On this day: June 24

Events on June 24

• 109 Roman emperor Trajan inaugurates the Aqua Traiana, an aqueduct that channels water from Lake Bracciano, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Rome. Wikipedia
• 474 Western Roman emperor Glycerius, who was not recognized by his Eastern counterpart Leo I, was forced to abdicate. Wikipedia
• 1497 John Cabot lands in North America at Newfoundland leading the first European exploration of the region since the Vikings. Wikipedia
• 1571 Miguel López de Legazpi conquers Manila for Spain, modern day capital of the Philippines. Wikipedia
• 1622 Battle of Macau: The Dutch make a failed attempt to capture Macau. Wikipedia
• 1724 On the Feast of St. John the Baptist, Bach led the first performance of Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BWV 7, the third cantata of his chorale cantata cycle. Wikipedia
• 1724 On the Feast of St. John the Baptist, Bach leads the first performance of his Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BWV 7, the third cantata of his chorale cantata cycle. Wikipedia
• 1812 Napoleonic Wars: Led by Napoleon, the French Grande Armée crossed the Neman, beginning their invasion of Russia. Wikipedia
• 1821 Battle of Carabobo: Decisive battle in the war of independence of Venezuela from Spain. Wikipedia
• 1859 Battle of Solferino (Battle of the Three Sovereigns): Sardinia and France defeat Austria in Solferino, northern Italy. Wikipedia
• 1880 "O Canada", the present-day national anthem of Canada, was first performed in Quebec City during a Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day banquet. Wikipedia
• 1913 Greece and Serbia annul their alliance with Bulgaria. Wikipedia
• 1918 First airmail service in Canada from Montreal to Toronto. Wikipedia
• 1932 A bloodless revolution instigated by the People's Party ends the absolute power of King Prajadhipok of Siam (now Thailand). Wikipedia
• 1940 Second World War: The British Army carried out Operation Collar, its first commando raid into German-occupied France. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: Operation Collar, the first British Commando raid on occupied France, by No 11 Independent Company. Wikipedia
• 1945 The first Victory Day Parade takes place on Red Square in Moscow, Soviet Union, symbolizing the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany. Wikipedia
• 1947 Kenneth Arnold makes the first widely reported UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington. Wikipedia
• 1948 Cold War: Start of the Berlin Blockade: The Soviet Union makes overland travel between West Germany and West Berlin impossible. Wikipedia
• 1950 Apartheid: In South Africa, the Group Areas Act is passed, formally segregating races. Wikipedia
• 1960 Venezuelan President Rómulo Betancourt is injured in an assassination attempt. Wikipedia
• 1995 Rugby World Cup: South Africa defeats New Zealand and Nelson Mandela presents Francois Pienaar with the Webb Ellis Cup in an iconic post-apartheid moment. Wikipedia
• 2002 The Igandu train disaster in Tanzania kills 281, the worst train accident in African history. Wikipedia
• 2004 In New York, capital punishment is declared unconstitutional. Wikipedia
• 2013 Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is found guilty of abusing his power and engaging in sex with an underage prostitute, and is sentenced to seven years in prison. Wikipedia
• 2022 In Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the U.S. Constitution does not assign the authority to regulate abortions to the federal government, thereby returning such authority to the individual states. This overturns the prior decisions in Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). Wikipedia

Born on June 24

• 1838 Jan Matejko, Polish painter (died 1893) Wikipedia
• 1842 Ambrose Bierce, American short story writer, essayist, and journalist (died 1914) Wikipedia
• 1850 Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, Irish field marshal and politician, Governor-General of Sudan (died 1916) Wikipedia
• 1883 Victor Francis Hess, Austrian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1964) Wikipedia
• 1893 Roy O. Disney, American businessman, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (died 1971) Wikipedia
• 1911 Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentine race car driver (died 1995) Wikipedia
• 1911 Ernesto Sabato, Argentine physicist and academic (died 2011) Wikipedia
• 1915 Fred Hoyle, English astronomer and author (died 2001) Wikipedia
• 1927 Martin Lewis Perl, American physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2014) Wikipedia
• 1930 Claude Chabrol, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2010) Wikipedia
• 1937 Anita Desai, Indian-American author and academic Wikipedia
• 1938 Abulfaz Elchibey, Azerbaijani politician, 1st democratically elected Azerbaijani President (died 2000) Wikipedia
• 1941 Julia Kristeva, Bulgarian-French psychoanalyst and author Wikipedia
• 1944 Jeff Beck, English guitarist and songwriter (died 2023) Wikipedia
• 1953 William E. Moerner, American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1962 Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexican politician Wikipedia
• 1978 Shunsuke Nakamura, Japanese footballer Wikipedia
• 1978 Juan Román Riquelme, Argentine footballer and chairman Wikipedia
• 1979 Mindy Kaling, American actress and producer Wikipedia
• 1987 Lionel Messi, Argentine footballer Wikipedia
• 1992 David Alaba, Austrian footballer Wikipedia
• 1999 Darwin Núñez, Uruguayan footballer Wikipedia

