October 24: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

October 24 is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 68 days remaining.

Events

• 69 - Second Battle of Bedriacum, forces under Antonius Primus, the commander of the Danube armies, loyal to Vespasian, defeat the forces of Emperor Vitellius.
• 1260 - The spectacular Cathedral of Chartres is dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX of France; the cathedral is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• 1260 - Saif ad-Din Qutuz, Mamluk sultan of Egypt, is assassinated by Baibars, who seizes power for himself.
• 1360 - The Treaty of Brétigny is ratified at Calais, marking the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years' War.
• 1648 - The Peace of Westphalia is signed, marking the end of the Thirty Years' War.
• 1795 - Partitions of Poland: The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is completely divided between Austria, Prussia and Russia
• 1812 - Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Maloyaroslavets takes place near Moscow.
• 1861 - The first transcontinental telegraph line across the United States is completed, spelling the end for the 18-month-old Pony Express.
• 1903 - General Order (GO) 167 authorized the formation of the "Canadian Signalling Corps (Militia)" (CSC) - the first independently organized Signal Corps in the British Empire.
• 1917 - Battle of Caporetto starts on the Austro-Italian front of World War I
• 1929 - "Black Thursday" stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange.
• 1930 - A bloodless coup d'état in Brazil ousts Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa, the last President of the First Republic. Getúlio Dornelles Vargas is then installed as "provisional president."
• 1935 - Italy invades Ethiopia
• 1944 - World War II: The Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku is sunk.
• 1945 - Founding of the United Nations
• 1947 - Walt Disney testifies to the House Unamerican Activities Committee, naming Disney employees he believes to be communists.
• 1954 - Dwight D. Eisenhower pledges United States support to South Vietnam
• 1955 - The body of Manolo Just, a probable bisexual, is found in the Mexico apartment of Mary Rogers, daughter of Will Rogers. Homicide is suspected, but never proven.
• 1956 - Soviet Union invades Hungary
• 1957 - the USAF starts the X-20 Dyna-Soar program.
• 1960 - Nedelin catastrophe: An R-16 ballistic missile explodes on the launch pad at the Soviet Union's Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility, killing 165. Among the dead is Field Marshall Mitrofan Nedelin, whose death is reported to have occurred in a plane crash.
• 1964 - Northern Rhodesia gains independence from the United Kingdom and becomes the Republic of Zambia (Southern Rhodesia remained a colony)
• 1970 - Salvador Allende elected President of Chile
• 1973 - Yom Kippur War ends
• 1980 - Government of Poland legalizes Solidarity trade union
• 1986 - Nezar Hindawi is sentenced to 45 years in prison, the longest sentence handed down by a British court, for the attempted bombing on an El Al flight at Heathrow. After the verdict, Britain breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, claiming that Hindawi was helped by Syrian officials.
• 1989 - Televangelist Jim Bakker is sentenced to 45 years in prison and a 500,000 USD fine for defrauding investors of 3.7 million USD.
• 1992 - The Toronto Blue Jays become the first non-US team to win the World Series. This is also known as the first real "World" Series.
• 1998 - Launch of Deep Space 1 comet/asteroid mission
• 1998 - Tropical Storm Mitch reaches hurricane strength.
• 2002 - Police arrest spree killers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, ending the Beltway sniper attacks in the area around Washington, DC.
• 2003 - Concorde makes its last commercial flight, bringing the era of airliner supersonic transport to a close, at least for the time being.
• 2004 - A plane carrying ten members of the NASCAR Hendrick Motorsports team crashes en route to the race held at Martinsville Speedway. There were no survivors.
• 2005 - Cream begins a series of three shows at Madison Square Garden. These shows are similar to the reunion shows held in May at the Royal Albert Hall.
• 2005 - Hurricane Wilma makes landfall in South Florida.

