24th March, on this day

1379 End of Gelderse war victory
1401 Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus.
1545 German Parliament opens in Worms
1550 France and England sign Peace of Boulogne
1603 Scottish king James VI becomes King James I of England
1664 Roger Williams is granted a charter to colonize Rhode Island
1721 Johann Sebastian Bach opens his Brandenburgse Concerts
1765 Britain enacts Quartering Act, required colonists to provide temporary housing to British soldiers
1792 Benjamin West (US) becomes president of Royal Academy of London
1801 Aleksandr P Romanov becomes emperor of Russia
1828 Philadelphia and Columbia Railway (1st state owned) authorized
1832 Mormon Joseph Smith beaten, tarred and feathered in Ohio
1837 Canada gives blacks the right to vote
1860 Clipper Andrew Jackson arrives in San Francisco, 89 days out of New York
1877 University boat race between Oxford and Cambridge ends in a dead heat
1878 British frigate Eurydice sunk; 300 lost
1882 German scientist Robert Koch discovers bacillus cause of TB
1887 Oscar Straus appointed 1st Jewish ambassador from US (to Turkey)
1894 37 miners killed at Franklin WA
1898 1st automobile sold
1900 New York City Mayor Robert Anderson Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground "Rapid Transit Railroad" that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.
1906 "Census of the British Empire" shows England rules 1/5 of the world
1911 Denmark abolishes capital punishment
1920 1st US coast guard air station established (Morehead City NC)
1922 Grand National at Aintree sees only 3 horses out of 32 starters finish
1923 Greece becomes a republic
1927 Cuban chess champion, Jose Capablanca wins 33-day Grand Chess Tournie
1930 Planet Pluto named
1933 Peter I Island incorporated as a Norwegian dependency
1934 US declares the Philippines to become independent in 1945
1937 Bus blew a tire, going out of control, killing 18 (Salem IL)
1937 National Gallery of Art established by Congress
1941 British troops defeat British Somalia
1941 German troops occupy El Agheila, Libya
1941 Glenn Miller begins work on his 1st movie for 20th Century Fox
1944 76 Allied officers escape Stalag Luft 3 (Great Escape)
1944 811 British bombers attack Berlin
1944 In occupied Rome, Nazis executed more than 300 civilians
1945 General Eisenhower, Montgomery and Bradley discuss advance in Germany
1945 Largest one-day airborne drop, 600 transports and 1300 gliders
1945 Operation Varsity: British, US and Canadian airborne landings East of Rhine
1945 US minesweepers reach Kerama Retto, South coast of Okinawa
1946 Veteran broadcaster Alastair Cooke reads his first 'Letter From America' on BBC Radio. His weekly broadcast continues for more than 50 years
1947 Congress proposes 2-term limitation on the Presidency
1947 John D Rockefeller Jr donates NYC East River site to the UN
1949 Walter andJohn Huston become 1st father-and-son team to win Oscars (actor and director of "Treasure of Sierra Madre")
1951 In the annual University Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge, the Oxford boat sinks. Cambridge win the re-run two days later
1952 Great demonstrations against apartheid in South-Africa
