May 24 in History

1961 — American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus

May 24 spans 58 recorded events across recorded history, from 919 to 2026. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · May 24 — Wikipedia

Historical Events 58 events 919 – 2026

More major events on May 24

The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.

1944 Congress of Përmet occurs which establishes a provisional government in Albania in areas under partisan control, the first independent Albanian government since 1939. In honor of this the national emblem of Albania inscribed this date from 1946 until 1992. Source
1813 South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed El Libertador ("The Liberator"). Source
1607 Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America, is founded. Source

Did you know

In 1961, American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.

Did you know

The civil rights movement was a social movement in the United States from 1954 to 1968 which aimed to abolish legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement in the country, which most commonly affected African Americans. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.

Did you know

The movement had origins in the Reconstruction era in the late 19th century, and modern roots in the 1940s and in Mohandas Gandhi's nonviolent movement in India. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.

Did you know

After years of nonviolent protests and civil disobedience campaigns, the civil rights movement achieved many of its legislative goals in the 1960s, during which it secured new protections in federal law for the civil rights of all Americans, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.

Did you know

In 1961, American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus had consequences that extended beyond the first headline. The key context is the institutions involved, the policy shift, and how the public response evolved afterward.

The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.

Cultural region in Southern Germany

Franconia is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect. Franconia is made up of the three Regierungsbezirke of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia in Bavaria, the adjacent, Franconian-speaking South Thuringia, south of the Thuringian Forest—which constitutes the language boundary between Franconian and Thuringian—and the eastern parts of Heilbronn-Franconia in Baden-Württemberg.

Wikipedia source

919

The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.

1217–1221 attempted conquest of the Holy Land

The Fifth Crusade was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid Sultanate, led by Sultan al-Adil, brother of Saladin.

Wikipedia source

1218

Magnus Ladulås is crowned King of Sweden in Uppsala Cathedral.

King of Sweden from 1275 to 1290

Magnus Ladulås or Magnus Birgersson was King of Sweden from 1275 until his death in 1290.

Wikipedia source

1276

The ten-year-old Lambert Simnel is crowned in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland, with the name of Edward VI in a bid to threaten King Henry VII's reign.

Pretender to the throne of King Henry VII of England

Lambert Simnel was a pretender to the throne of England. In 1487, his claim to be Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, threatened the newly established reign of Henry VII (1485-1509). Simnel became the figurehead of a Yorkist rebellion organised by John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln. The rebellion was crushed in 1487. Simnel was pardoned because of his tender years, and was thereafter employed by the royal household as a scullion.

Wikipedia source

1487

Erik XIV of Sweden and his guards murder five incarcerated Swedish nobles.

King of Sweden from 1560 to 1569

Erik XIV or Eric XIV became King of Sweden following the death of his father, Gustav I, on 29 September 1560. During a 1568 rebellion against him, Erik was incarcerated by his half-brother John III. He was formally deposed by the Riksdag on 26 January 1569. Erik was also ruler of Estonia, after it placed itself under Swedish protection in 1561.

Wikipedia source

1567

Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.

Academic library in the Netherlands

Leiden University Libraries is the set of libraries of Leiden University, founded in 1575 in Leiden, Netherlands. Holdings include some five million volumes, one million e-books, ninety thousand e-journals, two thousand current paper journals, and three thousand cuneiform tablets. The library manages large collections on Indonesia and the Caribbean, and curates seven entries in UNESCO's international and Dutch Memory of the World Register. Joseph Justus Scaliger, who was a languages and history professor at Leiden from 1593 up to 1609, commented in Latin on the library:Est hic magna commoditas bibliothecae ut studiosi possint studere. Here [at Leiden] is the great convenience of a library so that those who want to study [students], can study.

Wikipedia source

1595

Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America, is founded.

Town and fort established in the Virginia Colony

The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located, in what later became James City County, on the northeast bank of the James River, about 2.5 mi (4 km) southwest of present-day Williamsburg. It was established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 4, 1607 O.S. (May 14, 1607 N.S.). It followed earlier, failed English colonization attempts, including the 1585 Roanoke Colony. A river island was selected to evade Spanish naval patrols; however, it was infested with mosquitoes, lacked potable water, and was used by the Paspahegh people. Despite supply missions, only 60 of the original 214 settlers survived the 1609–1610 winter known as Starving Time. In 1612, West Indies tobacco was successfully cultivated, leading to an economic boom for the colony and England.

