Historical Events on Tuesday, 24th March
50 significant events took place on Tuesday, 24th March — stretching from 1199 to 2026. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.
# On This Day in History: 24th March
Throughout history, 24th March has witnessed pivotal moments that reshaped nations and societies. In 1999, NATO launched its first military campaign against a sovereign country when it began attacks on Yugoslavia without United Nations Security Council approval, marking a significant shift in international intervention practices. The same year brought tragedy to Europe when a lorry carrying margarine and flour caught fire inside the Mont Blanc Tunnel, creating an inferno that claimed 39 lives and exposed critical safety vulnerabilities in major transport infrastructure. More recently, in 2026, OpenAI announced that its flagship Sora app and API would be shutting down, signalling major changes within the artificial intelligence sector.
Dr. Rüdiger Marmulla made his mark on medical history on this date in 1998 when he performed the first computer-assisted bone segment navigation at the University of Regensburg in Germany. This pioneering procedure represented a significant advancement in surgical precision and the integration of digital technology into orthopaedic medicine. The procedure demonstrated how computational methods could enhance surgical outcomes by providing real-time navigation and accuracy during complex bone operations.
The Regensburg area, located in Bavaria in southeastern Germany, has established itself as a centre of medical innovation and technological advancement. The city is situated on the Danube River and has maintained its historical importance whilst embracing modern developments in healthcare and research sectors.
On 24th March 2026, the atmospheric conditions will be mild with partly cloudy skies and temperatures around twelve degrees Celsius. The moon will be in its waxing gibbous phase, approaching fullness over the coming days. Those born on this date fall under the Aries zodiac sign, characterised by determination and ambition.
DayAtlas provides comprehensive information about significant historical events, notable births and deaths, and weather patterns for any date and location, enabling users to explore the interconnections between history and geography.
Explore all events today 1st April.
24/03/2026
OpenAI announces that their flagship Sora app and API are shutting down.
OpenAI is an American artificial intelligence (AI) research organization comprising both a nonprofit foundation and a controlled for-profit public benefit corporation (PBC), headquartered in San Francisco. It aims to develop "safe and beneficial" artificial general intelligence (AGI), which it defines as "highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work".
24/03/2024
The 2024 Senegalese presidential election is held following anti-government protests.
Presidential elections were held in Senegal on 24 March 2024. Incumbent president Macky Sall was ineligible to pursue a third term due to term limits in the Constitution of Senegal.
24/03/2023
An EF4 tornado strikes the towns of Rolling Fork and Silver City, Mississippi, causing mass destruction.
On the evening of Friday, March 24, 2023, a large, violent, and long-tracked multi-vortex wedge tornado struck the towns of Rolling Fork, Silver City, and Midnight. The tornado killed 17 people and injured at least 165 others. Part of a wider tornado outbreak sequence across the Southern United States, this tornado was the deadliest and strongest of the event. It caused catastrophic damage in Rolling Fork and significant damage in Silver City. The National Weather Service (NWS) assigned the tornado a rating of EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, with estimated peak winds of 195 miles per hour (314 km/h).
24/03/2018
Syrian civil war: The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and Syrian National Army (SNA) take full control of Afrin District, marking the end of the Afrin offensive.
The Syrian civil war was an armed conflict that began with the Syrian revolution in March 2011, when popular discontent with the Ba'athist regime ruled by Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring. The Assad regime responded to the protests with lethal force, which led to a series of defections, the emergence of armed opposition groups, and the civilian uprising descending into a civil war. The war lasted almost 14 years and culminated in the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. Many sources regard this as the end of the civil war. Post-war clashes and disputes have continued into 2026.
Students across the United States stage the March for Our Lives demanding gun control in response to the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the semi-exclave of Alaska in the northwest and the archipelago of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The United States also asserts sovereignty over five major island territories and various uninhabited islands in Oceania and the Caribbean. It is a megadiverse country, with the world's third-largest land area and third-largest population, exceeding 341 million.
