On this day: July 24

Events on July 24

• 1487 Citizens of Leeuwarden, Netherlands, strike against a ban on foreign beer. Wikipedia
• 1534 French explorer Jacques Cartier plants a cross on the Gaspé Peninsula and takes possession of the territory in the name of Francis I of France. Wikipedia
• 1701 Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founds the trading post at Fort Pontchartrain, which later becomes the city of Detroit. 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
• 1847 After 17 months of travel, Brigham Young leads 148 Mormon pioneers into Salt Lake Valley, resulting in the establishment of Salt Lake City. Wikipedia
• 1864 American Civil War: Battle of Kernstown: Confederate General Jubal Early defeats Union troops led by General George Crook in an effort to keep them out of the Shenandoah Valley. Wikipedia
• 1866 Reconstruction: Tennessee becomes the first U.S. state to be readmitted to Congress following the American Civil War. Wikipedia
• 1901 O. Henry is released from prison in Columbus, Ohio, after serving three years for embezzlement from a bank. Wikipedia
• 1910 Ottoman forces captured the city of Shkodër, ending the Albanian revolt of 1910. Wikipedia
• 1910 The Ottoman Empire captures the city of Shkodër, putting down the Albanian Revolt of 1910. Wikipedia
• 1911 Hiram Bingham III re-discovers Machu Picchu, "the Lost City of the Incas". Wikipedia
• 1915 The passenger ship SS Eastland capsizes while tied to a dock in the Chicago River. A total of 844 passengers and crew are killed in the largest loss of life disaster from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes. Wikipedia
• 1923 The Treaty of Lausanne, settling the boundaries of modern Turkey, is signed in Switzerland by Greece, Bulgaria and other countries that fought in World War I. Wikipedia
• 1935 The Dust Bowl heat wave reaches its peak, sending temperatures to 109 °F (43 °C) in Chicago and 104 °F (40 °C) in Milwaukee. 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
• 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
• 1959 At the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, U.S. vice president Richard Nixon and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev have a "Kitchen Debate". 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
• 1967 During an official state visit to Canada, French President Charles de Gaulle declares to a crowd of over 100,000 in Montreal: Vive le Québec libre! ("Long live free Quebec!"); the statement angered the Canadian government and many Anglophone Canadians. Wikipedia
• 1974 Watergate scandal: The United States Supreme Court unanimously rules that President Richard Nixon does not have the authority to withhold subpoenaed White House tapes and they order him to surrender the tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor. Wikipedia
• 1983 The Black July anti-Tamil riots begin in Sri Lanka, killing between 400 and 3,000. Black July is generally regarded as the beginning of the Sri Lankan Civil War. Wikipedia
• 2014 Air Algérie Flight 5017 loses contact with air traffic controllers 50 minutes after takeoff. It was travelling between Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and Algiers. The wreckage is later found in Mali. All 116 people on board are killed. 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
• 2019 Boris Johnson becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after defeating Jeremy Hunt in a leadership contest, succeeding Theresa May. Wikipedia
• 2024 A Saurya Airlines Bombardier CRJ200 crashes during takeoff from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, killing 18. Wikipedia

Born on July 24

• 1689 Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, son of Queen Anne of Great Britain and Prince George of Denmark (died 1700) Wikipedia
• 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
• 1909 John William Finn, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (died 2010) 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
• 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
• 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

• 759 Oswulf, king of Northumbria Wikipedia
• 1862 Martin Van Buren, American lawyer and politician, eighth President of the United States (born 1782) 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
• 2010 Alex Higgins, Northern Irish snooker player (born 1949) Wikipedia
• 2012 Robert Ledley, American physiologist and physicist, invented the CT scanner (born 1926) Wikipedia
• 2012 John Atta Mills, Ghanaian lawyer and politician, President of Ghana (born 1944) Wikipedia
• 2023 George Alagiah, BBC News journalist and broadcaster (born 1955) 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

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 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.