24 May History


Month:                           Date:     

  • 1543    -    Nicolaus Copernicus publishes proof of a sun-centered solar system. He dies just after publication.
  • 1607    -    Captain Christopher Newport and 105 followers found the colony of Jamestown at the mouth of the James River on the coast of Virginia.
  • 1610    -    Sir Thomas Gates institutes "laws divine moral and marshal, " a harsh civil code for Jamestown.
  • 1624    -    After years of unprofitable operation, Virginia's charter is revoked and it becomes a royal colony.
  • 1689    -    English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration, protecting Protestants. Roman Catholics are specifically excluded from exemption.
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  • 1738    -    The Methodist Church is established.
  • 1764    -    Boston lawyer James Otis denounces "taxation without representation," calling for the colonies to unite in opposition to Britain's new tax measures.
  • 1798    -    Believing that a French invasion of Ireland is imminent, Irish nationalists rise up against the British occupation.
  • 1844    -    Samuel Morse taps out the first telegraph message.
  • 1846    -    General Zachary Taylor captures Monterey.
  • 1861    -    General Benjamin Butler declares slaves to be the contraband of war.
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  • 1863    -    Bushwackers led by Captain William Marchbanks attack a Federal militia party in Nevada, Missouri.
  • 1878    -    The first American bicycle race is held in Boston.
  • 1930    -    Amy Johnson becomes the first woman to fly from England to Australia.
  • 1941    -    The British battleship Hood is sunk by the German battleship Bismarck. There are only three survivors.
  • 1951    -    Willie Mays begins playing for the New York Giants.
  • 1961    -    Civil rights activists are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi.
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  • 24 May Birthdays

  • 1544    -    William Gilbert, English physician and scientist.
  • 1743    -    Jean-Paul Marat, French revolutionary.
  • 1819    -    Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1836-1901).
  • 1878    -    Lillian Moller Gilbreth, pioneer in time-motion studies.
  • 1895    -    Samuel I. Newhouse, American publisher.
  • 1903    -    Arthur Vineberg, Canadian heart surgeon.
  • 1905    -    Mikhail Sholokhov, Russian novelist (And Quiet Flows the Don).
  • 1928    -    William Trevor, Irish short story writer and novelist (The Old Boys, The Boarding House).
  • 1941    -    Bob Dylan (Robert Zimmerman), singer and songwriter.