Wikipedia source

1607

The Protestant Union is formally dissolved.

Alliance in the Holy Roman Empire (1608–21)

The Protestant Union, also known as the Evangelical Union, Union of Auhausen, German Union or the Protestant Action Party, was a coalition of Protestant German states. It was formed on 14 May 1608 by Frederick IV, Elector Palatine in order to defend the rights, land and safety of each member. It included both Calvinist and Lutheran states, and dissolved in 1621.

Wikipedia source

1621

Peter Minuit buys Manhattan.

3rd Director of New Netherland (1626–31)

Peter Minuit was a Walloon merchant and politician who was the 3rd director of the Dutch North American colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1631, and 3rd Governor of New Netherland. He founded the Swedish colony of New Sweden on the Delaware Peninsula in 1638.

Wikipedia source

1626

The French Royal Army crosses the border into the Spanish Netherlands, starting the War of Devolution opposing France to the Spanish Empire and the Triple Alliance.

Principal army of the Kingdom of France

The French Royal Army was the principal land force of the Kingdom of France. It served the Bourbon dynasty from the reign of Louis XIV in the mid-17th century to that of Charles X in the 19th, with an interlude from 1792 to 1814 and another during the Hundred Days in 1815. It was permanently dissolved following the July Revolution in 1830. The French Royal Army became a model for the new regimental system that was to be imitated throughout Europe from the mid-17th century onward. It was regarded as Europe's greatest military force for much of its existence.

Wikipedia source

1667

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world's first university museum.

Museum of art and archeology in Oxford

The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of Oxford in 1677. It is also the world's second university museum, after the establishment of the Kunstmuseum Basel in 1661 by the University of Basel.

Wikipedia source

1683

The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration protecting dissenting Protestants but excluding Roman Catholics.

Legislature of England, c. 1236 to 1707

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised the English monarch. Great councils were first called Parliaments during the reign of Henry III. By this time, the king required Parliament's consent to levy taxation.

Wikipedia source

1689

John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day and a church service is generally held on the preceding Sunday.

English clergyman (1703–1791)

John Wesley was an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a principal leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies he founded became the dominant form of the ongoing independent Methodist movement.

Wikipedia source

1738

The Irish Rebellion of 1798 led by the United Irishmen against British rule begins.

Part of the French Revolutionary Wars

The Irish Rebellion of 1798 was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen. First formed in Belfast by Presbyterians opposed to the landed Anglican establishment, the Society, despairing of reform, sought to secure a republic through a revolutionary union with the country's Catholic majority. The grievances of a rack-rented tenantry drove recruitment.

Wikipedia source

1798

South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed El Libertador ("The Liberator").

Venezuelan statesman and military officer (1783–1830)

Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios Ponte y Blanco was a Venezuelan military officer and statesman who led what are currently the countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela to independence from the Spanish Empire. He is known colloquially as El Libertador, "the Liberator," of America.

Wikipedia source

1813

Battle of Pichincha: Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito.

Battle of the Ecuadorian War of Independence

The Battle of Pichincha took place on 24 May 1822, on the slopes of the Pichincha volcano, 3,500 meters above sea-level, right next to the city of Quito, in modern Ecuador.

Wikipedia source

1822

The First Kingdom of Greece is declared in the London Conference.

Period of Greek statehood from 1832 to 1923 and 1935 to 1973

The Kingdom of Greece was the Greek state established in 1832 by the Treaty of Constantinople, which formally recognised Greece as an independent state and established it as a monarchy, following the Greek War of Independence.

Wikipedia source

1832

Samuel Morse sends the message "What hath God wrought" (a biblical quotation, Numbers 23:23) from a committee room in the United States Capitol to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore, Maryland, to inaugurate a commercial telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington D.C.

American inventor and painter (1791–1872)

Samuel Finley Breese Morse was an American inventor and painter. After establishing his reputation as a portrait painter, Morse, in his middle age, contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs. He was a co-developer and the namesake of Morse code in 1837 and helped to develop the commercial use of telegraphy.

Wikipedia source

1844

John Brown and his men kill five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.

