Tuesday, 24th March 2026 in Lisbon

24th March in the Stars – Star Sign Aries

Today, the zodiac sign Aries celebrates its birthday.

Personality Profile

Personality Those born on March 24th embody the classic Aries spirit with Jupiter's subtle expansion woven in. These individuals are bold and idealistic, yet possess a reflective wisdom that tempers pure impulsivity. Their pioneering energy carries an element of philosophical depth uncommon in typical Aries natives.

Strengths & Weaknesses People born this day are courageous, driven, and magnetic in their approach to life. Their main weakness is impatience and acting before thinking things through. The number 9 amplifies their desire to complete endeavors and serve a greater purpose.

Love In relationships, they are passionate and straightforward, sometimes brutally honest. They seek partners who match their adventurous spirit and intellectual curiosity. Loyalty matters deeply, provided the relationship continues to grow and evolve.

Caree & Finance Professionally, these natives thrive in roles demanding leadership, innovation, and trailblazing. They excel as entrepreneurs, military officers, or coaches. Financial security comes through their persistence and ability to make decisive moves quickly.

Health Their fiery nature demands regular physical activity and outlets for intense energy. They risk burnout and must prioritize adequate rest and recovery. Sports, adventure, and dynamic movement are essential for their wellbeing and mental clarity.

That night, the moon was in its waning gibbous phase.

Chinese year of the Horse (Fire).

Fun Facts About 24th March

Name Days in Your Language: Gabe, Gabriel, Gabriela, Gabriella, Gabrielle, Gigi

Someone born on this day would be just 73 days old today — roughly 1,755 hours, 105,348 minutes, or 6,320,936 seconds spent on Earth so far.

It's the 83. day of the year. In 2026, 24th March falls on a Tuesday.

There are 282 days still to come.

We’re currently in Week 13 — the year marches on.

Famous Birthdays on 24th March

On this day, 245 notable people were born on 24th March — spanning from 1103 to 2004. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

24/03/2004

Gonzalo García, Spanish footballer

Gonzalo García Torres is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Real Madrid.

24/03/2001

Clara Burel, French tennis player

Clara Burel is a French professional tennis player. On 10 June 2024, she peaked at No. 42 in the WTA singles rankings.

24/03/1999

Katie Swan, English tennis player

Katie Swan is a British tennis player. She has won 18 ITF singles titles and one in doubles. Her peak world ranking in singles is 118 and her highest in doubles is 293. When she made her debut, Swan was the youngest player to represent Great Britain in the Fed Cup.

24/03/1998

Christopher Briney, American actor

Christopher Thomas Briney is an American actor. He is known for his breakthrough role as Conrad Fisher in the Amazon Prime Video teen romance series The Summer I Turned Pretty (2022–2025). He also starred in the musical film Mean Girls (2024).

Ethel Cain, American singer-songwriter, record producer, and model

Hayden Silas Anhedönia, known professionally as Ethel Cain, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and model. She became known for her ambient and Southern Gothic-style music and lyrics. She began releasing recordings under various aliases, before releasing multiple extended plays including Inbred (2021) which garnered various singles including "Crush".

Damar Hamlin, American football player

Damar Romeyelle Hamlin is an American professional football safety for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers and was selected by the Bills in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL draft. Hamlin spent most of his rookie season as a backup before becoming a starter in 2022 after Micah Hyde got an injury which ended his season.

24/03/1997

Mina, Japanese singer and dancer

Mina Myoi, known mononymously as Mina, is a Japanese singer and dancer based in South Korea. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Twice, which debuted under JYP Entertainment in 2015, and its subgroup MiSaMo, which debuted in 2023.

24/03/1996

Myles Turner, American basketball player

Myles Christian Turner is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season for the Texas Longhorns before being selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 11th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. Turner spent 10 seasons with the Pacers, reaching the 2025 NBA Finals in his final year with the team. Standing at 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m), Turner plays the center position. He has led the league in blocks twice in his career.

