Today February 24th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
303 – Galerius, Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Empire.
1387 – King Charles III of Naples and Hungary is assassinated at Buda.
1538 – Treaty of Nagyvarad between Ferdinand I and John Zápolya.
1582 – Pope Gregory XIII announces the Gregorian calendar.
1607 – L Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, one of the first works recognized as an opera, premieres.
1711 – The London premiere of Rinaldo by George Frideric Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage.
1739 – Battle of Karnal: The army of Iranian ruler Nadir Shah defeats the forces of the Mughal emperor of India, Muhammad Shah.
1803 – The Supreme Court of the United States, in Marbury v. Madison, establishes the principle of judicial review.
1804 – London s Drury Lane Theatre burns to the ground, leaving owner Richard Brinsley Sheridan destitute.
1822 – The 1st Swaminarayan temple in the world, Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad was inaugurated.
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 in the Senate.
1875 – The SS Gothenburg hits the Great Barrier Reef and sinks off the Australian east coast, killing approximately 100, including a number of high profile civil servants and dignitaries.
1881 – China and Russia sign the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty.
1890 – Chicago is selected to host the Columbian Exposition
1893 – The American University is chartered by an act of the Congress of the United States of America.
1895 – Revolution breaks out in Baire, a town near Santiago de Cuba, beginning the second war for Cuban independence, which ended with the Spanish-American War in 1898.
1899 – Western Washington University is established.
1909 – The Hudson Motor Car Company is founded.
1917 – World War I: The 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.
1918 – Estonian Declaration of Independence.
1920 – The Nazi Party is founded.
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
1942 – The Battle of Los Angeles takes place, lasting until the next day.
1945 – Egyptian Premier Ahmed Maher Pasha is killed in Parliament after reading a decree.
1968 – Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnam recaptures Hué.
1970 – National Public Radio is founded in the United States.
1971 – The All India Forward Bloc holds an emergency central committee meeting after its chairman, Hemantha Kumar Bose, was killed 3 days earlier. P.K. Mookiah Thevar appointed as the new chairman.
1976 – Cuba : national Constitution proclaimed.
1981 – Buckingham Palace announces the engagement of The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.
1981 – An earthquake registering 6.7 on the Richter scale hits Athens, killing 16 people and destroying buildings in several towns west of the city.
1983 – A special commission of the U.S. Congress releases a report that condemns the practice of Japanese internment during World War II.
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 for New Zealand from Honolulu, Hawaii, rips open during flight, sucking 9 passengers out of the business-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 the People s Republic of China, killing 61.
2006 – Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declares Proclamation 1017 placing the country in a state of emergency in attempt to subdue a possible military coup.
2008 – Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba after nearly fifty years.
Births
1103 – Emperor Toba of Japan (d. 1156)
1304 – Ibn Battuta, Arabian explorer
1463 – Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Italian humanist (d. 1494)
1500 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1558)
1545 – Don John of Austria, Spanish military leader (d. 1578)
1557 – Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1619)
1597 – Vincent Voiture, French poet (d. 1648)
1619 – Charles Le Brun, French artist (d. 1690)
1622 – Johannes Clauberg, German theologian and philosopher (d. 1665)
1684 – Matthias Braun, Czech sculptor (d. 1738)
1693 – James Quin, English actor (d. 1766)
1709 – Jacques de Vaucanson, French inventor (d. 1782)
1723 – John Burgoyne, British general (d. 1792)
1774 – Prince Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge (d. 1850)
1786 – Martin W. Bates. U.S. Senator from Delaware (d. 1869)
1786 – Wilhelm Grimm, German philologist and folklorist (d. 1859)
1831 – Leo von Caprivi, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1899)
1836 – Winslow Homer, American artist (d. 1910)
1842 – Arrigo Boito, Italian composer (d. 1918)
1846 – Luigi Denza, Italian composer (d. 1922)
1848 – Andrew Inglis Clark, Tasmanian politician (d. 1907)
1852 – George Moore, Irish writer (d. 1933)
1866 – Pyotr Nikolaevich Lebedev, Russian physicist (d. 1912)
1866 – Hubert Van Innis, Belgian archer (d. 1961)
1874 – Honus Wagner, American baseball player (d. 1955)
1877 – Ettie Rout, New Zealand activist (d. 1936)
