On this day: July 24

Events on July 24

• 1148 Louis VII of France lays siege to Damascus during the Second Crusade. Wikipedia
• 1411 Scottish clansmen led by Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles, and Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar, fought the Battle of Harlaw near Inverurie, Scotland. Wikipedia
• 1487 Citizens of Leeuwarden, Netherlands, strike against a ban on foreign beer. Wikipedia
• 1567 Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son, who became James VI. Wikipedia
• 1847 Brigham Young led the first group of Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley of Utah, at the time a part of Mexico. Wikipedia
• 1866 Reconstruction: Tennessee becomes the first U.S. state to be readmitted to Congress following the American Civil War. Wikipedia
• 1910 Ottoman forces captured the city of Shkodër, ending the Albanian revolt of 1910. Wikipedia
• 1911 Hiram Bingham III re-discovers Machu Picchu, "the Lost City of the Incas". Wikipedia
• 1920 Franco-Syrian War: At the Battle of Maysalun, forces of the Arab Kingdom of Syria were defeated by a French army moving to occupy the territory allocated to them by the San Remo conference. Wikipedia
• 1922 The draft of the British Mandate of Palestine is formally confirmed by the Council of the League of Nations; it came into effect on 26 September 1923. Wikipedia
• 1923 The Treaty of Lausanne was signed to settle part of the partition of the Ottoman Empire, establishing the boundaries of Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey. Wikipedia
• 1929 The Kellogg–Briand Pact, renouncing war as an instrument of foreign policy, goes into effect (it is first signed in Paris on August 27, 1928, by most leading world powers). Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: Operation Gomorrah begins: British and Canadian aeroplanes bomb Hamburg by night, and American planes bomb the city by day. By the end of the operation in November, 9,000 tons of explosives will have killed more than 30,000 people and destroyed 280,000 buildings. Wikipedia
• 1948 Australia set a world record for the highest successful run-chase in Test cricket history during the Fourth Test of the Ashes series against England. Wikipedia
• 1959 Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev and U.S. vice president Richard Nixon held an impromptu debate at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow. Wikipedia
• 1967 During a speech in Montreal, French president Charles de Gaulle declared "Long live free Quebec!", a statement that was interpreted as support for Quebec independence from Canada. Wikipedia
• 1969 Apollo program: Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean. Wikipedia
• 1974 The Metapolitefsi period began with Konstantinos Karamanlis taking office as Prime Minister of Greece after the collapse of the military junta. Wikipedia
• 1977 End of a four-day-long Libyan–Egyptian War. Wikipedia
• 1980 The Australian swimming team, nicknamed the Quietly Confident Quartet, won the men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay at the Moscow Olympics, the only time that the United States, which boycotted the games, has not won the event at the Olympics. Wikipedia
• 1987 Iran–Iraq War: In opposition to the American plan to protect Kuwaiti tankers, Iran laid mines and damaged the SS Bridgeton, resulting in a propaganda victory for Iran. Wikipedia
• 1998 A gunman entered the United States Capitol and opened fire, killing two police officers. Wikipedia
• 2013 Santiago de Compostela derailment: A high-speed train derails in Spain rounding a curve with an 80 km/h (50 mph) speed limit at 190 km/h (120 mph), killing 78 passengers. Wikipedia
• 2014 Air Algérie Flight 5017 disappeared from radar shortly after take-off from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; its wreckage was found the following day in Mali with no survivors. Wikipedia
• 2019 Boris Johnson became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after winning the Conservative Party leadership election. Wikipedia
• 2025 Angara Airlines Flight 2311 crashes on approach to Tynda Airport, killing all 48 people on board. Wikipedia

Born on July 24

• 1783 Simón Bolívar, Venezuelan commander and politician, second President of Venezuela, and liberation leader for much of South America (died 1830) Wikipedia
• 1802 Alexandre Dumas, French novelist and playwright (died 1870) Wikipedia
• 1803 Adolphe Adam, French composer and critic (died 1856) Wikipedia
• 1857 Henrik Pontoppidan, Danish journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1943) Wikipedia
• 1860 Alphonse Mucha, Czech painter and illustrator (died 1939) Wikipedia
• 1864 Frank Wedekind, German actor and playwright (died 1918) Wikipedia
• 1895 Robert Graves, English poet, novelist, critic (died 1985) Wikipedia
• 1897 Amelia Earhart, American pilot and author (died 1937) Wikipedia
• 1900 Zelda Fitzgerald, American author, visual artist and ballet dancer (died 1948) Wikipedia
• 1946 Gallagher, American comedian and actor (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1949 Michael Richards, American actor and comedian Wikipedia
• 1952 Gus Van Sant, American director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1963 Karl Malone, American basketball player and coach Wikipedia
• 1964 Pedro Passos Coelho, Portuguese economist and politician, 118th Prime Minister of Portugal Wikipedia
• 1968 Kristin Chenoweth, American actress and singer Wikipedia
• 1969 Jennifer Lopez, American actress, singer, and dancer Wikipedia
• 1979 Rose Byrne, Australian actress Wikipedia
• 1981 Nayib Bukele, Salvadoran politician, 81st President of El Salvador Wikipedia
• 1981 Summer Glau, American actress Wikipedia
• 1982 Anna Paquin, Canadian-New Zealand actress Wikipedia
• 1982 Elisabeth Moss, American actress Wikipedia
• 1983 Daniele De Rossi, Italian footballer and manager Wikipedia

Died on July 24

• 1115 Matilda of Tuscany (born 1046) Wikipedia
• 1862 Martin Van Buren, American lawyer and politician, eighth President of the United States (born 1782) Wikipedia
• 1910 Arkhip Kuindzhi, Ukrainian-Russian painter (born 1841) Wikipedia
• 1927 Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Japanese author (born 1892) Wikipedia
• 1957 Sacha Guitry, French actor and director (born 1885) Wikipedia
• 1969 Witold Gombrowicz, Polish author and playwright (born 1904) Wikipedia
• 1974 James Chadwick, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1891) Wikipedia
• 1980 Peter Sellers, English actor and comedian (born 1925) Wikipedia
• 1986 Fritz Albert Lipmann, German-American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1899) Wikipedia
• 1991 Isaac Bashevis Singer, Polish-American novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1902) Wikipedia
• 2007 Albert Ellis, American psychologist and author (born 1913) Wikipedia
• 2012 John Atta Mills, Ghanaian lawyer and politician, President of Ghana (born 1944) Wikipedia
• 2022 David Warner, English actor (born 1941) Wikipedia
• 2025 Hulk Hogan, American professional wrestler and actor (born 1953) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Carnival of Awussu (Tunisia) Wikipedia
• Children's Day (Vanuatu) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Charbel (Maronite Church/Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Christina the Astonishing Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Christina of Bolsena Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Declán of Ardmore Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Euphrasia of Constantinople Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: John Boste Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Kinga (or Cunegunda) of Poland Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Menefrida of Cornwall Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Mercè Prat i Prat Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Sigolena of Albi Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: July 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Pioneer Day (Utah) Wikipedia
• Police Day (Poland) Wikipedia
• Simón Bolívar Day (Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, and Bolivia) Navy Day (Venezuela) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “July 24” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/July 24” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “July 24” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for July 24 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.