24/03/2015
Germanwings Flight 9525 crashes in the French Alps in an apparent pilot mass murder-suicide, killing all 150 people on board.
Germanwings Flight 9525 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Barcelona–El Prat Airport in Spain to Düsseldorf Airport in Germany. The flight was operated by Germanwings, a low-cost carrier owned by the German airline Lufthansa. On 24 March 2015, the Airbus A320-211 operating the flight crashed 100 km north-west of Nice in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board.
24/03/2008
Bhutan officially becomes a democracy, with its first ever general election.
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, located in the Eastern Himalayas, bordering China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of 38,394 square kilometres (14,824 mi2), Bhutan ranks 133rd in land area and 160th in population. It is a democratic constitutional monarchy with a King as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of government. The Je Khenpo is the head of the state religion, Vajrayana Buddhism.
24/03/1999
Kosovo War: NATO begins attacks on Yugoslavia without United Nations Security Council (UNSC) approval, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.
The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It was fought between the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), which controlled Kosovo before the war, and the Kosovo Albanian separatist militia known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The conflict ended when the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) intervened by beginning air strikes in March 1999 which resulted in Yugoslav forces withdrawing from Kosovo.
A lorry carrying margarine and flour catches fire inside the Mont Blanc Tunnel, creating an inferno that kills 39 people.
On 24 March 1999, a transport truck caught fire while driving through the Mont Blanc Tunnel between France and Italy. When it stopped halfway through the tunnel, it violently combusted. Other vehicles in the tunnel quickly became trapped and caught fire as firefighters could not reach the transport truck. 39 people were killed. In the aftermath, major changes were made to the tunnel to improve its safety.
24/03/1998
Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden, aged 11 and 13 respectively, open fire upon teachers and students at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas; five people are killed and ten are wounded.
The 1998 Westside Middle School shooting was a mass shooting that occurred on March 24, 1998, at Westside Middle School in unincorporated Craighead County, Arkansas, near the city of Jonesboro. Thirteen-year-old Mitchell Johnson and eleven-year-old Andrew Golden opened fire on the school, shooting and killing five people and wounding ten others. Both were arrested when they attempted to flee the scene. On August 11, 1998, Golden and Johnson were convicted of five murders and ten assaults, and were imprisoned until each turned twenty-one years of age. After the 1992 Lindhurst High School shooting that killed four people in Olivehurst, California, the massacre was the deadliest non-college school shooting in contemporary U.S. history until the April 1999 Columbine High School massacre. As of 2026, the incident is the deadliest mass shooting at a middle school in U.S. history.
A tornado sweeps through Dantan in India, killing 250 people and injuring 3,000 others.
A tornado, also known as a twister, is a rapidly rotating column of air that extends vertically from the surface of the Earth to the base of a cumulonimbus or cumulus cloud. Tornadoes are often visible in the form of a condensation funnel originating from the cloud base, with a cloud of rotating debris and dust close to the ground. Most tornadoes have wind speeds less than 180 kilometers per hour, are about 80 meters across, and travel several kilometers before dissipating. The most extreme tornadoes can attain wind speeds of more than 480 kilometers per hour (300 mph), can be more than 3 kilometers (2 mi) in diameter, and can stay on the ground for more than 100 km (62 mi).
Dr. Rüdiger Marmulla performs the first computer-assisted Bone Segment Navigation at the University of Regensburg, Germany.
Rüdiger Marmulla is a German cranio-maxillofacial surgeon.
24/03/1992
Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-45.
Space Shuttle Atlantis is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle which belongs to NASA, the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States. Atlantis was manufactured by the Rockwell International company in Southern California and was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in Eastern Florida in April 1985. Atlantis is the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built. Its maiden flight was STS-51-J made from October 3 to 7, 1985.
24/03/1990
Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War ends with the last ship of Indian Peace Keeping Force leaving Sri Lanka.
The Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan civil war was the deployment of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka intended to perform a peacekeeping role. The deployment followed the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord between India and Sri Lanka of 1987 which was intended to end the Sri Lankan civil war between separatist Sri Lankan Tamil nationalists, principally the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and the Sri Lankan Military.