24/03/1995

Enzo Zidane, French-Spanish footballer

Enzo Alan Zidane Fernández, known simply as Enzo, is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

24/03/1993

Daniel Sazonov, Finnish politician

Daniel Matti Mikael Sazonov is a Finnish politician from the National Coalition Party. He has served as Deputy Mayor of Helsinki for Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services since 2021. Sazonov has served as a Helsinki city councilor since 2017 and as a member of the city board since 2018. He served as the chairman of the National Coalition Party's council group in 2019–2021. He began his duties as Mayor of Helsinki in June 2025.

24/03/1991

Nick Browne, English cricketer

Nicholas Laurence Joseph Browne is an English former professional cricketer turned cricket coach. A left-handed batsman, he who played for Essex.

Dalila Jakupovic, Slovenian tennis player

Dalila Jakupović is a Slovenian tennis player of Bosnian descent.

24/03/1990

Aljur Abrenica, Filipino actor

Aljur Mikael Guiang Abrenica is a Filipino actor and singer. He appeared on the fourth season of StarStruck.

Keisha Castle-Hughes, Australian-New Zealand actress

Keisha Castle-Hughes is a New Zealand actress. She made her acting debut in the drama film Whale Rider (2002), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the second-youngest nominee in this category. Her subsequent films include the biblical drama film The Nativity Story (2006) and the teen film Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger (2008). On television, she had appeared as Obara Sand in Game of Thrones (2015–2017), and starred as Special Agent Hana Gibson in all six seasons of FBI: Most Wanted (2020–2025).

Starlin Castro, American baseball player

Starlin DeJesus Castro is a Dominican former professional baseball infielder. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, Miami Marlins, and Washington Nationals. Castro is a four-time MLB All-Star and holds the record for most runs batted in in an MLB debut. In 2011, he led the National League in hits, becoming the youngest player to do so.

Lacey Evans, American wrestler

Macey Estrella-Kadlec is an American professional wrestler and former U.S. Marine. She is best known for her tenure in WWE, where she performed under the ring name Lacey Evans.

Alyssa Healy, Australian cricketer

Alyssa Jean Healy is an Australian former cricketer who played for and captained the Australian women's national team. She also played for New South Wales in domestic cricket, as well as the Sydney Sixers in the WBBL. She made her international debut in February 2010 and retired in March 2026.

JonTron, American YouTuber

Jonathan Aryan Jafari, better known online as JonTron, is an American YouTuber and comedian. He created the eponymous YouTube web series JonTron, where he reviews and parodies video games, films and other media.

24/03/1989

Zyzz, Russian-Australian bodybuilder and internet personality (died 2011)

Aziz Sergeyevich Shavershian, better known as Zyzz, was an Australian bodybuilder and model. He established a cult following after posting videos of himself on YouTube, starting in 2007.

24/03/1988

Aiga Grabuste, Latvian heptathlete

Aiga Grabuste is a Latvian track and field athlete competing in heptathlon. She represented her country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and won bronze medal at the 2012 European Athletics Championships, finishing just 10 points behind fellow Latvian Laura Ikauniece.

Ryan Higgins, Zimbabwean cricketer

Ryan Shaun Higgins is a former Zimbabwean cricketer. He played 11 One Day Internationals for Zimbabwe in 2006, highlights include the wicket of Brian Lara and best bowling figures of 4/21 from 10 overs. Ryan Higgins retired from international cricket in 2007 at the age of 18. Higgins is now based in the Cotswolds and is now managing director of Gecko Cricket, the company he founded in 2012.

Matías Martínez, Argentinian footballer

Matías Alfredo Martínez is an Argentine football defender who plays for Atlético de Rafaela.

Kardo Ploomipuu, Estonian swimmer

Kardo Ploomipuu is an Estonian swimmer.

Matt Todd, New Zealand rugby union player

Matthew Brendon Todd is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for the Crusaders.

24/03/1987

Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladeshi cricketer

Shakib Al Hasan is a Bangladeshi international cricketer and captain who played Test, ODI and T20I cricket for the Bangladeshi cricket team. He was a former member of Parliament for Magura-1. He is known for his aggressive left-handed batting style in the middle order and controlled slow left-arm orthodox bowling. He is widely regarded as a very successful Bangladeshi sportsman, and considered as a highly skilled all-rounder in international Cricket. As of 2025, he is the all-time highest ICC Men's T20 World Cup wicket taker.