1953 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1955 1st seagoing oil drill rig placed in service
1955 British Army patrols withdraw from Belfast after 20 years
1955 Tennessee Williams, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" opens on Broadway for 694 performances
1956 In the Grand National at Aintree, the Queen Mother's horse Devon Loch clears the last fence well ahead of the field but collapses before the finishing line. The unlucky rider is Dick Francis - who later becomes a best-selling author
1958 Elvis Presley joins the army (serial number 53310761)
1959 Iraq withdraws from the Baghdad Pact
1960 US appeals court rules novel, "Lady Chatterly's Lover", not obscene
1962 Mick Jagger and Keith Richards perform as Little Boy Blue & Blue Boys
1964 Kennedy half-dollar issued
1964 Stansted is chosen as the site of London's third major airport -after Heathrow and Gatwick
1965 US Ranger 9 strikes Moon, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of crater Alphonsus
1967 University of Michigan holds 1st "Teach-in" after bombing of North Vietnam
1970 British boxer Henry Cooper retains his heavyweight title beating challenger Jack Bodell
1972 Great Britain imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland
1976 Argentinian President, Isobel Peron, is deposed in a bloodless military coup
1979 Columbia flown on aircraft carrier lands at Kennedy Space Center
1980 Archbishop Óscar Romero is killed by right-wing terrorists while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.
1980 Capitol Records releases some rare Beatles tracks
1981 Colombia drops diplomatic relations with Cuba
1982 US sub Jacksonville collides with a Turkish freighter near Virginia
1986 NASA publishes "Strategy for Safely Returning the Space Shuttle to Flight Status"
1986 US and Libya clash in Gulf of Sidra
1989 Worst US oil spill, Exxon's Valdez spills 11.3 million gallons off Alaska
1990 Indian troops leave Sri Lanka
1991 In liberated Kuwait, banks reopen
1992 1st Belgian in the space, Dirk Frimout on Atlantis Space Shuttle STS-45 (Atlantis 11) launches into space
1992 Sudanese Boeing 707 crashes on mountain Hymettos at Athens; 5-6 die
1993 Ezer Weizman elected President of Israel
1994 F-16 collides with C-130 Hercules above AFB in North Carolina, 120 die
1994 Robert F Kennedy Jr divorces Emily Black
1996 Eastenders star Michael French is reported to be a homosexual
1997 Australian parliament overturns world's 1st and only euthanasia law
1998 The disaster movie Titanic, the most successful film ever made, wins 11 Oscars at the 1998 Jonesboro massacre: Two students, ages 11 and 13, fire upon teachers and students at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas; five people are dead and ten are wounded.
1998 Tornado sweeps through Dantan in India killing 250 people and injuring 3000 others.
1999 Kosovo War: NATO commences air bombardment against Yugoslavia, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.
1999 Mont Blanc Tunnel Fire: 39 people died when a Belgian transport truck carrying flour and margarine caught fire in Mont Blanc Tunnel. USA
2003 The Arab League votes 21-1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of U.S. and British soldiers from Iraq.