24/03/1989
In Prince William Sound in Alaska, the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (38,000 m3) of crude oil after running aground.
Prince William Sound is a sound off the Gulf of Alaska on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its largest port is Valdez, at the southern terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. Other settlements on the sound, which contains numerous small islands, include Cordova and Whittier plus the Alaska native villages of Chenega and Tatitlek.
24/03/1986
The Loscoe gas explosion leads to new UK laws on landfill gas migration and gas protection on landfill sites.
Loscoe is a village near Heanor in Derbyshire, England, lying within the civil parish of Heanor and Loscoe. It had prominent coalmines in the 19th and 20th centuries. Denby Common and Codnor Breach are hamlets on the western edge of the village.
24/03/1982
Bangladeshi President Abdus Sattar is deposed in a bloodless coup led by Army Chief Lieutenant general Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who suspends the Constitution and imposes martial law.
Abdus Sattar was a Bangladeshi statesman. A leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), he served as the president of Bangladesh from 1981 to 1982, and earlier as the vice president. A jurist by profession, Abdus Sattar held numerous constitutional and political offices in British India, East Pakistan and Bangladesh. He was a cabinet minister, Supreme Court judge, and chief election commissioner of Pakistan. He took oath and became president shortly after the assassination of President Ziaur Rahman.
24/03/1980
El Salvadorian Archbishop Óscar Romero is assassinated while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.
El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is San Salvador. El Salvador's population in 2024 was estimated to be 6 million.
24/03/1977
Morarji Desai becomes the prime minister of India, the first prime minister not to belong to Indian National Congress.
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai was an Indian politician and independence activist who served as the prime minister of India between 1977 and 1979 leading the government formed by the Janata Party. During his long career in politics, he held many important posts in government such as the chief minister of Bombay State, the home minister, the finance minister, and the deputy prime minister.
24/03/1976
In Argentina, the armed forces overthrow the constitutional government of President Isabel Perón and start a seven-year dictatorial period self-styled the National Reorganization Process.
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country located in the southern cone of South America and with a claimed portion of Antarctica. It covers an area of 2,780,085 km2 (1,073,397 mi2), making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourth-largest country in the Americas, and the eighth-largest country in the world. Argentina shares the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west, and is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south. Argentina is a federal state subdivided into twenty-three provinces, and one autonomous city, which is the federal capital and largest city of the nation, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system. Argentina claims sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, and a part of Antarctica.
24/03/1972
Direct rule is imposed on Northern Ireland by the Government of the United Kingdom under Edward Heath.
In Northern Irish politics, direct rule is the administration of Northern Ireland directly by the Government of the United Kingdom. It was practised for 26 consecutive years between 1972 and 1998 during the Troubles, and has since then been temporarily applied during suspensions. The most recent period of direct rule came to an end on 8 May 2007 when power was restored to the Northern Ireland Assembly following elections in April and a power-sharing agreement among major parties.
24/03/1949
Hanns Albin Rauter, a chief SS and Police Leader in the Netherlands, is convicted and executed for crimes against humanity.
Johann Baptist Albin Rauter was a high-ranking Austrian-born SS functionary and war criminal during the Nazi era. He was the Higher SS and Police Leader in the occupied Netherlands and therefore the leading security and police officer there during the period of 1940–1945. Rauter reported directly to the Nazi SS chief, Heinrich Himmler, and also to the Nazi Reichskommissar of the Netherlands, Arthur Seyss-Inquart. After World War II, Rauter was convicted in the Netherlands of crimes against humanity and executed by firing squad.
24/03/1946
A British Cabinet Mission arrives in India to discuss and plan for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership.
On 24 March 1946, a mission of three British Cabinet members went to British India to discuss the transfer of power from the British government to the Indian political leadership with the aim of preserving India's unity and granting its independence. Formed at the initiative of Prime Minister Clement Attlee, the mission consisted of three Cabinet ministers: Lord Pethick-Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps, and A. V. Alexander. The Viceroy of India, Lord Wavell, participated in some of the discussions.
