February 24
February 24 is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar . There are 310 days remaining, 311 in leap years . By Roman custom February 24 is the day added to a leap year , and the occurrence of February 29 is merely a consequence of this.
Events
303 - Galerius , Roman Emperor , publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Empire.
1582 - Pope Gregory XIII announces the Gregorian calendar .
1711 - The London premiere of Rinaldo George Friderich Handel , the first Italian opera written for the London stage.
1803 - The Supreme Court of the United States , in Marbury v. Madison 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 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 impeached by the United States House of Representatives . He is later acquitted.
1881 - China and Russia sign the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty
1909 - The Hudson Motor Car Company is founded.
1917 - World War I : 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.
1924 - Johnny Weissmuller finishes the 100-meter swimming event in 57 2/5 seconds and sets a new world record.
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 .
1981 - Buckingham Palace announces the engagement of The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer .
1981 - Jean Harris is convicted of murdering Dr. Herman Tarnower , the author of the bestselling The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet .
1983 - A special commission of the 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 USD $200,000 for defamation .
1989 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offers a USD $3 million bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie .
1989 - United Airlines Flight 811 bound to New Zealand from Honolulu, Hawaii rips open during flight, sucking 9 passengers and crew out of the first-class section.
1995 - The 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.
2005 - Nintendo DS launch in Australia .
Births
1463 - Giovanni Pico della Mirandola , Italian Renaissance humanist (d. 1494 )
1500 - Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1558 )
1557 - Mathias, Holy Roman Emperor
1709 - Jacques de Vaucanson , inventor (d. 1782 )
1774 - Prince Adolphus of the United Kingdom , 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 , composer (d. 1922 )
1848 - Andrew Inglis Clark , Tasmanian Politician (d. 1907 )
1852 - George Moore , English writer (d. 1933 )
1874 - Honus Wagner , Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1955 )
1885 - Chester Nimitz , U.S. admiral (d. 1966 )
1885 - Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (a.k.a. “Witkacy”), Polish writer and painter (d. 1939 )
1890 - Marjorie Main , actress (d. 1975 )
1903 - Franz Burda , German publisher (d. 1986 )
1909 - August Derleth , writer (d. 1971 )
1914 - Zachary Scott , actor (d. 1965 )
1921 - Abe Vigoda , actor
1921 - Douglass Watson , American actor (d. 1989 )
1922 - Richard Hamilton , pop-art painter
1922 - Steven Hill , actor
1932 - Michel Legrand , 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 , founder of Nike, Inc.
1938 - James Farentino , American actor
1950 - Pete Duel , American actor (d. 1971 )
1942 - Joseph Lieberman , politician, candidate for Vice President of the United States
1942 - John Neumeier , choreographer
1943 - George Harrison , musician (The Beatles ) (d. 2001 )
1943 - Hristo Prodanov , Bulgarian mountaineer
1945 - Barry Bostwick , actor
1947 - Edward James Olmos , actor
1947 - Rupert Holmes , musician
1948 - J. Jayalalithaa , Indian politician
1951 - Debra Jo Rupp , American actress
1951 - Helen Shaver , Canadian actress
1955 - Steve Jobs , American computer pioneer
1955 - Alain Prost , race car driver
1956 - Paula Zahn , journalist
1958 - Sammy Kershaw , musician
1962 - Michelle Shocked , musician
1966 - Billy Zane , actor
1970 - Jeff Garcia , American football player
1973 - Jordan Jovtchev , Bulgarian gymnast
1973 - Alexei Kovalev , hockey player
1974 - Chad Hugo , musician and producer (The Neptunes )
1974 - Bonnie Somerville , American actress
1975 - Ashley MacIsaac , Cape Breton fiddler
1976 - Zuzana Belohorcova , Slovak actress
1981 - Lleyton Hewitt , Australian tennis player
1999 - Anthony Bain , actor
1999 - Michael Bain , actor
Deaths
616 - Ethelbert , king of Kent and Bretwalda
1810 - Henry Cavendish , scientist who calculated Newton 's gravitational constant (b. 1756 )
1815 - Robert Fulton , inventor (b. 1765 )
1825 - Thomas Bowdler , physician and editor (b. 1754 )
1856 - Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky , Russian mathematician (b. 1792 )
1953 - August Fieldorf , Polish general and leader of the resistance (b. 1895 )
1975 - Nikolai Bulganin , Premier of the Soviet Union
1990 - Malcolm Forbes , publisher (b. 1917 )
1990 - Johnnie Ray , American singer
1990 - Sandro Pertini , Italian politician
1990 - Tony Conigliaro , American baseball player
1991 - John Daly , game show host
1991 - George Gobel , comedian (b. 1919 )
1993 - Bobby Moore , English footballer (b. 1941 )
1994 - Dinah Shore , actress, singer (b. 1916 )
1998 - Henny Youngman , comedian (b. 1906 )
1998 - Antonio Prohias , Cuban-American cartoonist
1999 - Andre Dubus , writer
2001 - Claude E. Shannon , "father of information theory " (b. 1916 )
2002 - Leo Ornstein , composer and pianist (b. 1912 )
2003 - Lech Falandysz , Polish politician
2003 - Christopher Hill , historian (b. 1912 )
2003 - Bernard Loiseau , chef
2004 - John Randolph , American actor (b. 1915 )
Holidays and observances
External links
February 23 - February 25 - January 24 - March 24 -- listing of all days
