February 24

Events

303 - Galerius, List of Roman Emperors|Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christianity|Christians in his portion of the Empire.

1582 - Pope Gregory XIII announces the Gregorian calendar.

1711 - The London premiere of ''Rinaldo (opera)|Rinaldo'' by George Friderich Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage.

1739 - Battle of Karnal: The army of Iranian ruler Nadir Shah defeats the forces of the Mughal emperor of India, Muhammad Shah

1803 - The Supreme Court of the United States, in ''Marbury v. Madison'', establishes the principle of judicial review.

1804 - London's Drury Lane Theatre burns to the ground, leaving owner Richard Brinsley Sheridan destitute,

1826 - The signing of the Treaty of Yandaboo marks the end of the First Burmese War.

1831 - The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty in accordance with the Indian Removal Act, is proclaimed. The Choctaws in Mississippi cede land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West.

1839 - William Otis receives a patent for the steam shovel.

1848 - King Louis-Philippe of France abdicates the throne.

1863 - Arizona is organized as a Political divisions of the United States|United States territory.

1868 - The first parade to have floats is staged at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1868 - Andrew Johnson becomes the first President of the United States to be impeachment|impeached by the United States House of Representatives. He is later acquitted.

1881 - China and Russia sign the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty

1899 - Western Washington University Established.

1909 - The Hudson Motor Car Company is founded.

1917 - World War I: The United States|U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if that country declares war on the United States.

1918 - Estonia is independent from Imperial Russia.

1925 - A thermite (magnesium) bomb is used for the first time to break up a 250,000-ton ice jam clogging the St. Lawrence River near Waddington, New York.

1938 - A nylon bristle toothbrush becomes the first commercial product (DuPont) to be made with nylon yarn.

1942 - Propaganda: The Voice of America begins broadcasting.

1945 - Egyptian Premier Ahmed Maher Pasha is killed in Parliament after reading a decree.

1946 - Juan Perón is elected president of Argentina.

1948 - Cold War: The Communist Party seizes control of Czechoslovakia.

1968 - Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnam recaptures Hué.

1970 - National Public Radio is founded.

1975 - Hard rock band Led Zeppelin release the classic double album ''Physical Graffiti''.

1976 - Cuba : national Constitution proclaimed

1981 - Buckingham Palace announces the engagement of Charles, Prince of Wales|The Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales|Lady Diana Spencer.

1981 - Jean Harris is convicted of murdering Dr. Herman Tarnower, the author of the bestselling Scarsdale Diet|The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet.

1983 - A special commission of the Congress of the United States|U.S. Congress releases a report that condemns the practice of Japanese internment during World War II.

1988 - The Supreme Court of the United States sides with Larry Flynt's ''Hustler'' magazine by overturning a lower court decision to award Jerry Falwell $200,000 for defamation.

1989 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offers a USD $3 million bounty for the death of ''The Satanic Verses (novel)|The Satanic Verses'' author Salman Rushdie.

1989 - United Airlines Flight 811, bound forNew Zealand from Honolulu, Hawaii, rips open during flight, sucking 9 passengers out of the business-class section.

1992 - Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain marries Courtney Love.

1995 - The Corona (satellite)|Corona reconnaissance satellite program, in existence from 1959 to 1972, is declassified.

1996 - The last occurrence of February 24 as a leap day in the European Union and for the Roman Catholic Church.

1999 - The State of Arizona executes Karl LaGrand, a German national involved in an armed robbery, in spite of Germany's legal action to attempt to save him.

1999 - A China Southern Airlines Tupolev TU-154 airliner crashes on approach to Wenzhou airport in eastern China killing 61.

2002 - 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah ends.

Births

1103 - Emperor Toba of Japan (d. 1156)

1304 - Ibn Battuta, explorer

1463 - Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Italian humanist (d. 1494)

1500 - Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1558)

1547 - Don John of Austria, military leader (d. 1578)

1557 - Mathias, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1619)

1597 - Vincent Voiture, French poet (d. 1648)

1619 - Charles Le Brun, French artist (d. 1690)

1622 - Johannes Clauberg, German theologian and philosopher (d. 1665)

1684 - Matthias Braun, Czech sculptor (d. 1738)

1693 - James Quin, English actor (d. 1766)

1709 - Jacques de Vaucanson, French inventor (d. 1782)

1723 - John Burgoyne, British general (d. 1792)

1774 - Prince Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge (d. 1850)

1786 - Wilhelm Grimm, German philologist and folklorist (d. 1859)

1836 - Winslow Homer, American artist (d. 1910)

1842 - Arrigo Boito, Italian composer (d. 1918)

1846 - Luigi Denza, Italian composer (d. 1922)

1848 - Andrew Inglis Clark, Tasmanian politician (d. 1907)

1852 - George Moore (novelist)|George Moore, English writer (d. 1933)

1874 - Honus Wagner, baseball player (d. 1955)

1877 - Ettie Annie Rout|Ettie Rout, New Zealand activist (b. 1936)

1885 - Chester Nimitz, U.S. admiral (d. 1966)

