Historical events on May 24
MAY 24, 1930
English aviator Amy Johnson landed in Darwin, becoming the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia.
Amy Johnson was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia.
MAY 24, 2014
A gunman involved in Islamic extremism opened fire at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels, killing four people.
Islamic extremism refers to extremist beliefs, behaviors and ideologies adhered to by some Muslims within Islam. The term 'Islamic extremism' is contentious,
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MAY 24, 1963
United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy met with African American author James Baldwin in an unsuccessful attempt to improve race relations.
Robert Francis Kennedy, also known as RFK, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general
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MAY 24, 1941
Second World War: The German battleship Bismarck sank the British battlecruiser Hood at the Battle of the Denmark Strait.
World War II or the Second World War was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all
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MAY 24, 1948
Arab–Israeli War: After five days of fighting, Egyptian forces captured the Israeli community of Yad Mordechai after the defenders had abandoned it.
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and
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MAY 24, 1956
The first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest was held in Lugano, Switzerland.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1956 was the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and
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MAY 24, 1962
Project Mercury: American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbited the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.
Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the
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MAY 24, 1830
The nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb" was first published as a poem by Sarah Josepha Hale.
A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term
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MAY 24, 1970
On the Kola Peninsula in Russia, drilling began on the Kola Superdeep Borehole, which eventually reached a depth of 12,262 metres (40,230 ft), making it the deepest borehole ever drilled and the lowest artificial point on Earth.
The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the extreme northwest of Russia, and one of the largest peninsulas of Europe. Constituting the
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MAY 24, 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 began, with battles beginning in County Kildare and fighting later spreading across the country.
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom
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MAY 24, 1667
Led by King Louis XIV, the French army invaded the Spanish Netherlands, beginning the War of Devolution.
Louis XIV, also known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715.
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MAY 24, 1567
The mentally ill King Erik XIV of Sweden (pictured) and his guards murdered five incarcerated nobles, including some members of the influential Sture family.
Erik XIV or Eric XIV became King of Sweden following the death of his father, Gustav I, on 29 September 1560. During
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MAY 24, 1913
Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia married Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover; the occasion was one of the last great social events of European royalty before World War I began.
Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia was the only daughter and youngest child of Wilhelm II, German Emperor, and Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein.
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MAY 24, 1986
A stationary front began over the central Caribbean Sea, leading to severe floods that over two weeks killed dozens of people in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica.
A stationary front is a weather front or transition zone between two air masses when each air mass is advancing into the
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MAY 24, 1683
Oxford University's Ashmolean Museum, the world's first university museum, opened.
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making
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MAY 24, 1738
At a Moravian meeting in Aldersgate, London, John Wesley (pictured) experienced a spiritual rebirth, leading him to launch the Methodist movement.
The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren, formally the Unitas Fratrum, is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back
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MAY 24, 1689
The Act of Toleration became law, granting freedom of worship to English nonconformists under certain circumstances, but deliberately excluding Catholics.
The Toleration Act 1688, also referred to as the Act of Toleration or the Toleration Act 1689, was an act of the
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MAY 24, 1883
New York City's Brooklyn Bridge opened as the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time.
The Brooklyn Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and
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MAY 24, 1991
The Israel Defense Forces began Operation Solomon, a covert operation to bring thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel (evacuees pictured).
The Israel Defense Forces, alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym Tzahal (צה״ל), is the national military of the State of Israel.
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