American abolitionist (1800–1859)

John Brown was an American abolitionist in the decades preceding the American Civil War. An evangelical Christian of strong religious convictions, Brown was profoundly influenced by the Puritan faith of his upbringing. He believed that he was "an instrument of God", raised to strike the "death blow" to slavery in the United States, a "sacred obligation". Brown was the leading exponent of violence in the American abolitionist movement, believing it was necessary to end slavery after decades of peaceful efforts had failed.

Wikipedia source

1856

American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia, with Colonel Elmer E.

Ellsworth becoming the first Union officer to be killed during the war.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States. The South saw slavery as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war ended with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

Wikipedia source

1861

Patrick Francis Healy becomes the first black president of a predominantly white university in the United States.

American Jesuit educator (1834–1910)

Patrick Francis Healy was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit who was an influential president of Georgetown University, becoming known as its "second founder". The university's flagship building, Healy Hall, bears his name. Though he considered himself and was widely accepted as White, Healy was posthumously recognized as the first Black American to earn a PhD, as well as the first to enter the Jesuit order and to become the president of a predominantly White university.

Wikipedia source

1873

The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.

Bridge in New York City

The Brooklyn Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It was also the longest suspension bridge in the world when opened, with a main span of 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m) and a deck 127 ft (38.7 m) above mean high water. The span was originally called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge or the East River Bridge but was officially renamed the Brooklyn Bridge in 1915.

Wikipedia source

1883

Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.

1899–1902 war in South Africa

The Second Boer War was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the Boer republics over Britain's influence in Southern Africa.

Wikipedia source

1900

Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight).

British aviator (1903–1941)

Amy Johnson was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia.

Wikipedia source

1930

The first night game in Major League Baseball history is played in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the Cincinnati Reds beating the Philadelphia Phillies 2–1 at Crosley Field.

Sporting event which takes place after the local sunset

A night game, also called a nighter, is a sporting event that takes place, completely or partially, after the local sunset. Depending on the sport, this can either be done under low-light conditions or with the use of floodlights. The term "night game" is typically used only in reference to sports traditionally held outdoors; although indoor sporting events often take place after local sunset, these events are artificially lighted regardless of the time of day they take place.

Wikipedia source

1935

Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.

Russian-American aviation pioneer (1889–1972)

Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was a Russian-American aviation pioneer in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. His first success came with the Sikorsky S-2, the second aircraft of his design and construction. His fifth airplane, the S-5, won him national recognition in Russia and secured F.A.I. pilot's license number 64. His S-6-A received the highest award at the 1912 Moscow Aviation Exhibition, and in the fall of that year the aircraft won first prize for its young designer, builder and pilot in the military competition at Saint Petersburg. In 1913, the Sikorsky-designed Russky Vityaz (S-21) became the first successful four-engine aircraft to take flight. He also designed and built the Ilya Muromets family of four-engine aircraft, an airliner which he redesigned to be the world's first four-engine bomber when World War I broke out.

Wikipedia source

1940

Acting on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, NKVD agent Iosif Grigulevich orchestrates an unsuccessful assassination attempt on exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky in Coyoacán, Mexico.

Country in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991

The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from its formation in 1922 until its dissolution in 1991. It was the world's third-most populous country, the largest by area, and bordered twelve other countries. A diverse multinational state, it was organized as a federal union of national republics, with the largest and most populous being the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (SFSR). The world's flagship communist state, it was governed by the Communist Party under Marxism–Leninism, through soviet councils. The Soviet economy was also centrally planned. Its capital and largest city was Moscow.

Wikipedia source

1940

World War II: Battle of the Atlantic: In the Battle of the Denmark Strait, the German battleship Bismarck sinks the pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood, killing all but three crewmen.

Global conflict (1939–1945)

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many engaging in total war on an unprecedented scale. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the deaths of 60 to 75 million people, a majority of whom were civilians. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

Wikipedia source

1941

Börse Berlin building burns down after being hit in an air raid during World War II.

Stock exchange located in Berlin, Germany

Börse Berlin AG, also known as the Berlin Stock Exchange, is a stock exchange based in Berlin, Germany, in the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough. Founded in 1685 by an edict of Elector Friedrich Wilhelm, it is one of the oldest stock exchanges in Germany.

Wikipedia source

1944

Congress of Përmet occurs which establishes a provisional government in Albania in areas under partisan control, the first independent Albanian government since 1939.

In honor of this the national emblem of Albania inscribed this date from 1946 until 1992.