24th March 2006

West to put sanctions on Belarus

Japan court orders reactor closed

Mosque targeted in Iraq bombing

24th March 2007

Sailors admitted incursion - Iran

Dozens die in fresh Iraq attacks

Millions face drought in SW China

24th March 2008

Iran 'behind Green Zone attack'

Olympic torch lit despite protest

US military Iraq toll hits 4,000

24th March 2009

US to boost Mexico border defence

Asylum seekers up for second year

Taleban tap into Swat's emeralds

24th March 2010

Bombing kills 6 in Colombian port

Saudi Arabia detains 'al-Qaeda militants'

DNA identifies new ancient human

Birthdates which occurred on 24th March :

1188 Ferrand of Portugal earl of Flanders/son of Sancho I
1441 Ernst I elector of Saxon (1464-86)
1494 Georgius Agricola Germany, mineralogist (De Re Metallica)
1607 Michiel A de Ruyter Dutch Rear Admiral (St Vincent, Dune)
1630 José Saenz d'Aguirre Spanish cardinal
1703 José F de Isla [Francisco de Salazar], Spanish Jesuit/writer
1714 Carlo Giovanni Testori composer
1732 Gian Francesco de Majo composer
1740 John Antes composer
1749 Bernard Jumentier composer
1755 Rufus King framer of US constitution/(Senator-F)
1762 Marcos Antonio da Fonseca Portugal, opera composer (Portogallo)
1797 Antonio Rosmini-Serbati philosopher/founder (Institute of Charity)
1802 Jacob van Lennep attorney/Dutch MP
1809 Joseph Liouville St Omer Pas-de-Calais France, discover of transcendental numbers
1814 Galen Clark US, naturalist, discovered Mariposa Grove
1817 Aime Maillart composer
1821 [George] Hector Tyndale Brevet Major General (Union volunteers)
1821 Elisa Felix [Rachel] tragedienne
1834 John Wesley Powell US, geologist/explorer/ethnologist
1834 William Morris England, designer/craftsman/poet/socialist
1835 Josef Stefan Austria, physicist (Stefan-Boltzmann law)
1837 Philips Count of Flanders Belgium
1855 Andrew W Mellon founder (Mellon Bank)/US Secretary of Treasury
1855 Olive Schreiner South African writer (Portrait of a South African Woman)
1866 Jack McAuliffe US lightweight boxing champion, hall of famer
1869 Émile Fabre France, playwright, administrator of Comédie Française
1871 Sir Ernest Rutherford nuclear scientist
1874 Harry Houdini [Erik Weisz] Budapest Hungary, magician/escape artist
1874 Luigi Einaudi economist/1st President of Italy (1948-55)
1878 Top Naeff [Anthonetta van Rhijn-N-Naeff] Dutch writer
1883 James I Wedgwood British theosophist/old-catholic bishop
1884 Gino Marinuzzi composer
1884 Peter Debye Holland, physical chemist (Nobel 1936)
1885 Charlie Daniels US swimmer (Olympics-4 gold-1904, 08)
1887 Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle Smith Center KS, actor (Keystone comedies)
1888 Jameson Thomas London England, actor (Farmer's Wife)
1890 Miguel Suriel Netherland Antillian writer (Muhé culpabel)
1891 Annie "Charley" Toorop Dutch painter (3 Generations)
1891 John Knittel writer
1893 George Sisler baseball hall of fame 1st baseman (257 hits in 1920)
1895 Arthur Murray dancer (Arthur Murray's Dance Party)
1895 Sid Saylor Chicago IL, actor (Wally-Waterfront)
1896 Gianna Manzini writer
1897 Charles Eyck Dutch painter/sculptor
1897 Wilhelm Reich Austrian-US psycho analysist (character analysis)
1898 Dorothy Stratton organizer (SPARS-women's branch of US Coast Guard)
1898 George Alpert railroad executive
19-- Crissy Wilzak Comstock Elyria OH, actress (Crissy-Mork & Mindy)
19-- Kim Ulrich Ripon CA, actress (Diana-As the World Turns)