• 51 - Domitian, Roman Emperor (d. 96)
• 1402 - David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, heir to the throne of Scotland (b. 1378)
• 1632 - Anton van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch microbiologist (d. 1723)
• 1675 - Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham, English soldier and politician (d. 1749)
• 1710 - Alban Butler, English Catholic priest and writer (d. 1773)
• 1788 - Sarah Hale, American poet (d. 1879)
• 1804 - Wilhelm Eduard Weber, German physicist (d. 1891)
• 1811 - Ferdinand Hiller, German composer (d. 1885)
• 1855 - James S. Sherman, Vice President of the United States (d. 1912)
• 1868 - Alexandra David-Néel, French explorer and writer (d. 1969)
• 1891 - Rafael Molina-Trujillo, President of the Dominican Republic
• 1901 - Gilda Gray, Polish-born actress and dancer (d. 1959)
• 1903 - Melvin Purvis, American Federal Bureau of Investigation director (d. 1960)
• 1904 - Moss Hart, American dramatist (d. 1961)
• 1909 - Bill Carr, American athlete (d. 1966)
• 1915 - Tito Gobbi, Italian baritone (d. 1984)
• 1915 - Bob Kane, cartoonist (d. 1998)
• 1915 - Roger Milliken, textile heir
• 1923 - Denise Levertov, English-born poet (d 1997)
• 1925 - Luciano Berio, Italian composer (d. 2003)
• 1926 - Y. A. Tittle, American football player
• 1927 - Jean-Claude Pascal, French singer (d.1992)
• 1929 - George Crumb, American composer
• 1929 - Yordan Radichkov, Bulgarian writer
• 1930 - The Big Bopper, American singer (d. 1959)
• 1930 - Johan Galtung, Norwegian scientist
• 1930 - Sultan Ahmad Shah, King of Malaysia
• 1931 - Sofia Gubaidulina, Russian composer
• 1932 - Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1932 - Robert Mundell, Canadian economist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1936 - Bill Wyman, English musician (The Rolling Stones)
• 1939 - F. Murray Abraham, American actor
• 1945 - Anthony Christian, English Artist
• 1946 - Jerry Edmonton, Canadian drummer (Steppenwolf)
• 1947 - Kevin Kline, American actor
• 1948 - Kweisi Mfume, American civil rights activist, U.S. Congressman from Maryland
• 1954 - Mike Rounds, Governor of South Dakota
• 1957 - Ron Gardenhire, baseball manager
• 1960 - Ian Baker-Finch, Australian golf player
• 1960 - Jaime Garzón, Colombian journalist and comedian (d. 1999)
• 1961 - Mary Bono, U.S. Congresswoman from California
• 1962 - B.D. Wong, American actor
• 1966 - Roman Abramovich, Russian oil magnate
• 1971 - Dervla Kirwan, Irish actress
• 1972 - Scott Peterson, American murderer
• 1972 - Pat Williams, American football player
• 1973 - Levi Leipheimer, American professional cyclist
• 1974 - Caprice Bourret, American model and actress
• 1975 - Juan Pablo Ángel, Columbian footballer
• 1979 - Ben Gillies, Australian musician (Silverchair)
• 1980 - James Killian, American football player
• 1980 - Monica, American singer
• 1981 - Tila Nguyen, American model
• 1985 - Wayne Rooney, English footballer

• 996 - King Hugh Capet of France (b. 938)
• 1260 - Saif ad-Din Qutuz, Mamluk sultan of Egypt
• 1375 - King Valdemar IV of Denmark
• 1537 - Jane Seymour, queen of Henry VIII of England
• 1572 - Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby, English politician
• 1601 - Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer (b. 1546)
• 1655 - Pierre Gassendi, French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist (b. 1592)
• 1669 - William Prynne, English Puritan leader (b. 1600)
• 1672 - John Webb, English architect (b. 1611)
• 1708 - Kowa Seki, Japanese mathematician
• 1725 - Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian composer (b. 1660)
• 1799 - Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Austrian composer (b. 1739)
• 1821 - Elias Boudinot, American President of the Continental Congress (b. 1740)
• 1852 - Daniel Webster, American lawyer and politician (b. 1782)
• 1898 - Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, French painter (b. 1824)
• 1912 - Mykola Lysenko, Ukrainian composer (b. 1842)
• 1915 - Désiré Charnay, French archaeologist (b. 1828)
• 1938 - Ernst Barlach, German sculptor
• 1944 - Louis Renault, French automobile manufacturer (b. 1877)
• 1945 - Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian traitor (executed) (b. 1887)
• 1948 - Franz Lehár, Austrian composer (b. 1870)
• 1957 - Christian Dior, French fashion designer (b. 1905)
• 1971 - Carl Ruggles, American composer (b. 1876)
• 1972 - Jackie Robinson, baseball player (b. 1919)
• 1972 - Claire Windsor, American actress (b. 1897)
• 1974 - David Oistrakh, Ukrainian violinist (b. 1908)
• 1979 - Park Chung Hee, South-Korean president (b. 1917).
• 1991 - Gene Roddenberry, American television producer (b. 1921)
• 1997 - Don Messick, voice actor (b. 1926)
• 2001 - Wolf Rüdiger Hess, German neo-Nazi (b. 1937)
• 2002 - Winton M. Blount, United States Postmaster General (b. 1921)
• 2002 - Adolph Green, American lyricist and playwright (b. 1914)
• 2002 - Harry Hay, American activist (b. 1912)
• 2004 - Randy Dorton, NASCAR crew member (b. 1954)
• 2004 - Ricky Hendrick, NASCAR team owner (b. 1980)
• 2004 - James Cardinal Hickey, American Catholic archbishop (b. 1920)
• 2005 - José Azcona del Hoyo, President of Honduras (b. 1926)
• 2005 - Rosa Parks, American civil rights activist (b. 1913)

• R.C. Saints - optional memorial of Antonio Maria Claret
• Also see October 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• New Zealand -Labour Day (2005, 4th Monday in October).
• Zambia - Independence Day (1964)
• United Nations Day (charter 1945)
• Discordianism - Maladay

• In The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien, the date is mentioned to Frodo Baggins by Gandalf upon his waking in Rivendell.

October 23 - October 25 - November 24 - September 24 - more historical anniversaries