The Congress of Përmet was a meeting of 188 delegates from the Albanian Communist Party, the National Liberation Movement, and the Brigades convened on May 24, 1944, in Përmet, Albania. The presidency of the General National Liberation Council called for the congress after a series of military victories by the pro-Albanian forces had severely weakened the Nazi military presence in the country and gained back large amounts of Albanian territory, thereby making a pro-Albanian victory seem almost certain. The delegates discussed aims of their country's liberation war as well as broader political concerns, especially the need for a transition to postwar governance that would be as smooth as possible. They also elected a provisional government. The majority of delegates came from Southern and Central Albania: 25 from Korça, 48 from Vlora-Gjirokastra, 15 from Berat, 8 from Elbasan, 10 from Tirana, 3 from Peza, and 2 from Durrës.

Wikipedia source

1944

Arab–Israeli War: Egypt captures the Israeli kibbutz of Yad Mordechai, but the five-day effort gives Israeli forces time to prepare enough to stop the Egyptian advance a week later.

Second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war

The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war became a war of separate states with the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948, the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight, and the entry of a military coalition of Arab states into the territory of Mandatory Palestine the following morning. The war formally ended with the 1949 Armistice Agreements which established the Green Line.

Wikipedia source

1948

The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland.

Annual international song competition

The Eurovision Song Contest, often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an original song representing its country to be performed live via the Eurovision and Euroradio networks, and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine a winner.

Wikipedia source

1956

United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.

American international news agency

United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th century until its eventual decline beginning in the early 1980s. At its peak, it had more than 6,000 media subscribers. Since the first of several sales and staff cutbacks in 1982, and the 1999 sale of its broadcast client list to its main U.S. rival, the Associated Press, UPI has concentrated on smaller information-market niches.

Wikipedia source

1958

Following the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, the largest ever recorded earthquake, Cordón Caulle begins to erupt.

9.4–9.6 magnitude earthquake in Chile

The 1960 Valdivia earthquake and tsunami or the Great Chilean earthquake occurred on 22 May 1960. Most studies have placed it at 9.4–9.6 on the moment magnitude scale, making it the strongest earthquake ever recorded, while some studies have placed the magnitude lower than 9.4. It occurred in the afternoon, and lasted 10 minutes. The resulting tsunamis affected southern Chile, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, eastern New Zealand, southeast Australia, and the Aleutian Islands.

Wikipedia source

1960

Project Mercury: American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.

Initial American crewed spaceflight program (1958–1963)

Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Union. Taken over from the US Air Force by the newly created civilian space agency NASA, it conducted 20 uncrewed developmental flights, and six successful flights by astronauts. The program, which took its name from Roman mythology, cost $2.83 billion. The astronauts were collectively known as the "Mercury Seven", and each spacecraft was given a name ending with a "7" by its pilot.

Wikipedia source

1962

Egypt imposes a blockade and siege of the Red Sea coast of Israel.

Country in North Africa

Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Palestine and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan and the Sahara to the south, and Libya to the west. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northeast separates Egypt from Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Cairo is the capital, largest city, and leading cultural centre, while Alexandria is the second-largest city and an important hub of industry and tourism. With over 107 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in the Arab world, third-most populous country in Africa, and 15th-most populated in the world.

Wikipedia source

1967

Belle de Jour, directed by Luis Buñuel, is released.

1967 film by Luis Buñuel

Belle de Jour is a 1967 surrealist erotic psychological drama film directed by Luis Buñuel, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jean-Claude Carrière. Based on the 1928 novel of the same name by Joseph Kessel, the film stars Catherine Deneuve in the leading role as Séverine, a young housewife who spends her midweek afternoons as a high-class prostitute, while her husband is at work. It co-stars Jean Sorel, and Michel Piccoli, and features Geneviève Page, Francisco Rabal, Pierre Clémenti, Francis Blanche and Georges Marchal in supporting roles.

Wikipedia source

1967

The Judgment of Paris takes place in France, launching California as a worldwide force in the production of quality wine.

1976 wine competition in Paris

The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, also known as the Judgment of Paris, was a wine competition to commemorate the United States Bicentennial, organized in Paris, France, on 24 May 1976. In the competition, French oenophiles participated in two blind tasting comparisons: one of top-quality Chardonnays and another of red wines. A wine from Napa County, California was rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world's best wines.

