What are the important events that happened on May 24? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

May 24: Facts & Myths About This Day

May 24 is the 144^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 221 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Saturday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is May 11, 2025 – a Saturday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 1,748,044,800 seconds has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘hectatetracontatetragon’ day.

Gemini is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Emerald is the modern birthstone for this month. Sapphire is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 269 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,537 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

May 24 Historical Events

• 1689 –
  The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration protecting Protestants. Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded.
• 1738 –
  John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day and a church service is generally held on the preceding Sunday.
• 1844 –
  Samuel Morse sends the message “What hath God wrought” (a biblical quotation, Numbers 23:23) from the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the United States Capitol to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore, Maryland to inaugurate the first telegraph line.
• 1895 –
  Henry Irving becomes the first person from the theatre to be knighted.
• 1941 –
  World War II: In the Battle of the Atlantic, the German Battleship Bismarck sinks the then pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood, killing all but three crewmen.
• 1948 –
  Arab–Israeli War: Egypt captures the Israeli kibbutz of Yad Mordechai, but the five-day effort gives Israeli forces time to prepare enough to stop the Egyptian advance a week later.
• 1961 –
  Cyprus joins the Council of Europe.
• 1967 –
  Egypt imposes a blockade and siege of the Red Sea coast of Israel.
• 1989 –
  Sonia Sutcliffe, wife of the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, is awarded £600,000 in damages (later reduced to £60,000 on appeal) after winning a libel action against Private Eye.
• 1990 –
  A car carrying American Earth First! activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney explodes in Oakland, California, critically injuring both.

Who were born on May 24?

• 1494 –
  Pontormo, Italian painter (d. 1557)
• 1522 –
  John Jewel, English Bishop of Salisbury (d. 1571)
• 1836 –
  Joseph Rowntree, British social reformer (d. 1925)
• 1931 –
  Michael Lonsdale, French actor
• 1941 –
  George Lakoff, American linguist and political activist
• 1962 –
  Gene Anthony Ray, American actor (d. 2003)
• 1974 –
  Sébastien Foucan, French actor and free-runner
• 1976 –
  Catherine Cox, Australian netballer
• 1979 –
  Tracy McGrady, American basketball player
• 1990 –
  Joey Logano, American racing driver

Who died on May 24?

• 1456 –
  Ambroise de Loré, French military commander (b. 1396)
• 1879 –
  William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist and publisher (b. 1805)
• 1915 –
  Private John Condon, English World War I soldier (b. 1896)
• 1960 –
  Avraham Arnon, Israeli educator and a recipient of the Israel Prize (b. 1887)
• 1963 –
  Elmore James, American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter (b. 1918)
• 1974 –
  Duke Ellington, American composer and musician (b. 1899)
• 2008 –
  Dick Martin, American comedian (b. 1922)
• 2008 –
  Rob Knox, British actor (b. 1989)
• 2010 –
  Paul Gray, American bassist (Slipknot) (b. 1972)
• 2010 –
  Ray Alan, English ventriloquist & television entertainer (b. 1930)