19-- Terrell Anthony Illinois, actor (Rusty-Guiding Light)
1900 June [Algeria Junius] Clark musician trumpet
1902 Thomas E Dewey Ohio, 1st Catholic Presidential candidate 1944, 1948 (R)
1903 Adolph F J Butenandt German bio-chemist (Nobel 1939)
1903 John Patrick Sutton Ludlow actor (Agatha)
1903 Malcolm Muggeridge English writer (Observer of Life)
1905 André Christiaens Flemish writer (Unfindable Country)
1906 John Cameron Swayze news correspondant, Timex spokesman
1907 Janet Harmon Bragg US pilot/columnist (Chicago Defender)
1907 Lauris Norstad US General (NATO commander)/CEO (Owens-Corning Fiberglass)
1907 Lucia Chase US ballerina/co-founder (American Ballet Theater)
1907 Lydia Korneevna Chukovskaya writer
1907 Martin Kosleck [Nicolaie Yoshkin] Barkotzen Germany, actor (Pursuit to Algiers)
1909 Clyde Barrow bank robber (of Bonnie & Clyde fame)
1909 Thomas E "Tommy" Trinder English radio comic/actor (Phoenix)
1910 Jacques Chailley composer
1910 Richard Conte Jersey City NJ, actor (Four Just Men, 13 Rue Madeleine, Hotel, Jean Arthur Show)
1911 Enrique Jordá San Sebastian Spain, conductor (San Francisco Symphony Orchestra 1970)
1911 Herman W "Fritz" Liebert US OSSer/librarian (Yale curator)
1911 Jane Beverly Drew architect
1911 Joseph Barbera animator (Hanna-Barbera)
1914 Lilli Palmer Posen Germany, actress (Boys From Brazil, Sebastian)
1918 Englebert van Anderlecht Belgian painter
1919 John J Duncan Jr (Representative-Republican-TN, 1965- )
1919 Lawrence Ferlinghetti author (Coney Island of the Mind)
1920 Gene Nelson [Berg], Seattle WA, actor (Tea For 2, Oklahoma)
1921 Wilson Harris Guayanese author
1922 Dave Appell singer/musician/songwriter (In the Midnight Hour)
1922 Dorothy Irene Height president (national council of negro women)
1923 Edna Jo Hunter expert on military families & prisoners of war
1923 Murray Hamilton Washington NC, actor (Rich Man Poor Man)
1924 Lois Andrews actress (Ganster, Rustlers, Desert Hawk)
1924 Lorraine Gourley Los Angeles CA
1924 Norman Fell Philadelphia PA, actor (Mr Roper-3's Company, The End, Graduate)
1925 Duncan Wood TV director/producer
1925 Mai Zetterling Vaeras Sweden, actress (Hidden Agenda, Ringer)
1926 Dario Fo Leggiuno Sangiano VA, playwright (Nobel-1997)
1927 Janos Decsenyi composer
1927 Martin Walser writer
1928 Byron "Yanks" Janis McKeesport PA, pianist (NBC Symphony Orchestra)
1928 Vanessa Brown Vienna Austria, actress (My Favorite Husband)
1929 Cuan McCarthy cricketer (36 Test wickets for South Africa, 1 career no-ball)
1930 Kenneth Nelson Rocky Mount NC, actor (Henry Aldrich-Aldrich Family)
1930 Steve McQueen Slater MO, actor (Wanted, Dead or Alive, Blob, Bullitt)
1931 Thelma Kalama US, 4 X 100 meter relay swimmer (Olympics-gold-1948)
1932 William Smith Columbia MO, actor (Rich Man Poor Man, Hawaii Five-0)
1932 Yuri Anatoyevich Ponomaryov Russia, cosmonaut (Soyuz 18 backup)
1933 David Harries composer
1935 Peter Bichsel writer
1936 Fredrick Kaufmamn composer
1937 Benjamin Luxon Redruth England, baritone (Owen Wingrave)
1937 Bill Tillman baseball player
1937 Billy Stewart US R&B singer (I Do Love You)
1937 Erskine Sandiford premier (Barbados, 1987-94)
1938 Larry Wilson NFL back (Cardinals)
1940 Bob Mackie Monterey Park CA, designer (Streisand, Cher)
1943 H Martin Lancaster (Representative-Democrat-NC)
1943 Jesus Alou baseball outfielder (San Francisco Giants)
1943 Marika Kilius German Federal Republic, pairs ice skating-Franz Ningel/Hans Jurgen Baumler, (Olympics-silver-1960, 64)
