On this day: 24 February

Years ago today

Events · 24

• 303(Julian date)
  Diocletianic Persecution — (303-313) last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire
• 1303(Julian date)
  Battle of Roslin — 1303 battle
• 1525(Julian date)
  Battle of Pavia — 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–26
• 1720
  Battle of Nassau — 1720 Spanish expedition against Nassau during the War of the Quadruple Alliance
• 1739
  Battle of Karnal — 1739 part of the Persian Invasion of India
• 1809
  Invasion of Martinique of 1809 — conflict
• 1821
  Plan of ayala — revolutionary proclamation
• 1826
  Treaty of Yandabo — Treaty of Peace between the East India Company and His Majesty the King of Ava
• 1848
  French Second Republic — government of France between 1848-1852
• 1868
  impeachment of Andrew Johnson — 1868 impeachment of Andrew Johnson, the 17th US president
• 1895
  Cuban War of Independence — armed conflict between the United States, Cuba and Spain
• 1918
  Estonia — country in Northern Europe
• 1920
  Nazi Party — former far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945
• 1942
  Struma disaster — maritime disaster
• 1946
  1946 Argentine general election — general elections in Argentina
• 1966
  1966 Ghanaian coup d'état — military overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah
• 1976
  Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia — peace treaty
• 1981
  1981 Gulf of Corinth earthquakes — Earthquakes in Greece
• 1989
  United Airlines Flight 811 — 1989 aviation accident in Hawaii, USA
• 1999
  China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509 — flight from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, Sichuan to Wenzhou Yongqiang Airport, Zhejiang.
• 2004
  2004 Morocco earthquake — February 2004 earthquake in Morocco
• 2015
  Uherský Brod shooting — mass shooting at the Družba restaurant in the town of Uherský Brod, Czech Republic
• 2016
  Tara Air Flight 193 — February 2016 plane crash in Nepal
• 2022
  full-scale Russo-Ukrainian war — full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia starting on 24 February 2022, part of Russo-Ukrainian War

Births · 60

• 1304(Julian date)
  Ibn Battuta — 14th century Muslim Maghrebi scholar and explorer
• 1463(Julian date)
  Giovanni Pico della Mirandola — Italian Renaissance philosopher (1463–1494)
• 1500(Julian date)
  Charles V — Holy Roman Emperor from 1519 to 1556 (1500–1558)
• 1519(Julian date)
  Francis, Duke of Guise — French soldier and politician (1519-1563)
• 1536(Julian date)
  Clement VIII — pope of the Catholic Church from 1592 to 1605 (1536–1605)
• 1547(Julian date)
  John of Austria — Spanish military leader (1547–1578)
• 1557(Julian date)
  Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor — Holy Roman Emperor (1557-1619)
• 1619
  Charles Le Brun — 17th-century French painter and art theorist (1619—1690)
• 1768
  Phutthaloetla Naphalai — King of Siam
• 1786
  Wilhelm Grimm — German author, philologist, collector of fairy tales and legends (1786–1859)
• 1788
  Johan Christian Dahl — Norwegian painter (1788–1857)
• 1804
  Emil Lenz — Baltic German physicist (1804-1865)
• 1831
  Leo von Caprivi — German Chancellor and Prussian General of the Infantry and Prime Minister (1831–1899)
• 1836
  Winslow Homer — American landscape painter (1836–1910)
• 1842
  Arrigo Boito — Italian poet and opera composer and librettist of Verdi's opera ''Otello'' (1842-1918)
• 1885
  Chester W. Nimitz — United States Navy fleet admiral (1885–1966)
• 1885
  Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz — Polish artist, dramatist and novelist (1885–1939)
• 1903
  Vladimir Bartol — Slovenian writer (1903-1967)
• 1921
  Abe Vigoda — American actor (1921–2016)
• 1927
  Emmanuelle Riva — French actress (1927-2017)
• 1931
  Dominic Chianese — American actor, animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist
• 1932
  Michel Legrand — French film score composer (1932–2019)
• 1934
  Bettino Craxi — Italian politician (1934–2000)
• 1934
  Bingu wa Mutharika — Malawi politician and economist (1934-2012)
• 1934
  Renata Scotto — Italian soprano, opera director (1934–2023)

Deaths · 60

• 1386
  Charles III of Naples — King of Naples (1345-1386) and King of Hungary (1385-1386)
• 1496(Julian date)
  Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg — Duke of Württemberg
• 1525
  Jacques de la Palice — Marshal of France
• 1563
  Francis, Duke of Guise — French soldier and politician (1519-1563)
• 1588
  — Dutch physician (1515-1588)
• 1704
  Marc-Antoine Charpentier — 17th-century French composer
• 1714
  Edmund Andros — British governor of several North American colonies (1637–1714)
• 1721
  John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby — English poet and politician (1648–1721)
• 1777
  José I of Portugal — King of Portugal from 1750 to 1777 (lived 1714-1777)
• 1785
  Carlo Bonaparte — Father of Napoleon Bonaparte (1746-1785)
• 1799
  Georg Christoph Lichtenberg — German scientist and satirist (1742-1799)
• 1810
  Henry Cavendish — English natural philosopher, and scientist (1731–1810)
• 1812
  Étienne-Louis Malus — French officer, engineer, physicist, and mathematician (1775-1812)
• 1815
  Robert Fulton — American engineer and inventor (1765–1815)
• 1825
  Thomas Bowdler — English physician and editor
• 1851
  Sake Dean Mahomed — Indian author
• 1876
  Joseph Jenkins Roberts — President of Liberia (1809–1876)
• 1910
  Osman Hamdi Bey — Ottoman statesman, academic and artist (1842-1910)
• 1914
  Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain — American military officer, professor, and 32nd Governor of Maine (1828–1914)
• 1925
  Hjalmar Branting — Prime Minister of Sweden (1860-1925)
• 1929
  André Messager — French opera composer and conductor (1853–1929)
• 1930
  Hermann von Ihering — German-Brazilian zoologist (1850-1930)
• 1942
  Anton Drexler — German politician (1884-1942)
• 1953
  Gerd von Rundstedt — German Field Marshal during World War II (1875-1953)
• 1962
  Hu Shih — Chinese scholar, writer and philosopher (1891–1962)