautti, Argentine-Israeli footballer
• 1985 - Björgvin Páll Gústavsson, Icelandic handball player
• 1986 – Jordan Metcalfe, English actor
• 1987 - Déborah François, Belgian actress
• 1987 - Fabio Fognini, Italian tennis player
• 1988 - Artem Anisimov, Russian ice hockey player
• 1989 – Mohammed Fellah, Norwegian footballer
• 1989 – Adel Taarabt, Moroccan footballer
• 1990 - Yuya Matsushita, Japanese singer and actor
• 1991 – Erika Umeda, Japanese singer
• 1992 - Rachel Victoria, Canadian actress
• 1994 - Cayden Boyd, American actor
• 1994 - Daiya Seto, Japanese swimmer
• 1995 – Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein
• 2007 - Maru the cat, famous cat and internet celebrity

• 641 - Constantine III, Eastern Roman Emperor (b. 612)
• 1153 – David I of Scotland (b. 1084)
• 1201 - Theobald III, Count of Champagne (b. 1179)
• 1351 – Abu al-Hasan 'Ali, Sultan of Morocco (b. 1297)
• 1377 - Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania (b. 1296)
• 1408 – Taejo of Joseon, ruler of Korea (b. 1335)
• 1543 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer (b. 1473)
• 1612 – Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English politician (b. 1563)
• 1734 – Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (b. 1660)
• 1806 - John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, Scottish field marshal (b. 1723)
• 1848 - Annette von Droste-Huelshoff, German writer and composer (b. 1797)
• 1861 - Elmer G. Ellsworth, American colonel (b. 1837)
• 1876 - Georgi Benkovski, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1843)
• 1879 - William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist and publisher (b. 1805)
• 1881 - Samuel Palmer, English painter (b. 1805)

• 1901 - Charlotte Mary Yonge, English novelist (b. 1823)
• 1908 – Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (b. 1821)
• 1909 - Georg von Neumayer, German geophysicist and polar scientist (b. 1826)
• 1919 - Amado Nervo, Mexican poet (b. 1870)
• 1948 - Jacques Feyder, Belgian director and screenwriter (b. 1885)
• 1949 - Alkesey Shchusev, Russian architect (b. 1873)
• 1950 - Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, British field marshal (b. 1883)
• 1959 – John Foster Dulles, United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
• 1960 - Avraham Arnon, Israeli educator (b. 1887)
• 1972 - Ismail Yasin, Egyptian actor (b. 1915)
• 1972 - Asta Nielsen, Danish actress (b. 1881)
• 1974 – Duke Ellington, American jazz musician (b. 1899)
• 1979 - Ernest Bullock, English organist, composer and educator (b. 1890)
• 1981 – Jaime Roldos Aguilera, President of Ecuador (b. 1940)
• 1984 - Vince McMahon, Sr., American wrestling promoter and businessman (b. 1914)
• 1991 - Gene Clark, American singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1944)
• 1992 - Hitoshi Ogawa, Japanese racing driver (b. 1965)
• 1993 - Juan Jesus Posadas, Mexican cardinal (b. 1926)
• 1995 – Harold Wilson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1916)

• 2003 – Rachel Kempson, British actress (b. 1910)
• 2004 – Edward Wagenknecht, American literary critic (b. 1900)
• 2005 – Vivian Liberto, first wife of Johnny Cash (b. 1934)
• 2005 - Eddie Albert, American actor (b. 1906)
• 2008 – Rob Knox, British actor (b. 1989)
• 2008 - Jimmy McGriff, American jazz musician and bandleader (b. 1936)
• 2010 – Paul Gray, American musician (Slipknot) (b. 1972)
• 2010 – Anneliese Rothenberger, German opera singer (b. 1926)
• 2013 - Pyotr Todorovsky, Ukrainian-Russian movie director, screenwriter and cinematographer (b. 1925)
• 2013 - Antonio Puchades, Spanish footballer (b. 1925)
• 2013 - Ed Shaughnessy, American drummer (b. 1929)
• 2014 - John Vasconcellos, American politician (b. 1932)
• 2015 - Marcus Belgrave, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1936)
• 2015 - Tanith Lee, British writer (b. 1947)
• 2015 - Bharat Raj Upreti, Nepalese judge (b. 1950)
• 2016 - Burt Kwouk, Chinese-English actor (b. 1930)
• 2016 - Lewis Fiander, Australian actor (b. 1938)
• 2016 - Buck Kartalian, American actor (b. 1922)
• 2016 - Mell Lazarus, American cartoonist (b. 1927)
• 2016 - Berend Jan Udink, Dutch politician (b. 1926)
• 2017 - Ezekiel Anisi, Papua New Guinean politician (b. 1988)
• 2017 - Juliana Koo, Chinese-American diplomat (b. 1905)
• 2017 - Jared Martin, American actor (b. 1941)
• 2017 - Pierre Seron, Belgian comic book artist (b. 1942)
• 2017 - Denis Johnson, American writer (b. 1949)
• 2017 - Tom Gilbey, British fashion designer (b. 1938)
• 2017 - William Duborgh Jensen, Norwegian fashion designer (b. 1935)
• 2017 - Noel Kinsey, Welsh footballer (b. 1925)
• 2017 - Sonny West, American actor and stunt performer (b. 1937)
• 2018 - Cliff Jackson, English footballer (b. 1941)
• 2018 - Roblimo, American journalist and author (b. 1952)
• 2018 - TotalBiscuit, British gaming critic and commentator (b. 1984)
• 2018 - Gudrun Burwitz, German Nazi militant (b. 1929)
• 2018 - Jerry Maren, American actor (b. 1920)
• 2019 - Murray Gell-Mann, American physicist (b. 1929)

• Battle of Pichincha Day (Ecuador)
• Bermuda Day
• Commonwealth Day (Belize)
• Independence Day (Eritrea)
• Aldersgate Day (Methodism)
• National Patriots Day (Quebec)