Died on June 24

• 1398 Hongwu, Chinese emperor (born 1328) Wikipedia
• 1519 Lucrezia Borgia, Italian wife of Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (born 1480) Wikipedia
• 1908 Grover Cleveland, American lawyer and politician, 22nd and 24th President of the United States (born 1837) Wikipedia
• 1922 Walther Rathenau, German businessman and politician, 7th German Minister for Foreign Affairs (born 1867) Wikipedia
• 1923 Edith Södergran, Swedish-Finnish poet (born 1892) Wikipedia
• 1931 Xiang Zhongfa, Chinese politician, 2nd General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (born 1880) Wikipedia
• 1935 Carlos Gardel, French-Argentine singer, composer and actor (born 1890) Wikipedia
• 1980 V. V. Giri, Indian lawyer and politician, 4th President of India (born 1894) Wikipedia
• 1987 Jackie Gleason, American actor, comedian, and producer (born 1916) Wikipedia
• 2007 Chris Benoit, Canadian wrestler (born 1967) Wikipedia
• 2009 Roméo LeBlanc, Canadian journalist and politician, 25th Governor General of Canada (born 1927) Wikipedia
• 2013 Emilio Colombo, Italian politician, 40th Prime Minister of Italy (born 1920) Wikipedia
• 2014 Eli Wallach, American actor (born 1915) Wikipedia
• 2021 Benigno Aquino III, 15th President of the Philippines (born 1960) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Army Day or Battle of Carabobo Day (Venezuela) Wikipedia
• Bannockburn Day (Scotland) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Gohard Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Joseph Yuan Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: María Guadalupe García Zavala Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Nativity of Saint John the Baptist Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Rumbold of Mechlin Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: June 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Day of the Caboclo (Amazonas, Brazil) Wikipedia
• Inti Raymi, a winter solstice festival and a New Year in the Andes of the Southern Hemisphere (Sacsayhuamán) Wikipedia
• St John's Day and the second day of the Midsummer celebrations (although this is not the astronomical summer solstice, see June 20) (Roman Catholic Church, Europe), and its related observances: Enyovden (Bulgaria) Wikipedia
• St John's Day and the second day of the Midsummer celebrations (although this is not the astronomical summer solstice, see June 20) (Roman Catholic Church, Europe), and its related observances: Catalan Countries National Day (Andorra, Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Northern Catalonia, Valencia) Wikipedia
• St John's Day and the second day of the Midsummer celebrations (although this is not the astronomical summer solstice, see June 20) (Roman Catholic Church, Europe), and its related observances: Jaanipäev (Estonia) Wikipedia
• St John's Day and the second day of the Midsummer celebrations (although this is not the astronomical summer solstice, see June 20) (Roman Catholic Church, Europe), and its related observances: Jāņi (Latvia) Wikipedia
• St John's Day and the second day of the Midsummer celebrations (although this is not the astronomical summer solstice, see June 20) (Roman Catholic Church, Europe), and its related observances: Jónsmessa (Iceland) Wikipedia
• St John's Day and the second day of the Midsummer celebrations (although this is not the astronomical summer solstice, see June 20) (Roman Catholic Church, Europe), and its related observances: Midsummer Day (England) Wikipedia
• St John's Day and the second day of the Midsummer celebrations (although this is not the astronomical summer solstice, see June 20) (Roman Catholic Church, Europe), and its related observances: Saint Jonas' Festival or Joninės (Lithuania) Wikipedia
• St John's Day and the second day of the Midsummer celebrations (although this is not the astronomical summer solstice, see June 20) (Roman Catholic Church, Europe), and its related observances: Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (Quebec) Wikipedia
• St John's Day and the second day of the Midsummer celebrations (although this is not the astronomical summer solstice, see June 20) (Roman Catholic Church, Europe), and its related observances: Sânziene (western Carpathian Mountains of Romania) Wikipedia
• St John's Day and the second day of the Midsummer celebrations (although this is not the astronomical summer solstice, see June 20) (Roman Catholic Church, Europe), and its related observances: Wattah Wattah Festival (Philippines) Wikipedia
• Fors Fortuna, ancient Roman festival to Fortuna Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “June 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.