Wikipedia source

1976

Ecuadorian president Jaime Roldós Aguilera, his wife, and his presidential committee die in an aircraft accident while travelling from Quito to Zapotillo minutes after the president gave a famous speech regarding the 24 de mayo anniversary of the Battle of Pichincha.

33rd President of Ecuador (1979–1981)

Jaime Roldós Aguilera was an Ecuadorian politician who was the 33rd President of Ecuador from August 10, 1979 until his death on May 24, 1981. In his short tenure, he became known for his firm stance on human rights, which led to clashes with other Latin American governments and poor relations with Ronald Reagan's United States administration.

Wikipedia source

1981

Liberation of Khorramshahr: Iranians recapture the port city of Khorramshahr from the Iraqis during the Iran–Iraq War.

Second battle of the Iran–Iraq War

The Second Battle of Khorramshahr, also known in Iran as the Liberation of Khorramshahr was the Iranian recapture of the city of Khorramshahr on 24 May 1982, during the Iran–Iraq War. The city had been captured by the Iraqis earlier in the war, on 26 October 1980, shortly after the Iraqi invasion of Iran. The successful retaking of the city was part of Iran's Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas. It is perceived as a turning point in the war; and the liberation of the city is annually celebrated in Iran on 24 May.

Wikipedia source

1982

Section 28 of the United Kingdom's Local Government Act 1988, a controversial amendment stating that a local authority cannot intentionally promote homosexuality, is enacted.

Former British anti-homosexuality law

Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 provided that local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales should "not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship". While the bill was in progress, the relevant portion was Clause 28. The prohibition was technically effected by Section 2A of the Local Government Act 1986; all Section 28 of the 1988 act did was to insert Section 2A into the earlier act. When repeal of the provision was discussed in Scotland in 2000, it was often "Section 2A" rather than "Section 28" that was referenced.

Wikipedia source

1988

Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

Country in West Asia

Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. It is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the southwest. Israel's western coast lies on the Mediterranean Sea, its southern tip reaches the Red Sea, and to the east is Earth's lowest point near the Dead Sea. Jerusalem is the government seat and proclaimed capital, while Tel Aviv is Israel's largest urban area and economic centre.

Wikipedia source

1991

The last Thai dictator, General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigns following pro-democracy protests.

Country in Southeast Asia

Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand, and formerly known as Siam, is a country located in Mainland Southeast Asia. It shares land borders with Myanmar to the west and northwest, Laos to the east and northeast, Cambodia to the southeast, and Malaysia to the south. Its maritime boundaries include the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea and shares maritime borders with Vietnam, Indonesia, and India. Thailand has a population of nearly 66 million people and covers an area of approximately 513,115 km2. The capital and largest city is Bangkok.

Wikipedia source

1992

The ethnic cleansing in Kozarac, Bosnia and Herzegovina begins when Serbian militia and police forces enter the town.

Place in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Kozarac is a town in north-western Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, located near the city of Prijedor. It is located 45 kilometres (28 mi) west of Banja Luka. Kozarac is also famous because of the Kozara National Park.

Wikipedia source

1992

Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia.

Country in the Horn of Africa

Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. Its capital and largest city is Asmara. The country is bordered by Ethiopia to the south, Sudan to the west, and Djibouti to the southeast. The northeastern and eastern parts of Eritrea have an extensive coastline along the Red Sea. The country has a total area of approximately 117,600 km2 (45,406 sq mi), and includes the Dahlak Archipelago and several of the Hanish Islands.

Wikipedia source

1993

Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo and five other people are assassinated in a shootout at Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport in Mexico.

Mexican Catholic bishop (1926–1993)

Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo was an archbishop of the Catholic Church in Mexico who served as the eighth archbishop of the see of Guadalajara and as a cardinal of the Catholic Church.

Wikipedia source

1993

Four men are convicted of bombing the World Trade Center in New York in 1993; each one is sentenced to 240 years in prison.

Terrorist attack in the United States

On February 26, 1993, Ramzi Yousef and associates carried out a van bomb terrorist attack below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The approximately 1,500-pound (680 kg) urea nitrate–hydrogen gas enhanced device was intended to make the North Tower collapse onto the South Tower, taking down both skyscrapers and killing tens of thousands of people. While it failed to do so, it was successful in killing six people, and caused over a thousand injuries. About 50,000 people were evacuated from the buildings that day.

