May 24

Events

• 1153 - Malcolm IV becomes King of Scotland
• 1487 - Imposter Lambert Simnel is crowned as "King Edward VI" at Dublin
• 1626 - Peter Minuet[?] buys Manhattan
• 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.
• 1810 - Argentina beings its revolt against Spain
• 1822 - Battle of Pichincha[?]: Simón Bolívar secures the independence of Quito.
• 1844 - First electrical telegram 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 is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
• 1895 - Henry Irving[?] becomes the first personage from the theater to be knighted
• 1895 - Playright Oscar Wilde is convicted on a morals charge in London and is sentenced to prison
• 1899 - The first public parking garage in the United States is opened in Boston, Massachusetts
• 1900 - Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State
• 1915 - World War I: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary
• 1939 - 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).
• 1935 - Babe Ruth, in a Boston Braves uniform, hits the 714th and final home run of his career
• 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 crewman 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 the first Eurovision Song Contest is held.
• 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 - 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 - 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.
• 1993 - Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia.
• 1993 - Microsoft unveils Windows NT
• 2001 - Mountain climbing: 15-year-old Sherpa Temba Tsheri[?] becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest.

Births

• 15 - Caligula (formally Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus), Roman Emperor (+ 41)
• 1544 - William Gilbert (+ 1603)
• 1616 - John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale, (+ 1682)
• 1619 - Philips Wouwerman[?], painter (+ 1668)
• 1650 - John Churchill[?], Duke of Marlborough
• 1743 - Jean-Paul Marat, writer (+ 1793)
• 1794 - William Whewell, philosopher (+ 1866)
• 1810 - Abraham Geiger[?], rabbi and scholar (+ 1874)
• 1811 - Charles Clark[?], Governor of Mississippi
• 1816 - Emanuel Leutze, painter of Washington Crossing the Delaware (+ 1868)
• 1819 - Queen Victoria (+ 1901)
• 1831 - Richard Hoffman[?], pianist
• 1855 - Arthur Wing Pinero, painter (+ 1934)
• 1858 - Johan C Braakensiek[?], political cartoonist
• 1866 - Armando Frid[?] (+ 1990)
• 1870 - Jan Christian Smuts[?] (+ 1950)
• 1878 - Lillian Moller Gilbreth, mother of modern management (+ 1972)
• 1886 - Paul Paray, conductor, composer (+ 1979)
• 1889 - Igor Sikorsky, inventor, flight pioneer (+ 1972)
• 1893 - Walter Baade[?], astronomer
• 1899 - Suzanne Lenglen[?], tennis player
• 1905 - Zdenek Blazek[?], composer (+ 1988)
• 1909 - Wilbur Mills[?], United States politician
• 1910 - Nils-Eric Fougstedt[?] (+ 1961)
• 1912 - Joan Hammond[?], soprano
• 1913 - Willi Daume[?], Olympic organizer (+ 1996)
• 1914 - Lilli Palmer[?], actress (+ 1986)
• 1917 - John Robert Russell[?], Duke of Bedford (+ 2002)
• 1922 or 1923 - Siobhan McKenna[?], actress (+ 1986)
• 1925 - Mai Zetterling, entertainer (+ 1994)
• 1928 - 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[?], athlete
• 1949 - Jim Broadbent[?], actor
• 1953 - Alfred Molina[?], actor
• 1955 - Rosanne Cash[?], singer
• 1960 - Kristin Scott Thomas[?], actress
• 1962 - Bev Lidyoff[?], volleyball player
• 1965 - John C. Reilly[?], actor
• 1967 - Heavy D[?], rap musician, actor
• 1979 - Tracy McGrady[?], basketball player
• 1988 - Billy Gilman[?], singer

Deaths (not all cross-checked)

• 1153 - King David I of Scotland
• 1543 - Nicolas Copernicus, astronomer
• 1612 - Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, 1st Viscount Cranborne
• 1848 - Annette von Droste-Hülshoff
• 1879 - William Lloyd Garrison, ist, writer, publisher
• 1903 - Marcel Renault[?], automobile racer
• 1924 - Victor Herbert, operetta composer
• 1944 - Frank Oz, writer, producer, actor, director
• 1950 - Archibald Wavell, general
• 1950 - Jan Smuts, former Prime Minister of South Africa[?]
• 1959 - John Foster Dulles, United States Secretary of State
• 1963 - Elmore James, writer
• 1969 - Willy Ley[?], rocket scientist
• 1974 - Duke Ellington, composer, musician
• 1981 - George Jessel[?], vaudevillian
• 1995 - Harold Wilson, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1997 - Edward Mulhare[?], actor
• 2003 - Lady Rachel Kempson[?], actress

Holidays and Observances

May 23 - May 25 - April 24 - June 24 -- listing of all days

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