1885 – Chester Nimitz, U.S. admiral (d. 1966)
1885 – Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish writer and painter (d. 1939)
1890 – Marjorie Main, American actress (d. 1975)
1898 – Kurt Tank, German aeronautical engineer and test pilot (d. 1983)
1909 – August Derleth, American writer (d. 1971)
1914 – Zachary Scott, American actor (d. 1965)
1914 – Ralph Erskine, British architect (Byker Wall) (d. 2005)
1919 – Árpád Bogsch, Hungarian turned American international civil servant (d. 2004)
1919 – Betty Marsden, English comedy actress (d. 1998)
1921 – Gaston Reiff, Belgian athlete (b. 1992)
1921 – Abe Vigoda, American actor
1921 – Douglass Watson, American actor (d. 1989)
1922 – Richard Hamilton, English painter
1922 – Steven Hill, American actor
1923 – David Soyer, American cellist
1926 – Jean Alexander, English actress
1926 – John Gunther Dean, American diplomat
1927 – Emmanuelle Riva, French actress
1928 – Barbara Lawrence, American actress
1931 – Dominic Chianese, American actor
1932 – Michel Legrand, French composer
1932 – John Vernon, Canadian actor (d. 2005)
1933 – Judah Folkman, American cancer researcher
1934 – Bettino Craxi, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 2000)
1934 – Renata Scotto, Italian soprano
1934 – Linda Cristal, Argentina-born actress
1938 – James Farentino, American actor
1938 – Phil Knight, American sportswear manufacturer
1938 – Kathleen Margaret Richardson, Baroness Richardson of Calow, British Baroness and Methodist reverend
1940 – Pete Duel, American actor (d. 1971)
1940 – Denis Law, Scottish footballer
1941 – Joanie Sommers, American singer and actress
1942 – Joe Lieberman, American politician
1942 – Paul Jones, English singer (Manfred Mann)
1942 – Colin Bond, Australian racing driver
1943 – Hristo Prodanov, Bulgarian mountaineer
1943 – Terry Semel, American business executive
1943 – Pablo Milanés, Cuban musician
1944 – Nicky Hopkins, British musician (d. 1994)
1945 – Barry Bostwick, American actor
1946 – Grigory Margulis, Russian mathematician
1946 – John Stapleton, English television presenter
1947 – Rupert Holmes, English musician
1947 – Edward James Olmos, American actor
1948 – J. Jayalalithaa, Indian politician
1948 – Walter Smith, Scottish football manager
1948 – Tim Staffell, English singer
1948 – Dennis Waterman, British actor
1950 – George Thorogood, American Singer and Guitarist
1951 – Tony Holiday, German singer (d. 1990)
1951 – Debra Jo Rupp, American actress
1951 – Helen Shaver, Canadian actress
1955 – Steve Jobs, American computer pioneer
1955 – Alain Prost, French race car driver
1956 – Paula Zahn, American journalist
1956 – Judith Butler, American philosopher
1956 – Eddie Murray, American baseball player
1958 – Sammy Kershaw, American musician
1958 – Plastic Bertrand, Belgian singer
1959 – Beth Broderick, American actress
1959 – Owen Gleiberman, American film critic
1962 – Michelle Shocked, American musician
1962 – Teri Weigel, American pornography actress
1962 – Outi Mäenpää, Finnish actress
1963 – Mike Vernon, Canadian ice hockey player
1964 – Andy Crane, British children s television presenter
1964 – Todd Field, American actor and film director
1964 – Bill Bailey, British comedian
1964 – Russell Ingall, Australian racing driver
1965 – Lloyd McGrath, former English footballer
1965 – Jane Swift, American politician
1966 – Billy Zane, American actor
1966 – René Arocha, Cuban baseball player
1968 – Mitch Hedberg, American comedian (d. 2005)
1970 – Jeff Garcia, American football player
1970 – Jonathan Ward, American television and movie actor
1970 – Kienast quintuplets, American quintuplets
1971 – Pedro de la Rosa, Spanish Formula One driver
1971 – Brian Savage, Canadian ice hockey player
1972 – Manon Rhéaume, Canadian female ice hockey player
1973 – Chris Fehn, American percussionist (Slipknot)
1973 – Jordan Jovtchev, Bulgarian gymnast
1973 – Alexei Kovalev, Russian ice hockey player
1973 – Richard Clapp, Canadian baseball player
1974 – Chad Hugo, American musician and producer (The Neptunes)
1974 – Karim Bagheri, Iranian footballer
1974 – Mike Lowell, Puerto Rican baseball player
1974 – Bonnie Somerville, American actress and singer
1975 – Ashley MacIsaac, Canadian fiddler
1975 – Maurizio Giuliano, writer and traveller
1976 – Matt Skiba, American musician (Alkaline Trio, Heavens)
1976 – Eric Griffin, American rock guitarist
1976 – Bradley McGee, Australian cyclist
1976 – Crista Flanagan, American television comedian
1976 – Zach Johnson, American professional golfer
1976 – Marco Campos, Brazilian racing driver (d. 1995)
1977 – Floyd Mayweather Jr, American boxer
1977 – Jason Akermanis, Australian rules footballer
1977 – Bronson Arroyo, American baseball player
1978 – Shinya, Japanese musician (Dir en grey)
1978 – John Nolan, American musician (Straylight Run)
1979 – Jesse Billauer, American quadriplegic surfer
1980 – Anton Gustafsson, Swedish rock music fan (d. 2003)
1980 – Shinsuke Nakamura, Japanese professional wrestler