1944 Denny McLain baseball pitcher (Detroit Tigers, 31 wins in 1968)
1944 Patti Labelle singer (Phoenix, Tasty, Chameleon)
1946 Lee Oskar Copenhagen Denmark, rock harmonicist (War-Why Can't We Be Friends)
1946 Paul Williams climber
1947 Alan Sugar English multi-millionaire/computer manufacturer (Amstrad)
1947 Mike Kellie rock drummer (Spooky Tooth-It's All About)
1947 Paul McCandless rocker (Torches on the Lake)
1947 Pieter W Coetzer South African journalist/MP (NP)
1949 Nick Lowe vocalist/producer (I Knew the Bride)
1949 Steve Lang Montréal Canada, rock bassist (April Wine-Just Between You and Me)
1951 Dougie Thompson rocker (Supertramp-Bloody Well Right)
1951 Earl Williams NBAer
1951 Kenneth S Reightler Jr Patuxent MD, Commander USN/astronaut (STS 48, 60)
1951 Pat Bradley Westford MA, LPGA golfer (1981 US Women's Open)
1952 Nicholas Campbell Toronto Canada, actor (Nick-The Insiders)
1953 Steve Lubbers cricketer (captain of Dutch World Cup team 1996)
1954 Donna Pescow Brooklyn, actress (Angie, Out of this World, Rainbow)
1954 Irina Ratushinskaya Odessa Ukraine, dissident poet (Beyond the Limit)
1954 Robert Carradine Los Angeles CA, actor (Slim-The Cowboys, Wavelength)
1956 Ijaz Faqih cricketer (Pakistan off-spin all-rounder in 5 Tests 80-88)
1957 Scott J Horowitz Philadelphia PA, PhD/Captain USAF/astronaut (STS 75, 82)
1959 Renaldo Nehemiah US, hurdler (110 meter at 12.93)/NFLer (San Francisco 49ers)
1960 Kelly LeBrock New York NY, actress (Weird Science, Woman in Red)
1961 Dean Jones cricketer (dashing Australian batsman & fielder 1984-92)
1961 James T Gallagher Jr Johnstown PA, PGA golfer (1990 Greater Milwaukee)
1962 Penny Hammel Decatur IL, LPGA golfer (Jamie Farr Toledo-1985, 89)
1962 Star Jones attorney/TV hostess (NBC, Inside Edition)
1963 Raimond van der Gouw Dutch soccer goalie (Vitesse, Manchester)
1963 Sammy Giammatva Houston TX, tennis star
1964 Hans Schwaier West Germany, tennis star
1965 Angela Zuckerman St Louis MO, speed skater (Olympics-1994)
1965 Ben Torriero WLAF running back (Scottish Claymores)
1965 Jeff Reese Brantford, NHL goalie (Tampa Bay Lightning)
1965 Marian Vajda Czechoslovakia, tennis star
1966 Penny Toler WNBA guard (Los Angeles Sparks)
1966 Tatjana Patitz Hamburg German Federal Republic, model/actress (Rising Sun)
1967 Kathy Rinaldi-Stunkel Florida, tennis player (Virginia Slims of Arkansas 1987)
1967 Richard Gillam Atlanta GA, pairs skater (& Erin Moorad)
1969 Yoko Zetterlund San Francisco CA, volleyball setter (Olympics-bronze-92, 96)
1970 Lara Flynn Boyle Davenport IA, actress (The Practice, The Temp, Twin Peaks)
1970 Marques Bragg NBA forward (Minnesota Timberwolves)
1970 Mike Vanderjagt CFL kicker (Toronto Argonauts)
1970 Shannon Lemora Baton Rouge LA, 1.5k runner
1973 Atle Larsen WLAF kicker (Rhein Fire)
1973 Chip McCaw Chicago IL, volleyball setter (Olympics-96)
1973 David Moravec hockey forward (Team Czechoslovakia Olympics-gold-1998)
1973 Josh Lakatos Pasadena CA, trap shooter (Olympics-silver-1996)
1973 Philippe Boucher St Apollinaire CA, NHL defense (Los Angeles Kings, Olympics-G-98)
1974 Terry Killens linebacker (Tennessee Oilers)
1975 Debbie Keller Winfield IL, soccer forward (Olympics-96)
1975 Julia Bikbova Kiev Ukraine, dance skater (& John Lee)
1976 Danielle Garrett Camp Hill PA, soccer forward (Olympics-96)
1977 Olivia Burnette San Clemente CA, actress (Torkelsons)
1980 Luke Edwards Nevada City CA, actor (Newsie)

