THIS DAY IN HISTORY ― JULY 24

July 24 is the 205th day of the year (206th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 160 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Friday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Wednesday or Thursday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Monday or Saturday (56).

1148 ― Louis VII of France lays siege to Damascus during the Second Crusade.

1534 ― Jacques Cartier lands in Canada, claims it for France.


1567 ― Mary Queen of Scots is forced to abdicate; her 1-year-old son becomes King James VI of Scots.

1683 ― The first settlers from Germany leave aboard Concord, bound for the United States. ― germanheritage.com

1758 ― George Washington admitted to Virginia House of Burgess.

1824 ― Harrisburg, Pennsylvania newspaper publishes the results of the first public opinion poll, showing a clear lead for Andrew Jackson for president.

1866 ― Tennessee becomes the first former Confederate state to be readmitted to Union.

1878 ― Black Bart robs a Wells Fargo stagecoach in California. Wearing a flour sack over his head, the armed robber stole the small safe box with less than $400 and a passenger’s diamond ring and watch. When the empty box was recovered, a taunting poem signed “Black Bart” was found inside.

1905 ― Tsar Nicholas II (Russia) and Emperor Wilhelm II (Germany) sign the Treaty of Björkö, whereby each country agrees to come to the other's defense if attacked by European powers.


1911 - Hiram Bingham discovers Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas.

1914 At six o’clock in the evening on July 23, 1914, nearly one month after the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife by a young Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Baron Giesl von Gieslingen, ambassador of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to Serbia, delivers an ultimatum to the Serbian foreign ministry.


1927 ― The Menin Gate war memorial is unveiled at Ypres.

1931 ― A fire at a home for the elderly in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania kills 48 people. ― GenDisasters.com


1943 ― The British RAF bombs Hamburg (20,000 dead) during WWII.

1952 ― U.S. President Harry Truman settles the 53-day steel strike.


1959 ― U.S. Vice President Nixon argues with Khrushchev, known as the "Kitchen Debate".

1961 ― Beginning of a trend, Eastern Air Lines Flight 202, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, is hijacked to Cuba.

1969 ― Apollo 11 returns safely to Earth.

1974 ― The Supreme Court unanimously rules Nixon must turn over Watergate tapes. ― Watergate.info


1985 ― Gandhi signs peace contract with Sikh leader Harchand Singh Longowai.

1990 ― U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf are placed on alert after Iraq masses nearly 30,000 troops near its border with Kuwait.

2002 ― On the 200th anniversary of his birth French author Alexandre Dumas' ('The Three Musketeers') ashes are interred in the Panthéon in Paris in a televised ceremony.

2007 ― During the week ending on July 23, 2007, Honda Motor Company Ltd. produces its 6 millionth Civic in North America, according to an article in Automotive News.

2012 ― Four barrels containing 248 human fetuses are found in Sverdlovsk, Russia. ― TheBlaze

TODAY'S BIRTHS

1725 – John Newton, English sailor and priest, "Amazing Grace" (d. 1807)

1783 – Simón Bolívar, Venezuelan commander and politician, 2nd President of Venezuela (d. 1830)

1802 – Alexandre Dumas, French novelist and playwright (d. 1870)

1900 – Zelda Fitzgerald, American author and poet (d. 1948)

From Wikipedia and Google, except as noted.