24/03/1944
German troops massacre 335 Italian civilians in Rome.
Nazi Germany, officially the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", referred to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and the German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945, after 12 years, when the Allies defeated Germany and entered the capital, Berlin, ending World War II in Europe.
World War II: In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 Allied prisoners of war begin breaking out of the German camp Stalag Luft III.
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.
24/03/1939
The 1939 Liechtenstein putsch takes place; approximately 40 members of the VBDL starting from Nendeln march towards Vaduz with the intention of overthrowing the government and provoking Liechtenstein's annexation into Germany.
The 1939 Liechtenstein putsch, also known as the Annexation putsch was an unsuccessful coup d'état by the German National Movement in Liechtenstein on 24 March 1939 designed to provoke Liechtenstein's annexation by Nazi Germany.
24/03/1934
The Tydings–McDuffie Act is passed by the United States Congress, allowing the Philippines to become a self-governing commonwealth.
The Philippine Independence Act, or Tydings–McDuffie Act, is an Act of Congress that established the process for the Philippines, then a US territory, to become an independent country after a ten-year transition period. Under the act, the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines was written and the Commonwealth of the Philippines was established, with the first directly elected president of the Philippines. It also established limitations on Filipino immigration to the United States.
24/03/1927
Nanking Incident: Foreign warships bombard Nanjing, China, in defence of the foreign citizens within the city.
The Nanking Incident, also known as the Nanking Outrage or Nanking Massacre, occurred in March 1927 during the capture of Nanjing by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang in their Northern Expedition. Foreign warships bombarded the city to defend foreign residents against rioting and looting. Several ships were involved in the engagement, including vessels of the Royal Navy and the United States Navy. Marines and sailors were also landed for rescue operations including some 140 Dutch forces. Both Nationalist and Communist soldiers within the NRA participated in the rioting and looting of foreign-owned property in Nanjing.
24/03/1922
The McMahon killings take place in Belfast. Six Catholic civilians are shot dead, two others wounded and a female family member assaulted. Police were suspected as being responsible, but no one was prosecuted.
The McMahon killings or the McMahon murders occurred on 24 March 1922 when six Catholic civilians were shot dead at the home of the McMahon family in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A group of police officers broke into their house at night and shot all eight males inside, in an apparent sectarian attack. The victims were businessman Owen McMahon, four of his sons, and one of his employees. Two others were shot but survived, and a female family member was assaulted. The survivors said most of the gunmen wore police uniforms and it is suspected they were members of the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC). It is believed to have been a reprisal for the Irish Republican Army's (IRA) killing of two policemen on May Street, Belfast the day before.
24/03/1921
The 1921 Women's Olympiad begins in Monte Carlo, becoming the first international women's sports event.
The 1921 Women's Olympiad Olympiades Féminines and Jeux Olympiques Féminins was the first international women's sports event, a 5-day multi-sport event organised by Alice Milliat and held on 24–31 March 1921 in Monte Carlo at the International Sporting Club of Monaco. The tournament was formally called 1er Meeting International d'Education Physique Féminine de Sports Athlétiques. It was the first of three Women's Olympiads or "Monte Carlo Games" held annually at the venue, and the forerunner of the quadrennial Women's World Games, organised in 1922–1934 by the International Women's Sports Federation founded by Milliat later in 1921.
24/03/1900
Mayor of New York City Robert Anderson Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground "Rapid Transit Railroad" that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, and most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.
Carnegie Steel Company is formed in New Jersey; its capitalization of $160 million is the largest to date.
Carnegie Steel Company was a steel-producing company primarily created by Andrew Carnegie and several close associates to manage businesses at steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century. The company was formed in 1892, and was subsequently sold in 1901 in one of the largest business transactions of the early 20th century, to become a major component of U.S. Steel. The sale made Carnegie one of the richest Americans in history.
24/03/1882
Robert Koch announces the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis.
Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch was a German physician and microbiologist. He won the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his investigations and discoveries in relation to tuberculosis".