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Deaths which occurred on March 24th:
0809 Harun al-Rashid caliph of the Abbasid empire (786-809), dies at 44
1400 Florens Radewijns Dutch priest/leader Modern Devotion, dies
1455 Nicholas V [Tommaso Parentucelli] Italian Pope (1447-55), dies at 57
1455 Rudolf van Diepholt bishop/cardinal of Utrecht (1448-55), dies
1471 Sir Thomas Malory author (Le Morte d'Arthur), dies at 55
1558 Anna van Buren countess of Egmond/Buren/Lingen, dies
1603 Elizabeth I Tudor [Maiden Queen] UK queen (1558-1603), dies at 69
1631 Philipp Dulichius composer, dies at 68
1635 Jacques Callot French cartoonist/engraver, dies at about 42
1644 Cecilia Renata arch duchess of Austria, dies
1654 Samuel Scheidt German composer (Concertus sacri), dies at 66
1661 William Leddra last Quaker, hanged in Boston
1755 Theodor Christleib Reinhold composer, dies at 72
1823 Cornelis van Foreest Dutch mayor (Alkmaar), dies at 66
1825 Giovanni Domenico Perotti composer, dies at 64
1838 Thomas Attwood composer, dies at 72
1842 Stendhal [Marie-H Beyle] French writer (The Love), buried at 59
1866 Maria Amalia of Bourbon-Sicily, wife of Louis Filips of Austria, dies
1877 Walter Bagehot English economist/critic/banker, dies at 51
1878 Albin Masek composer, dies at 73
1881 Friedrich Hecker German revolutionary republic politician, dies at 69
1882 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow US poet (Song of Hiawatha), dies at 75
1894 Robert Prescott Stewart composer, dies at 68
1899 Billy Barnes cricketer (725 runs in 21 Tests for England), dies
1905 Jules Verne sci-fi author (Around the World in 80 Days), dies at 77
1909 John Millington Synge Irish dramatist/playwright/poet, dies at 37
1911 Matthew Stanley Robison president (Cardinals), dies
1916 Enrique y Campina Granados Sp opera composer (Goyescas), drowns at 48
1918 Theophile Ysaye composer, dies at 53
1921 Deodat de Severac composer, dies at 48
1932 George Robert Canning cricketer (the 4th Lord Harris), dies
1937 Léopold Courouble Belgian writer (Pauline Flatbread), dies at 76
1945 J S Nicklin Lieutenant-Colonel/Canada's 1st parachutist, dies
1945 Thomas Rennie General-Major (Dutch command 51st Highland Division), dies
1946 Alexander A Aljechin world chess champion (1927-35, 37-46), dies at 53
1946 Gustaf Heintze composer, dies at 66
1953 Felix M Abel French dominican/biblical scholar, dies at 74
1953 Mary [Victoria of Teck] queen of Great Britain/North-Ireland, dies at 86
1953 Queen Mary of Britain dies
1960 Paul Joostens Flemish painter, dies at 70
1962 Auguste Picard Swiss explorer, dies at 78
1964 Peter Lorre Hungarian/US actor (Maltese Falcon, Raven), dies at 59
1967 Marc Lavry composer, dies at 63
1968 Howard Petrie actor (Border River, Bounty Hunter), dies at 61
1968 Lauwrens Voorthuyzen Dutch sect leader, dies at 70
1969 Joseph Kasavubu President of Congo (1960-65), dies at about 55
1974 Doris Deane dies at 74
1974 Yoshida Isoya Japanese architect (modern sukiya style), dies at 79
1975 Muriel Hutchinson actor (Another Thin Man), dies at 60
1975 Oscar Rasbach composer, dies at 86
1976 Bernard L Montgomery British General, defeated Rommel, dies at 88
1976 Nelson Case TV host (Trash or Treasure), dies at 66
1977 Saburo Moroi composer, dies at 73
1978 Brackett Hamilton Leigh [Douglass], author (Ginger Star), dies at 62
1979 Yvonne Mitchell writer, dies at 53
1980 Archbishop Oscar Romero assassinated while conducting mass in San Salvador
1982 Ace Goodman Kansas City MO, comedian (Easy Aces), dies at 83
1984 Sam Jaffe actor (Dr Zorba-Ben Casey), dies of cancer at 93
1986 Sarah Cunningham actress (Nurse Andrews-Trapper John MD), dies at 67
1990 Alice Sapritch actress (European Vacation), dies
1990 An Wang computer manufacturer (Wang), dies at 70 from cancer
1990 Ray Goulding comedian (Bob & Ray), dies from kidney failure at 68
1990 Rene Enriquez actor (Hill St Blues), dies from pancreatic cancer at 56
1993 Erik Andriesse Dutch painter (skulls, skeletons), dies at 35
1993 John Hersey Pulitzer prize author (Hiroshima), dies at 78
1993 Peter Roovers Dutch sculptor/teacher (war monuments), dies at 90
1993 Taylor Reed actor (Easy Money), dies of heart attack at 60
1994 Edith Porada art historian/archaeologist, dies at 81
1994 Luis Donaldo Colosio Mexican politician, assassinated
1994 Tommy Benford jazz drummer, dies at 88
1995 Anthony Standerwick Heal businessman, dies at 88
1995 Joey Long blues/cajun guitarist, dies at 62
1995 Trevor Oswald Ling religious Studies Professor, dies at 75
1996 Maria Lucia Beltran Alcayaga singer, dies at 66

Golden Link 1/ On this day 24th March

Golden Link 2/ On this day 24th March

Golden Link 3/ On this day 24th March