24 February History
- 786 - Pepin the Short of Gaul dies. His dominions are divided between his sons Charles (Charlemagne) and Carloman.
- 1525 - In the first of the Franco-Habsburg Wars, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V captures the French king Francis I at the Battle of Pavia, Italy.
- 1538 - Ferdinand of Hapsburg and John Zapolyai, the two kings of Hungary, conclude the peace of Grosswardein.
- 1803 - Chief Justice John Marshall, by refusing to rule on the case of Marbury vs. Madison, asserts the authority of the judicial branch.
- 1813 - Off Guiana, the American sloop Hornet sinks the British sloop Peacock.
- 1821 - Mexico gains independence from Spain.
- 1836 - Some 3,000 Mexicans launch an assault on the Alamo with its 182 Texan defenders.
- 1895 - The Cuban War of Independence begins.
- 1908 - Japan officially agrees to restrict emigration to the U.S.
- 1912 - Italy bombs Beirut in the first act of war against the Ottoman Empire.
- 1912 - The Jewish organization Hadassah is founded in New York City.
- 1914 - Civil War soldier Joshua Chamberlain dies.
- 1916 - A film version of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea opens in New York.
- 1921 - Herbert Hoover becomes Secretary of Commerce.
- 1928 - The New Gallery of New York exhibits works of Archibald Motley, its first show to feature a black artist.
- 1944 - Merrill's Marauders, a specially trained group of American soldiers, begin their ground campaign against Japan into Burma.
- 1945 - U.S. forces liberate prisoners of war in the Los Baños Prison in the Philippines.
- 1947 - Franz von Papen is sentenced to eight years in a labor camp for war crimes.
- 1959 - Khrushchev rejects the Western plan for the Big Four meeting on Germany.
- 1968 - North Vietnamese troops capture the imperial palace in Hue, South Vietnam.
- 1972 - Hanoi negotiators walks out of the peace talks in Paris to protest U.S. air raids on North Vietnam.
- 1991 - General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the coalition army, sends in ground forces during the Gulf War.
24 February Birthdays
- 1500 - Charles V, king of Spain and the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned by the Pope.
- 1786 - Wilhelm Carl Grimm, compiler, with his brother of fairy tales.
- 1836 - Winslow Homer, American painter.
- 1841 - John Phillip Holland, inventor of the modern submarine.
- 1874 - Honus Wagner, baseball shortstop known as "The Flying Dutchman."
- 1885 - Chester Nimitz, U.S. admiral who commanded naval forces in the Pacific during WWII.
- 1887 - Mary Ellen Chase, New England writer.
- 1909 - August Derleth, writer (Still is the Summer Night, The Shield of the Valiant).