Yuma Asami, Japanese actress and singer

Yuma Asami , is a Japanese actress, singer, and a former adult video (AV) actress and model. Starring in more than 600 adult films between 2005 and 2013, Asami was widely recognized as one of Japan's most famous and acclaimed adult film actresses with her popularity resulting in mainstream media appearances as well. A leading actress of two major Japanese AV studios, Alice Japan and S1 No.1 Style, Asami was known for her youthful looks, large bust, and her natural onscreen charisma which was largely credited in helping her establish herself as Japan's top adult performer. Between 2008 and 2013, she was also a member of the idol group Ebisu Muscats, where she performed with numerous other famous AV actresses like Sola Aoi, Akiho Yoshizawa, Tina Yuzuki (Rio) and Aino Kishi.

Billy Jones, English footballer

Billy Jones is an English former professional footballer who played as a right-back.

Ramires, Brazilian footballer

Ramires Santos do Nascimento, known as Ramires, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. A midfielder, he was comfortable playing in either the centre or right midfielder position. He normally played as a box-to-box midfielder role because of his energy in supporting defensive and attacking play.

24/03/1985

Haruka Ayase, Japanese actress and singer

Aya Tademaru better known by the stage name Haruka Ayase , is a Japanese actress who started her career as a model in the year 2000. She has since become a leading actress in television and film. The Japan Times has referred to Ayase as "the Japanese version of Anne Hathaway". In 2018, she was named the most beautiful face in Japan.

CJ Perry, American wrestler, manager, and actress

Catherine Joy "CJ" Perry is an American professional wrestling manager, retired professional wrestler, and actress. She is signed to WWE under a "Legends" contract under the ring name Lana. She is also known for her appearances with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name CJ.

24/03/1984

Benoît Assou-Ekotto, French-Cameroonian footballer

Benoît Pierre David Assou-Ekotto is a former professional footballer who played as a left back.

Park Bom, South Korean singer

Park Bom, also known mononymously as Bom, is a South Korean singer. She is best known as a member of the South Korean girl group 2NE1, which became one of the most popular South Korean girl groups worldwide.

Chris Bosh, American basketball player

Christopher Wesson Bosh is an American former professional basketball player. A Texas Mr. Basketball in high school, he played one season of college basketball for Georgia Tech before declaring for the 2003 NBA draft, where he was selected fourth overall by the Toronto Raptors. Bosh is considered to be one of the greatest power forwards for the Raptors, and one of the best players of his generation.

Adrian D'Souza, Indian field hockey player

Adrian Albert D'souza is an Indian field hockey goalkeeper, who made his international debut for the men's national team in January 2004 during the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Adrian has more than 100 International Caps for his country in all competitions. He has played in all major field hockey tournaments, including the 2006 Hockey World Cup, 2006 Asian Games, 2007 Asia Cup and 2 Champions Trophies. Regarded as one of the most innovative and daring goal-keepers of recent times, Adrian brought the rushing technique to the hockey field. Adrian has competed in 3/4 major international hockey events : the Olympics, World Cup, and Asian Games with a total of 165 caps for his country.

Lucy Wangui Kabuu, Kenyan runner

Lucy Wangūi Kabuu is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 and 10,000 metres events. She has represented Kenya twice at the Summer Olympics, finishing in the top ten of the 10,000 m race in both 2004 and 2008. Her personal bests of 14:33.49 minutes for the 5000 m and 30:39.96 minutes for the 10,000 m make her one of Kenya's fastest ever runners in the events.

Philipp Petzschner, German tennis player

Philipp Petzschner is a retired German professional tennis player. He was known for his hard-hitting forehand and backhand slices. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 9, which he achieved in April 2011.

24/03/1983

Luca Ceccarelli, Italian footballer

Luca Ceccarelli is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a right back.

