June 24

June 24 in recent years

2024 (Monday)

2023 (Saturday)

2022 (Friday)

2021 (Thursday)

2020 (Wednesday)

2019 (Monday)

2018 (Sunday)

2017 (Saturday)

2016 (Friday)

2015 (Wednesday)

June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 190 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 109 – The Aqua Traiana is inaugurated by emperor Trajan, the aqueduct channels water from Lake Bracciano, 40 kilometers (25 miles) north-west of Rome.
• 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 of the Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce, though England did not recognise 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.
• 1441 – King Henry VI of England founds Eton College.
• 1497 – John Cabot lands in North America at Newfoundland leading the first European exploration of the region since the Vikings.
• 1497 – Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London.
• 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.
• 1664 – The colony of New Jersey is founded.
• 1692 – Kingston, Jamaica is founded.
• 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.
• 1748 – John Wesley and his brother Charles open the Kingswood School in Bristol. The school later moves to Bath.
• 1793 – The first Republican constitution in France is adopted.
• 1794 – Foundation of Bowdoin College.
• 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 U.S 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.
• 1901 – The first exhibition of Pablo Picasso's work opens.
• 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.
• 1922 – The American Professional Football Association formally changes its name to the National Football League.
• 1932 – A bloodless Revolution instigated by the People's Party ends the absolute power of King Prajadhipok of Siam (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 to Thailand by Plaek Pibulsonggram, the country's third prime minister.
• 1945 – The Moscow Victory Parade takes place.
• 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.
• 1993 – Yale computer science professor Dr. David Gelernter loses his sight in one eye, his hearing in one ear and part of his right hand after receiving a mailbomb from the Unabomber.
• 1994 – A United States Air Force B-52 aircraft crashes at Fairchild Air Force Base killing all four members of its crew.
• 2002 – The Igandu train disaster in Tanzania kills 281, the worst train accident in African history.
• 2004 – In New York state, capital punishment is declared unconstitutional.
• 2007 – The Angora Fire starts near South Lake Tahoe, California, destroying over 200 structures in its first 48 hours.
• 2010 – John Isner of the United States defeats Nicolas Mahut of France at Wimbledon, in the longest match in professional tennis history.

Births

• 1244 – Henry I of Hesse (d. 1308)
• 1343 – Jeanne de Valois, Queen of Navarre (d. 1373)
• 1386 – Giovanni da 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 – St. 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 bussinesman, 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)
• 1850 – Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, British field marshal (d. 1916)
• 1860 – Mercedes of Orleans, Queen of Spain (d. 1878)
• 1882 – Carl Diem, German Olympic official (d. 1962)
• 1882 – Athanase David, Canadian politician and businessman (d. 1953)
• 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)
• 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 and five-time World Champion (d. 1995)
• 1911 – Ernesto Sabato, Argentine writer
• 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 – 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)
• 1924 – Kurt Furgler, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 2008)
• 1924 – Brian Bevan, Australian rugby league footballer (d. 1991)
• 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 B. 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
• 1941 – Julia Kristeva, Bulgarian-French philosopher, psychoanalyst and novelist
• 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 – George Pataki, American politician
• 1945 – Wayne Cashman, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1946 – Ellison Onizuka, American astronaut (d. 1986)
• 1946 – Robert Reich, American politician and political commentator
• 1946 – David Collenette, Canadian politician
• 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 – Mercedes Lackey, American fantasy writer
• 1950 – Nancy Allen, American actress
• 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
• 1956 – Joe Penny, English actor
• 1957 – Mark Parkinson, American politician, 45th Governor of Kansas
• 1958 – Tom Lister, Jr., American actor and professional wrestler
• 1958 – Jean Charest, 29th Premier of Québec
• 1958 – John Tortorella, American ice hockey coach
• 1958 – Kathy Troccoli, American singer
• 1960 – Siedah Garrett, American singer
• 1960 – Trisha Meili, American assault and rape victim, known as the "Central Park Jogger"
• 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 – Christopher Showerman, American actor
• 1971 – Ji Jin Hee, South Korean actor
• 1972 – Robbie McEwen, Australian cyclist
• 1972 – Denis Žvegelj, Slovenian rower
• 1973 – Alexander Beyer, German actor
• 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 – Cas Jansen, Dutch actor
• 1977 – Jeff Farmer, Australian footballer
• 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 – Petra Němcová, Czechoslovakian-born model
• 1979 – Craig Shergold, British internet folklore subject
• 1979 – Mindy Kaling, American actress and TV producer
• 1980 – Cicinho, Brazilian footballer
• 1980 – Liane Balaban, Canadian actress
• 1980 – Andrew Jones, Australian racing driver
• 1980 – Minka Kelly, American actress
• 1982 – Kevin Nolan, English footballer
• 1982 – Mark Penney, Canadian film director
• 1982 – Jarret Stoll, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1982 – Clint Bajada, Maltese television and radio presenter
• 1983 – John Lloyd Cruz, Filipino actor
• 1983 – Rebecca Cooke, British swimmer
• 1984 – J. J. Redick, American basketball player
• 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 – Lionel Messi, Argentine footballer
• 1987 – Serdar Güneş, Turkish footballer
• 1987 – Craig Henderson, New Zealand footballer
• 1987 – Arturo Lupoli, Italian footballer
• 1988 – Nichkhun Horvejkul, Thai-American singer active in South Korea (2PM)
• 1995 – Firas, the next Bruce Lee/ Chuck Norris and the awesomest person
• 1990 – Michael Del Zotto, Canadian ice hockey player
• 2003 – Marcus Fiesel, American murder victim (d. 2006)

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 signer of the Declaration of Independence (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)
• 2002 – Pierre Werner, Prime Minister of Luxembourg (b. 1913)
• 2003 – Vladimir Garin, Russian actor (b. 1987)
• 2004 – Ifigeneia Giannopoulou, Greek songwriter (b. 1957)
• 2004 – Bob Bemer, American computer scientist (b. 1920)
• 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 – Ed Thomas, American High School football coach (b. 1951)
• 2009 – Roméo LeBlanc, 25th Governor General of Canada (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances

• Battle of Bannockburn 1314 (Scotland)
• Battle of Carabobo Day (Venezuela)
• Christian Feast Day
  • Nativity of St. John the Baptist
  • June 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Day of the Caboclo (Amazonas State, Brazil)
• Discovery Day, observed on the nearest Monday (Newfoundland and Labrador)
• Feast of Raḥmat (Bahá'í Faith)
• Manila Day (Manila)
• St John's Day and the second day of the Midsummer celebrations (although this is not the real summer solstice, see June 20) (Roman Catholic Church, Northern Europe):
  • Jaanipäev (Estonia)
  • Jāņi (Latvia)
  • Midsummer Day (England)
  • National Holiday (Quebec)
  • Saint Jonas' Festival or Joninės (Lithuania)
• World UFO Day

External links

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

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