On this day: October 24

Events on October 24

• 69 In the Second Battle of Bedriacum, troops loyal to Vespasian defeat those of Emperor Vitellius. Wikipedia
• 1641 Felim O'Neill of Kinard, the leader of the Irish Rebellion, issues his Proclamation of Dungannon, justifying the uprising and declaring continued loyalty to King Charles I of England. Wikipedia
• 1648 The Peace of Westphalia is signed, marking the end of the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War. Wikipedia
• 1813 Treaty of Gulistan: The Russo-Persian War of 1804-1813 comes to a close with the signing of the Treaty of Gulistan, under which terms Qajar Iran agrees to cede the bulk of its Caucasian territories, which comprise much of modern Dagestan, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, to the Russian Empire. Wikipedia
• 1851 William Lassell discovers the moons Umbriel and Ariel orbiting Uranus. Wikipedia
• 1857 Sheffield F.C., the world's oldest association football club still in operation, is founded in England. Wikipedia
• 1860 Convention of Peking: The Second Opium War formally comes to a close, with Qing China ceding Kowloon in perpetuity to the victorious British Empire. Wikipedia
• 1876 Shinpūren rebellion: Upset at the Westernisation of Meiji Japan and the abolition of the Tokugawa feudal hierarchy, the Keishintō, a group of extremist Shinto former samurai, launch a surprise attack against the Meiji government in Kumamoto Prefecture. Wikipedia
• 1885 The Russian ship Dmitry ran aground in Whitby, an incident that inspired the arrival of Count Dracula to England in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel (cover pictured). Wikipedia
• 1894 First Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Jiuliancheng: Under the command of General Yamagata Aritomo, the Imperial Japanese Army covertly crosses the Yalu River into Qing territory and launches an assault on the fortifications at Hushan. Wikipedia
• 1911 Orville Wright remains in the air for nine minutes and 45 seconds in a glider at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. Wikipedia
• 1917 World War I: Italy suffers a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Caporetto on the Austro-Italian front. Wikipedia
• 1929 On "Black Thursday", the New York Stock Exchange lost 11 percent of its value at the opening bell on very heavy trading, marking the beginning of the Great Depression. Wikipedia
• 1929 "Black Thursday" on the New York Stock Exchange, the first day of the panic in the markets that contributes to the Great Depression. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: The Japanese battleship Musashi, one of the heaviest and most powerfully armed ever constructed, was sunk by American aircraft during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: Japan's center force is temporarily repulsed in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Wikipedia
• 1945 The Charter of the United Nations entered into force after being ratified by the five permanent members of the Security Council and a majority of the other signatories. Wikipedia
• 1945 The United Nations Charter comes into effect. Wikipedia
• 1947 Famed animator Walt Disney testifies before the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming Disney employees he believes to be communists. Wikipedia
• 1950 Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China: The People's Liberation Army ceases all military operations in Tibet, ending the Battle of Chamdo. Wikipedia
• 1954 US President Dwight D. Eisenhower pledges United States support to South Vietnam. Wikipedia
• 1960 Nedelin catastrophe: An R-16 ballistic missile explodes on the launch pad at the Soviet Union's Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility, killing over 100 people, including Field Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin. Wikipedia
• 2003 The inaugural Afro-Asian Games opened in Hyderabad, with 2,040 athletes from 96 nations competing. Wikipedia
• 2004 English football club Manchester United defeated rivals Arsenal 2–0 in the Battle of the Buffet, ending the latter's record-breaking unbeaten run. Wikipedia
• 2004 Arsenal Football Club loses to Manchester United, ending a row of unbeaten matches at 49 matches, which is the record in the Premier League. Wikipedia
• 2024 A 14 year old resident from Bosanska Krupa, Bosnia and Herzegovina initiated a terrorist attack on the local police station, killing one police officer and injuring another. Wikipedia

Born on October 24

• 51 Domitian, Roman emperor (died 96) Wikipedia
• 1632 Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch biologist and microbiologist (died 1723) Wikipedia
• 1804 Wilhelm Eduard Weber, German physicist and academic (died 1891) Wikipedia
• 1811 Georg August Wallin, Finnish explorer, orientalist, and professor (died 1852) Wikipedia
• 1855 James S. Sherman, American lawyer and politician, 27th Vice President of the United States (died 1912) Wikipedia
• 1887 Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Queen Consort of King Alfonso XIII of Spain (died 1969) Wikipedia
• 1891 Rafael Trujillo, Dominican soldier and politician, 36th President of the Dominican Republic (died 1961) Wikipedia
• 1903 Melvin Purvis, American FBI agent (died 1960) Wikipedia
• 1910 Gunter d'Alquen, German SS officer and journalist (died 1998) Wikipedia
• 1925 Ieng Sary, Vietnamese-Cambodian politician co-founded the Khmer Rouge (died 2013) Wikipedia
• 1932 Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2007) Wikipedia
• 1932 Robert Mundell, Canadian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2021) Wikipedia
• 1932 Stephen Covey, American author and educator (died 2012) Wikipedia
• 1939 F. Murray Abraham, American actor Wikipedia
• 1947 Kevin Kline, American actor and singer Wikipedia
• 1954 Malcolm Turnbull, Australian journalist and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Australia Wikipedia
• 1966 Roman Abramovich, Russian businessman and politician Wikipedia
• 1985 Wayne Rooney, English footballer Wikipedia
• 1986 Drake, Canadian rapper and actor Wikipedia
• 1989 PewDiePie, Swedish YouTuber Wikipedia
• 1990 İlkay Gündoğan, German footballer Wikipedia
• 1992 Ding Liren, Chinese chess grandmaster Wikipedia

Died on October 24

• 996 Hugh Capet, French king Wikipedia
• 1537 Jane Seymour, English queen and wife of Henry VIII (born c. 1508) Wikipedia
• 1601 Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer and alchemist (born 1546) Wikipedia
• 1655 Pierre Gassendi, French priest, astronomer, and mathematician (born 1592) Wikipedia
• 1824 Israel Bissell, American patriot post rider during American Revolutionary War (born 1752) Wikipedia
• 1852 Daniel Webster, American lawyer and politician, 14th United States Secretary of State (born 1782) Wikipedia
• 1944 Louis Renault, French engineer and businessman, co-founded the Renault Company (born 1877) Wikipedia
• 1945 Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian soldier and politician, Minister President of Norway (born 1887) Wikipedia
• 1960 Yevgeny Ostashev, the test pilot of rocket, participant in the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, Lenin Prize winner, Candidate of Technical Sciences (born 1924) Wikipedia
• 1991 Gene Roddenberry, American captain, screenwriter, and producer, created Star Trek (born 1921) Wikipedia
• 2005 Rosa Parks, American civil rights activist (born 1913) Wikipedia
• 2011 John McCarthy, American computer scientist and academic, developed the Lisp programming language (born 1927) Wikipedia
• 2015 Maureen O'Hara, Irish-American actress and singer (born 1920) Wikipedia
• 2017 Fats Domino, American pianist and singer-songwriter (born 1928) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Anthony Mary Claret Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Arethas of Najran Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Eberigisil (Evergitus) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Five Martyrs of Carthage (Felix and Companions) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Luigi Guanella Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Magloire of Dol Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Martin of Vertou Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Proclus of Constantinople Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Rafael Guízar y Valencia Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Senoch Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: October 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Food Day (United States) Wikipedia
• International Day of Diplomats Wikipedia
• United Nations Day, the anniversary of the 1945 Charter of the United Nations (International) Wikipedia
• World Development Information Day Wikipedia
• World Polio Day Wikipedia

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