24/03/1878
The British frigate HMS Eurydice sinks, killing more than 300.
HMS Eurydice was a 26-gun Royal Navy corvette which was the victim of one of Britain's worst peacetime naval disasters when she sank in a snowstorm off the Isle of Wight on 24 March 1878. Out of a crew of over 300, only two survived.
24/03/1870
A Chilean prospecting party led by José Díaz Gana discovers the silver ores of Caracoles in the Bolivian portion of Atacama Desert, leading to the last of the Chilean silver rushes and a diplomatic dispute over its taxation between Chile and Bolivia.
Caracoles was a silver mining district in what is now Antofagasta Region, Chile. At the time of official discovery in 1870 the district was located in Bolivia. The silver ores of Caracoles were discovered on March 24, 1870, by a Chilean prospecting team led by José Díaz Gana that had departed from the port town of Antofagasta. Subsequently, the ores were extracted with Chilean capital and miners. It was the last major discovery of the Chilean silver rushes. According to Oreste Plath "some old miners believe that" Caracoles was discovered much earlier, presumably in 1811, by two Aragonese men who were escaping persecution during the independence era. However, the location of the outcrop is said to have been forgotten. The site of Caracoles evolved rapidly from a group of rudimentary shelters and huts in 1870 to a small hamlet in 1871. Afterwards the settlement continued to grow reaching a population of several thousand inhabitants.
24/03/1869
The last of Tītokowaru's forces surrender to the New Zealand government, ending his uprising.
Riwha Tītokowaru was a Taranaki Māori rangatira, military commander, general and religious leader. He is considered to be one of the most capable and influential military strategists in New Zealand history. He waged a war against invading settlers and Crown forces which became known as Tītokowaru's War. His reputation has stayed largely the same for 150 years; James Belich has described him as "perhaps the greatest war leader either of New Zealand’s peoples has ever produced".
24/03/1860
Sakuradamon Incident: Japanese chief minister (Tairō) Ii Naosuke is assassinated by rōnin samurai outside the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle.
The Sakuradamon Incident was the assassination of Ii Naosuke, Chief Minister (Tairō) of the Tokugawa shogunate, on March 24, 1860 by rōnin samurai of the Mito and Satsuma Domains, outside the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle.
24/03/1854
President José Gregorio Monagas abolishes slavery in Venezuela.
The president of Venezuela, officially known as the president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is the executive head of state and head of government of Venezuela. The president leads the National Executive of the Venezuelan government and is the commander-in-chief of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces. Presidential terms were set at six years with the adoption of the 1999 Constitution of Venezuela, and presidential term limits were removed in 2009.
24/03/1832
In Hiram, Ohio, a group of men beat and tar and feather Mormon leader Joseph Smith.
Hiram is a village in northern Portage County, Ohio, United States. It was formed from portions of Hiram Township in the Connecticut Western Reserve. The population was 996 at the 2020 census. Hiram is part of the Akron metropolitan area. It is the home of Hiram College, a small, private liberal arts college. The Hiram post office was established in 1816.
24/03/1829
The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, allowing Catholics to serve in Parliament.
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. Since 1999, varying degrees of powers have been devolved to the national parliaments of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Each devolved parliament has different devolved powers, with Scotland being the most powerful amongst the three devolved parliaments. The central UK Parliament retains the power to legislate in reserved matters, including broadcasting, defence, and currency.
24/03/1794
In Kraków, Tadeusz Kościuszko announces a general uprising against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia, and assumes the powers of the Commander in Chief of all of the Polish forces.
Kraków, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 (2023), with approximately 8 million additional people living within a 100 km (62 mi) radius. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 and has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life. Its Old Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the world's first sites granted the status.
24/03/1765
Great Britain passes the Quartering Act, which requires the Thirteen Colonies to house British troops.
Great Britain, officially the Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in Western Europe from 1707 to the end of 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland to form a single kingdom encompassing the whole island of Great Britain and its outlying islands, with the exception of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The unitary state was governed by a single parliament at the Palace of Westminster, but the distinct legal systems—English law and Scots law—remained in use, as did distinct educational systems and religious institutions, namely the Church of England and the Church of Scotland remaining as the national churches of England and Scotland respectively.