Wikipedia source

1994

While attempting to return to Leeds Bradford Airport in the United Kingdom, Knight Air Flight 816 crashes in Dunkeswick, North Yorkshire, killing all 12 people on board.

Airport in West Yorkshire, England

Leeds Bradford Airport is located in Yeadon, in the City of Leeds Metropolitan District in West Yorkshire, England, about 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Leeds city centre, and about 9 miles (14 km) northeast from Bradford city centre. It serves Leeds and Bradford and the wider Yorkshire region including York, Wakefield and Harrogate, and is the largest airport in Yorkshire. The airport was in public ownership until May 2007, when it was bought by Bridgepoint Capital for £145.5 million. Bridgepoint sold it in 2017 to AMP Capital. In December 2025, Spanish national airport company AENA acquired a majority stake in the airport.

Wikipedia source

1995

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands indicts Slobodan Milošević and four others for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo.

1993–2017 Netherlands-based United Nations ad hoc court

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was an ad hoc court of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal was located in The Hague, Netherlands and operated between 1993 and 2017.

Wikipedia source

1999

Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.

Geographic region of Lebanon

Southern Lebanon is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The term may also comprise Rashaya and Western Beqaa districts, the southernmost districts of the Beqaa Governorate.

Wikipedia source

2000

Russia and the United States sign the Moscow Treaty.

2002 nuclear disarmament treaty between the U.S. and Russia

The Treaty Between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive Reductions (SORT), also known as the Treaty of Moscow, was a strategic arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia that was in force from June 2003 until February 2011 when it was superseded by the New START treaty.

Wikipedia source

2002

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake occurs in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey, injuring 324 people.

6.9 magnitude earthquake centered in the Aegean Sea

An earthquake occurred in the northern Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey on May 24, 2014. It had a moment magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Serious damage was reported on the Turkish island of Imbros and the cities of Edirne and Çanakkale, as well as on the Greek island of Lemnos. The earthquake was felt in Bulgaria and southern Romania. Several aftershocks followed the main shock, the strongest measuring 5.3 ML. This aftershock struck the Gulf of Saros at 12:31 local time.

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2014

At least three people are killed in a shooting at Brussels' Jewish Museum of Belgium.

2014 terrorist attack in Brussels, Belgium

On the afternoon of 24 May 2014, a gunman opened fire at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels, killing four people in an antisemitic Islamist terrorist attack. Three of them, an Israeli couple on holiday and a French woman, died at the scene. The fourth victim, a Belgian employee of the museum, later died of his injuries in hospital. Six days after the attack, on 30 May 2014, Mehdi Nemmouche, a 29-year-old French national of Algerian origin, was arrested during a routine drugs check in Marseille, France, when he was found to be carrying weapons identical to those used in the shooting. A second suspect, Nacer Bendrer, was later identified and arrested.

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2014

Twenty-two students die in a fire in Surat (India).

2019 electrical fire in a commercial complex in Surat, Gujarat, India

On 24 May 2019, a fire occurred at a commercial complex in Sarthana Jakatnaka area of Surat in the Gujarat state of India. Twenty-two students died and 19 others were injured in an academic coaching centre located on the building's terrace. The fire was started by a short circuit on the ground floor; the students in the coaching centre were trapped by the destruction of a wooden staircase. Three people were arrested for their alleged involvement or their alleged negligence leading to the fire and the deaths.

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2019

Under pressure over her handling of Brexit, British Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation as Leader of the Conservative Party, effective as of June 7.

Withdrawal of the UK from the EU

Brexit was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU).

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2019

A mass shooting occurs at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, United States, resulting in the deaths of 21 people, including 19 children.

2022 mass shooting in Texas, U.S.

On May 24, 2022, a mass shooting occurred at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, United States. Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old former student of the school, fatally shot 19 students and 2 teachers, while injuring 18 others. Ramos was killed 77 minutes after entering the classroom by law enforcement officers.

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2022

A suicide bombing targeting a shuttle train in Quetta, Balochistan, killed at least 48 people and injured 98 others.

Train bombing in Quetta, Pakistan

On 24 May 2026, a vehicle-borne suicide bombing targeted a shuttle train near Chaman Phatak in Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan. The explosion killed at least 47 people and injured 98 others.

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2026

May 24 in History

1961 — American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus

More major events on May 24

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