T. J. Ford, American basketball player

Terrance Jerod Ford Sr. is an American former professional basketball player. Having been awarded numerous top basketball accolades in high school and college, Ford entered the 2003 NBA draft and was selected eighth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks. Ford's recurring back injuries resulted in him missing many games in his three seasons with the Bucks, but in 2005, it was announced that he was fit to play basketball again. Ford was traded to the Raptors prior to the 2006–07 NBA season, and established himself as the starting point guard, helping the team win the Atlantic Division crown and reach the 2007 NBA Playoffs. Following an injury sustained in the 2007–08 NBA season, however, Ford had difficulties reclaiming the starting spot and was traded to the Indiana Pacers. He signed with KK Zagreb of Croatia during the 2011 NBA lockout where he appeared in three games. On December 9, 2011, Ford signed a contract with the San Antonio Spurs.

Riccardo Musetti, Italian footballer

Riccardo Musetti is a retired Italian footballer.

Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Canadian ice hockey player

Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger.

24/03/1982

Epico Colon, Puerto Rican professional wrestler

Orlando Tito Colón Nieves is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he performs as Orlando Colón and is in a tag team with his cousin Eddie Colón. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Epico Colón.

Jake Hager, American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler

Donald Jacob Hager Jr. is an American slap fighter and retired amateur wrestler, professional wrestler, and mixed martial artist. He is best known for his tenures in WWE as Jack Swagger and in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as Jake Hager. As a mixed martial artist, he was signed to Bellator MMA and competed in the heavyweight division.

Corey Hart, American baseball player

Jon Corey Hart is an American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers from 2004 through 2013, the Seattle Mariners in 2014 and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2015. Hart was a two-time MLB All-Star, and also participated in the MLB Home Run Derby.

Jimmy Hempte, Belgian footballer

Jimmy Hempte is a Belgium retired footballer who played as a left back and current head coach of CS PV Ostiches.

Dustin McGowan, American baseball player

Dustin Michael McGowan is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, and Miami Marlins.

24/03/1981

Mike Adams, American football player

Michael Carl Adams is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He is currently the assistant secondary coach for the New York Giants. Adams played college football for the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens, and was signed by the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2004. Adams also played for the Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, Carolina Panthers, and Houston Texans, and made two Pro Bowls during his 16-year career.

Ron Hainsey, American ice hockey player

Ronald Martin Hainsey is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He played seventeen years in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets, Atlanta Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets, Carolina Hurricanes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators, playing over 1,100 career NHL games.

Dirk Hayhurst, American baseball player

Dirk Von Hayhurst is an American author and broadcaster, and formerly a professional baseball pitcher. Hayhurst played in Major League Baseball for the San Diego Padres in 2008 and for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2009. Following the end of his playing career, Hayhurst wrote four books about his experiences in professional baseball.

Mark Looms, Dutch footballer

Mark Looms is a Dutch football manager and former professional footballer who played as a left back. Since 2025 he has been the manager of SV Urk.

Gary Paffett, English racing driver

Gary James Paffett is a British former racing driver, motorsport executive, and Racing Director at Kiro Race Co in Formula E. Having become a household name in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), following fifteen years in the series and two championship wins, Paffett moved onto Formula E for the 2018/19 championship, after it was announced in 2017 that Mercedes would no longer be taking part in DTM. Paffett was also a test driver for the Williams Formula One team, having previously worked in a similar role at McLaren for a number of years, during the team's successful title winning years. Paffett progressed through the ranks of karting and junior formulae in the United Kingdom, winning the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award in 1999. He now lives in Ousden, Suffolk, England.

24/03/1980

Ramzi Abid, Canadian ice hockey player

Ramzi Abid is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player of Tunisian descent, who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Atlanta Thrashers and the Nashville Predators.

Andrew Hutchinson, American ice hockey player

Andrew Thomas Hutchinson is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman, who played in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Tassos Venetis, Greek footballer

Anastasios "Tasos" Venetis is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a defender.

24/03/1979

Norris Hopper, American baseball player

Norris Stephen Hopper is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played three seasons of Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds. Drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the eighth round of the 1998 Major League Baseball draft, Hopper made his MLB debut on August 20, 2006, with the Cincinnati Reds. He has a major league career .316 batting average with 125 hits, 15 doubles, two triples, one home run, 20 runs batted in, and 17 stolen bases.

Periklis Iakovakis, Greek hurdler

Periklís Iakovákis is a retired Greek athlete mainly competing in 400 metres hurdles. He is the Greek record holder with a time of 47.82 seconds and fifteen times national champion in the event.