24/03/1721
Johann Sebastian Bach dedicates six concertos to Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt, now commonly called the Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046–1051.
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the orchestral Brandenburg Concertos; solo instrumental works such as the Cello Suites and Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin; keyboard works such as the Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered Clavier; organ works such as the Schübler Chorales and the Toccata and Fugue in D minor; and choral works such as the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. He is known for his mastery of counterpoint, as heard in The Musical Offering and The Art of Fugue. Felix Mendelssohn precipitated the Bach Revival with a performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829. Ever since, Bach has been acclaimed as one of the greatest composers of classical music.
24/03/1720
Count Frederick of Hesse-Kassel is elected King of Sweden by the Riksdag of the Estates, after his consort Ulrika Eleonora abdicated the throne on 29 February.
Frederick I was King of Sweden from 1720 until his death, having been prince consort of Sweden from 1718 to 1720, and was also Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1730. He ascended the throne following the death of his brother-in-law absolutist Charles XII in the Great Northern War, and the abdication of his wife, Charles's sister and successor Ulrika Eleonora, after she had to relinquish most powers to the Riksdag of the Estates and thus chose to abdicate. His powerless reign and lack of legitimate heirs of his own saw his family's elimination from the line of succession after the parliamentary government dominated by pro-revanchist Hat Party politicians ventured into a war with Russia, which ended in defeat and the Russian tsarina Elizabeth getting Adolf Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp instated following the death of the king. Whilst being the only Swedish monarch called Frederick, he was Frederick I of Hesse-Kassel and thus Frederick I also of Sweden, though other Swedish monarchs with non-repeating names had not been enumerated.
24/03/1663
The Province of Carolina is granted by charter to eight Lords Proprietor in reward for their assistance in restoring Charles II of England to the throne.
The Province of Carolina was a colony of the Kingdom of England (1663–1707) and later the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1712) that existed in North America from 1663 until the Carolinas were partitioned into North and South in 1712. However, the two parts did not become separate and administrative royal colonies until 1729.
24/03/1603
James VI of Scotland is proclaimed King James I of England and Ireland, upon the death of Elizabeth I.
James VI and I was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603, until his death in 1625. Though he long attempted to get both countries to adopt a closer political union, the kingdoms of Scotland and England remained sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciaries and laws; they were ruled by James in personal union.
Tokugawa Ieyasu is granted the title of shōgun from Emperor Go-Yōzei, and establishes the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo, Japan.
Tokugawa Ieyasu was a Japanese samurai, daimyo and the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow Oda subordinate Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The son of a minor daimyo, Ieyasu once lived as a hostage under daimyo Imagawa Yoshimoto on behalf of his father. He later succeeded as daimyo after his father's death, serving as ally, vassal, and general of the Oda clan, and building up his strength under Oda Nobunaga.
24/03/1401
Turco-Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus.
The Turco-Mongol or Turko-Mongol tradition was an ethnocultural synthesis that arose in Asia during the 13-14th century among the ruling elites of the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate. The ruling Mongol elites of these khanates eventually assimilated into the Turkic populations that they conquered and ruled over, thus becoming known as Turco-Mongols. These elites gradually adopted Islam, as well as Turkic languages, while retaining Mongol political and legal institutions.
24/03/1387
English victory over a Franco-Castilian-Flemish fleet in the Battle of Margate off the coast of Margate.
The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 927, when all of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were united under the rule of Æthelstan, until 1 May 1707, when it relinquished its sovereignty along with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, which would later become the United Kingdom. The Kingdom of England was among the most powerful states in Europe during the medieval and early modern periods.
24/03/1199
King Richard I of England is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting in France, leading to his death on April 6.
Richard I, known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine, and Gascony; Lord of Cyprus; Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes; and was overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period. He was the third of five sons of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and was therefore not expected to become king, but his two elder brothers predeceased their father.