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 145th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 221 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is May 11, 2024 – a Friday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 1,716,508,800 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 ‘hectatetracontapentagon’ 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 250 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 4,172 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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May 24 Historical Events
- 1689 –The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration protecting Protestants. Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded.
- 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.
- 1856 –John Brown and his men kill five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.
- 1883 –The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
- 1895 –Henry Irving becomes the first person from the theatre to be knighted.
- 1900 –Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
- 1943 –Holocaust: Josef Mengele becomes chief medical officer of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
- 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.
- 1980 –The International Court of Justice calls for the release of United States embassy hostages in Tehran, Iran. The hostages would not be freed until the following January.
Who were born on May 24?
- 1522 –John Jewel, English Bishop of Salisbury (d. 1571)
- 1885 –Susan Sutherland Isaacs, English educational psychologist (d. 1948)
- 1886 –Paul Paray, French conductor and composer (d. 1979)
- 1899 –Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi National poet. (d. 1976)
- 1936 –Harold Budd, American composer and poet
- 1950 –Larry Seidlin, American judge
- 1967 –Dana Ashbrook, American actor
- 1982 –DaMarcus Beasley, American footballer
- 1985 –Giannis Kondoes, Greek footballer
- 1992 –Travis T. Flory, American actor
Who died on May 24?
- 1612 –Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English statesman (b. 1563)
- 1861 –Elmer E. Ellsworth, American Civil War officer (b. 1837)
- 1879 –William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist and publisher (b. 1805)
- 1945 –Robert Ritter von Greim, German field marshal (b. 1892)
- 1963 –Elmore James, American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter (b. 1918)
- 2004 –Henry Ries, American photographer (b. 1917)
- 2006 –Henry Bumstead, American art director (b. 1915)
- 2006 –Jesus Ledesma Aguilar, Mexican convicted killer (b. 1963)
- 2007 –Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer (b. 1922)
- 2010 –Virendra Bhatia, Indian politician (b. 1947)
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