Graeme Swann, English cricketer

Graeme Peter Swann is an English former cricketer who played all three formats of the game. Born in Northampton, he attended Sponne School in Towcester, Northamptonshire. He was primarily a right-arm off-spinner, and also a capable late-order batsman with four first-class centuries, and often fielded at second slip. Swann could score quickly; his test strike rate is the third highest of any English batsman to have scored at least 1000 runs after Harry Brook and Ben Duckett. Swann was a member of the England team that won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20.

24/03/1978

Amir Arison, American actor

Amir Arison is an American actor, best known for his work as FBI tech expert Aram Mojtabai on NBC’s The Blacklist for ten seasons.

Michael Braun, Australian footballer and coach

Michael Braun is an Australian rules footballer who played for the AFL's West Coast Eagles.

Tomáš Ujfaluši, Czech footballer and manager

Tomáš Ujfaluši is a Czech former professional footballer. He operated as either a central defender or a right-back. Initially beginning his career with Sigma Olomouc in 1996, he played in Germany, Italy (four), Spain (three), and Turkey (two) – winning six major titles between Hamburger SV, Atlético Madrid and Galatasaray – respectively. Ujfaluši earned 78 appearances for the Czech Republic, representing the country at the 2006 World Cup and two European Championships.

José Valverde, Dominican baseball player

José Rafael Valverde is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers, and New York Mets. He is nicknamed "Papa Grande".

24/03/1977

Maxim Kuznetsov, Russian ice hockey player

Maxim Romanovich Kuznetsov is a Kazakhstan-born Russian former professional ice hockey player. Kuznetsov was drafted in the 1st round by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1995 NHL entry draft.

24/03/1976

Aaron Brooks, American football player

Aaron Lafette Brooks is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, primarily with the New Orleans Saints. He played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers. He was a member of the Saints for six seasons, where he set the franchise records for regular season and career touchdown passes. Brooks spent his first season with the Green Bay Packers, who selected him in the fourth round of the 1999 NFL draft, and his final season with the Oakland Raiders.

Aliou Cissé, Senegalese footballer and coach

Aliou Cissé is a Senegalese professional football coach and former player. Who is currently the head coach of Angola national team. Cissé is best known for captaining the Senegal team which reached the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations Final and for being the first Senegal manager to win the tournament in 2022 after reaching the final in 2019.

Annette Dasch, German soprano

Annette Dasch is a German soprano. She has performed in opera and concerts internationally, often portraying Mozart characters such as Elvira in Don Giovanni at La Scala, Aminta in Il re pastore at the Salzburg Festival, and Electra in Idomeneo at the reopening of the Cuvilliés Theatre in 2008. She made her debut at the Bayreuth Festival as Elsa in Lohengrin in 2010.

Athanasios Kostoulas, Greek footballer

Athanasios Kostoulas is a Greek former international footballer who played as a defender.

24/03/1975

Thomas Johansson, Swedish-Monégasque tennis player

Karl Thomas Conny Johansson is a Swedish tennis coach and a former professional player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 7 singles ranking in May 2002. His career highlights in singles include a major title at the 2002 Australian Open, and a Masters title at the 1999 Canada Masters. He also won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in men's doubles, partnering Simon Aspelin. As of 2025, Johansson remains the last Swedish man to win a major in singles.

24/03/1974

Sergey Klyugin, Russian high jumper

Sergey Petrovich Klyugin is a Russian high jumper. He won the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics with 2.35m, one centimetre behind his personal best jump from 1998. A bronze medal at 1998's European championships was his only other international medal.

24/03/1973

Jacek Bąk, Polish footballer

Jacek Waldemar Bąk is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a central defender.

Philippe Boucher, Canadian ice hockey player and manager

Philippe Boucher is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League. He was the general manager of the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL from 2019 to 2023. He also served as GM with the Quebec Remparts and the Rimouski Oceanic.

Steve Corica, Australian footballer and coach

Stephen Christopher Corica is an Australian soccer manager and former player. In December 2023, Corica was announced as the inaugural manager of A-League expansion club Auckland FC.