1980 – Roman Sloudnov, Russian swimmer
1981 – Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player
1981 – Mohammad Sami, Pakistani cricketer
1982 – Nick Blackburn, American baseball player
1982 – Emanuel Villa, Argentine footballer
1982 – Klára Zakopalová, Czech tennis player
1984 – Clivio Piccione, Monegasque racing driver
1984 – Sterling James Keenan, American professional wrestler
1986 – Wojtek Wolski, Polish ice hockey player
1987 – Daniel Reilly, British entrepreneur
1987 – Mayuko Iwasa, Japanese entertainer and model
1987 – Chieko Kawabe, Japanese singer, model and actress
1989 – Kosta Koufos, American basketball player
Deaths
616 – King Ethelbert of Kent
1525 – Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet, French soldier
1563 – Francis, Duke of Guise, French soldier and politician (b. 1519)
1588 – Johann Weyer, Dutch physician and occultist
1666 – Nicholas Lanier, English composer (b. 1588)
1674 – Matthias Weckmann, German composer (b. 1616)
1685 – Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle, English politician and military leader (b. 1629)
1704 – Marc-Antoine Charpentier, French composer (b. 1643)
1714 – Edmund Andros, English governor in North America (b. 1637)
1721 – John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, English statesman and poet (b. 1648)
1732 – Colonel Francis Charteris, known as The Rape-Master General. (b. 1675)
1777 – King Joseph I of Portugal (b. 1714)
1779 – Paul Daniel Longolius, German encylopedist (b. 1704)
1781 – Edward Capell, English critic (b. 1713)
1799 – Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, German physicist (b. 1742)
1810 – Henry Cavendish, English scientist (b. 1756)
1812 – Etienne-Louis Malus, French physicist and mathematician (b. 1775)
1815 – Robert Fulton, American inventor (b. 1765)
1825 – Thomas Bowdler, English physician and editor (b. 1754)
1856 – Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky, Russian mathematician (b. 1792)
1876 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts, first President of Liberia (b. 1809)
1914 – Joshua Chamberlain, Civil War hero for the Union on Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg
1925 – Hjalmar Branting, Prime Minister of Sweden, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1860)
1929 – André Messager, French composer and conductor (b. 1853)
1953 – Gerd von Rundstedt, German field marshal (b. 1875)
1970 – Conrad Nagel, American actor (b. 1897)
1975 – Nikolai Bulganin, Premier of the Soviet Union (b. 1895)
1982 – Virginia Bruce, America actress and singer (b. 1910)
1984 – Helmut Schelsky, German sociologist (b. 1912)
1986 – Tommy Douglas, Canadian politician (b. 1904)
1987 – Jim Connors, American radio personality (b. 1940)
1989 – Sparky Adams, American baseball player (b. 1894)
1990 – Tony Conigliaro, American baseball player (b. 1945)
1990 – Malcolm Forbes, American publisher (b. 1917)
1990 – Sandro Pertini, Italian politician (b. 1896)
1990 – Johnnie Ray, American singer (b. 1927)
1991 – John Daly, South African game show host (b. 1914)
1991 – George Gobel, American comedian (b. 1919)
1991 – Webb Pierce, American music singer (b. 1921)
1993 – Danny Gallivan, Canadian radio and television sportscaster (b. 1917)
1993 – Bobby Moore, English footballer (b. 1941)
1994 – Jean Sablon, French singer (b. 1906)
1994 – Dinah Shore, American actress and singer (b. 1916)
1998 – Antonio Prohias, Cuban-born cartoonist (b. 1921)
1998 – Henny Youngman, English-born comedian (b. 1906)
1999 – Andre Dubus, American writer (b. 1936)
1999 – Frank Leslie Walcott, Barbadian labour leader (b. 1916)
2001 – Claude E. Shannon, American information theorist (b. 1916)
2002 – Arthur Lyman, American jazz vibraphone and marimba player (b. 1932)
2002 – Leo Ornstein, Russian-born composer and pianist (b. 1912)
2003 – John Edward Christopher Hill, English historian (b. 1912)
2003 – Bernard Loiseau, French chef (b. 1951)
2004 – John Randolph, American actor (b. 1915)
2006 – Octavia Butler, American author and MacArthur Foundation Fellow (b. 1947)
2006 – Don Knotts, American actor (b. 1924)
2006 – John Martin, Canadian broadcaster (b. 1947)
2006 – Denis Twitchett, Cambridge scholar, and Chinese historian (b. 1925)
2006 – Dennis Weaver, American actor (b. 1924)
2007 – Bruce Bennett, American actor (b. 1906)
2007 – Leroy Jenkins, American composer and violinist (b. 1932)
2007 – Lamar Lundy, American football player (b. 1935)
2007 – Damien Nash, American football player (b. 1982)
2008 – Larry Norman, American musician, singer, songwriter and producer (b. 1947)
Holidays and observances
Regifugium, in the Roman calendar.
Independence Day in Estonia (1918; the Soviet period is considered illegal annexation).
Flag Day in México.
Dragobete in Romania.
National Artist Day in Thailand.
St. Matthias
St. Modest
St. Sergius
February 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
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