1885 - Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz|Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish writer and painter (d. 1939)

1890 - Marjorie Main, American actress (d. 1975)

1909 - August Derleth, American writer (d. 1971)

1914 - Zachary Scott, American actor (d. 1965)

1921 - Abe Vigoda, American actor

1921 - Douglass Watson, American actor (d. 1989)

1922 - Richard Hamilton (artist)|Richard Hamilton, English painter

1922 - Steven Hill, American actor

1923 - David Soyer, American cellist

1932 - Michel Legrand, French composer

1932 - John Vernon, Canadian actor (d. 2005)

1931 - Dominic Chianese, American actor

1934 - Bettino Craxi, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 2000)

1934 - Renata Scotto, Italian soprano

1938 - Phil Knight, American sportswear manufacturer

1940 - Denis Law Scottish footballer

1942 - Joseph Lieberman, American politician and vice presidential candidate

1943 - Hristo Prodanov, Bulgarian mountaineer

1944 - Nicky Hopkins, British musician (d. 1994)

1945 - Barry Bostwick, American actor

1947 - Rupert Holmes, English musician

1947 - Edward James Olmos, American actor

1948 - J. Jayalalithaa, Indian politician

1948 - Walter Smith, Scottish football manager

1948 - Dennis Waterman, British actor

1950 - Pete Duel, American actor (d. 1971)

1951 - Debra Jo Rupp, American actress

1951 - Helen Shaver, Canadian actress

1955 - Steve Jobs, American computer pioneer

1955 - Alain Prost, French race car driver

1956 - Paula Zahn, American journalist

1958 - Sammy Kershaw, American musician

1962 - Michelle Shocked, American musician

1966 - Billy Zane, American actor

1968 - Mitch Hedberg, American comedian (d. 2005)

1970 - Jeff Garcia, American football player

1972 - Stewart Isbell, American photographer

1973 - Jordan Jovtchev, Bulgarian gymnast

1973 - Alexei Kovalev, Russian hockey player

1974 - Chad Hugo, American musician and producer (The Neptunes)

1975 - Ashley MacIsaac, Canadian fiddler

1977 - Jason Akermanis, Australian footballer

1981 - Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player

1982 - Klara Koukalova|Klára Koukalová, Czech tennis player

Deaths

616 - King Ethelbert of Kent

1525 - Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet, French soldier

1563 - Francis, Duke of Guise, French soldier and politician (b. 1519)

1588 - Johann Weyer, Dutch physician and occultist

1666 - Nicholas Lanier, English composer (b. 1588)

1674 - Matthias Weckmann, German composer (b. 1616)

1685 - Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle, English politician and military leader (b. 1629)

1704 - Marc-Antoine Charpentier, French composer (b. 1643)

1714 - Edmund Andros, English governor in North America (b. 1637)

1721 - John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, English statesman and poet (b. 1648)

1777 - King Joseph I of Portugal (b. 1714)

1779 - Paul Daniel Longolius, German encylopedist (b. 1704)

1781 - Edward Capell, English critic (b. 1713)

1799 - Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, German physicist (b. 1742)

1810 - Henry Cavendish, English scientist (b. 1756)

1815 - Robert Fulton, American inventor (b. 1765)

1825 - Thomas Bowdler, English physician and editor (b. 1754)

1856 - Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky, Russian mathematician (b. 1792)

1925 - Hjalmar Branting, Prime Minister of Sweden, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1860)

1970 - Conrad Nagel, American actor (b. 1897)

1975 - Nikolai Bulganin, Premier of the Soviet Union (b. 1895)

1984 - Helmut Schelsky, German sociologist (b. 1912)

1990 - Tony Conigliaro, baseball player (b. 1945)

1990 - Malcolm Forbes, American publisher (b. 1917)

1990 - Sandro Pertini, Italian politician (b. 1896)

1990 - Johnnie Ray, American singer (b. 1927)

1991 - John Charles Daly|John Daly, South African game show host (b. 1914)

1991 - George Gobel, American comedian (b. 1919)

1993 - Bobby Moore, English footballer (b. 1941)

1994 - Dinah Shore, American actress and singer (b. 1916)

1998 - Antonio Prohias, Cuban-born cartoonist (b. 1921)

1998 - Henny Youngman, English-born comedian (b. 1906)

1999 - Andre Dubus, American writer (b. 1936)

2001 - Claude E. Shannon, American information theorist (b. 1916)

2002 - Leo Ornstein, Russian-born composer and pianist (b. 1912)

2003 - John Edward Christopher Hill, English historian (b. 1912)

2003 - Bernard Loiseau, French chef (b. 1951)

2004 - John Randolph (actor)|John Randolph, American actor (b. 1915)

Holidays and observances

Regifugium, in the Roman calendar

Independence Day in Estonia (1918)

Flag Day in México

Catholicism: Mardi Gras (aka Shrove Tuesday) (2004, 2009)

External links

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/24

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050224.html ---- February 23 - February 25 - January 24 - March 24 -- historical anniversaries|listing of all days