TODAY IN HISTORY ― FEBRUARY 24

February 24 is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 310 days remaining until the end of the year (311 in leap years). This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Wednesday, Friday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Monday or Tuesday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Thursday or Saturday (56).

By Roman custom, February 24 is doubled in a leap year in the Julian calendar. The Mensis Intercalaris began on this day or the following day in intercalary years in the pre-Julian calendar. This custom still has some effect around the world; for example, with respect to name days in Hungary. 

NATIONAL TORTILLA CHIP DAY 

303 – Galerius (Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus Augustus) publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Roman Empire.

1582 – With the papal bull Inter gravissimas, Pope Gregory XIII announces the Gregorian calendar.

1803 – In Marbury v. Madison, the U.S. Supreme Court establishes the principle of judicial review.

1821 – Final stage of the Mexican War of Independence from Spain with Plan of Iguala.

1831 – The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty in accordance with the Indian Removal Act, is proclaimed. The Choctaws in Mississippi cede land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West.

1863 – Arizona is organized as a United States territory.

1868 – Andrew Johnson becomes the first President of the United States to be impeached by the United States House of Representatives. He is later acquitted in the Senate.

1895 – Revolution breaks out in Baire, a town near Santiago de Cuba, beginning the Cuban War of Independence, that ends with the Spanish–American War in 1898.

1917 – World War I: The U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if Mexico declares war on the United States.

1920 – The Nazi Party is founded.

1942 – The Battle of Los Angeles: A false alarm led to an anti-aircraft barrage that lasted into the early hours of February 25.

1942 – An order-in-council passed under the Defense of Canada Regulations of the War Measures Act gives the Canadian federal government the power to intern all "persons of Japanese racial origin".

1944 – Merrill's Marauders: The Marauders begin their 1,000-mile journey through Japanese occupied Burma.

1946 – Colonel Juan Perón, founder of the political movement that became known as Peronism, is elected to his first term as President of Argentina.

1968 – Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnam recaptures Hué.

1980 – The United States Olympic Hockey team completes its Miracle on Ice by defeating Finland 4–2 to win the gold medal.

1983 – A special commission of the U.S. Congress releases a report that condemns the practice of Japanese internment during World War II.


1989 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offers a US$3 million bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie.

1999 – The U.S. state of Arizona executes Karl LaGrand, a German national convicted of murder during a botched bank robbery, in spite of Germany's legal action to attempt to save him.

2007 – Japan launches its fourth spy satellite, stepping up its ability to monitor potential threats such as North Korea.

2008 – Revolutionary leader,  Fidel Castro, retires as the President of Cuba after nearly fifty years.

2011 – The final Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103). – NASA

TODAY'S BIRTHS

1786 – Wilhelm Grimm, German anthropologist, author, and academic, Grimms's Fairy Tales (d. 1859)

1885 – Chester W. Nimitz, American admiral, WWII (d. 1966)

1925 – Bud Day, American colonel and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2013)

1933 – David "Fathead" Newman, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2009)

1938 – Phil Knight, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Nike, Inc.

From Wikipedia and Google (images), ex as noted.