Jure Ivanušič, Slovenian actor, concert pianist and chansonnier

Jure Ivanušič is a Slovene theatre and film actor, director, playwright, concert pianist, composer, chansonnier and translator.

Mette Jacobsen, Danish swimmer

Mette Jacobsen is a former freestyle and butterfly swimmer from Denmark who competed in five consecutive Summer Olympics for her native country, beginning in 1988. She won a total of 32 individual medals in international championships in a period from 1989 to 2005.

Glen Jakovich, Australian footballer

Glen Darren Jakovich is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL).

24/03/1972

Christophe Dugarry, French footballer

Christophe Jérôme Dugarry is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was a member of the France team that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. His clubs included Bordeaux, AC Milan, Barcelona, Marseille, Birmingham City and Qatar SC.

Steve Karsay, American baseball player and coach

Stefan Andrew Karsay is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians (1998–2001), Atlanta Braves (2001), New York Yankees, and Texas Rangers (2005). He later served as the bullpen coach for the Milwaukee Brewers (2019–2021). Most recently, he was the bullpen coach for the Los Angeles Angels.

24/03/1970

Judith Draxler, Austrian swimmer

Judith Draxler is a retired freestyle swimmer from Austria, who competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for her native country, starting in 1996.

Erica Kennedy, American journalist and author (died 2012)

Erica Kennedy was an American author, blogger, news correspondent, fashion journalist, and singer. Her 2004 novel Bling, became a New York Times bestseller. In 2010, she was named to the list of 100 most influential African Americans, as published by Ebony magazine and known as the "Ebony Power 100".

Mike Vanderjagt, Canadian-American football player

Michael John Vanderjagt is a Canadian former professional football placekicker and punter who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, primarily with the Indianapolis Colts. He served as the Colts' placekicker from 1998 to 2005 and was a member of the Dallas Cowboys during his final NFL season in 2006. Before the NFL, Vanderjagt played four seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL), three with the Toronto Argonauts and one with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

24/03/1969

Stephan Eberharter, Austrian skier

Stephan "Steff" Eberharter is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Austria.

Ilir Meta, Albanian politician, incumbent president of Albania

Ilir Rexhep Meta is an Albanian politician who served as President of Albania from 2017 to 2022.

24/03/1968

Minarti Timur, Indonesian badminton player

Minarti Timur is a former Indonesian badminton player who is affiliated with PB Djarum since 1987.

24/03/1967

Diann Roffe, American skier

Diann Roffe, also known as Diann Roffe-Steinrotter, is a former World Cup-winning alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from the United States.

24/03/1966

Floyd Heard, American sprinter and coach

Floyd Wayne Heard is a retired track and field sprinter from the United States, best known for setting the 1986 world's best year performance in the men's 200 m. He did so on 7 July 1986 at a meet in Moscow, Soviet Union, clocking 20.12s. A year later he won the title in the men's 200 m at the 1987 Pan American Games.

Rico Hizon, Filipino broadcast journalist

Federico "Rico" Morales Hizon, is a Filipino broadcast journalist. He is currently the Senior Vice President for Corporate Relations of SM Investment Corp. since May 6, 2024.

24/03/1964

Patterson Hood, American singer-songwriter

Patterson David Hood is an American singer-songwriter and co-founder of the band Drive-By Truckers.

24/03/1963

Vadym Tyshchenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (died 2015)

Vadym Mykolayovych Tyshchenko or Vadim Nikolayevich Tishchenko was a Soviet and Ukrainian association football player and Ukrainian coach.

Raimond van der Gouw, Dutch footballer and coach

Raimundus Johannes Hendrikus "Raimond" van der Gouw is a Dutch former professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper.

Torsten Voss, German decathlete and bobsledder

Torsten Voss is a former East German track and field athlete and bobsledder who competed from the late 1980s to the late 1990s.

24/03/1962

Angèle Dubeau, Canadian violinist

Angèle Dubeau, is a retired Canadian classical violinist. She has devoted a large part of her career to making classical music accessible to a wide audience and also frequently played works by contemporary composers. In October 2024, she announced that due to nerve damage in her right hand, she was no longer able to play the violin.

Irina Meszynski, German discus thrower

Irina Meszynski is a retired East German discus thrower.

24/03/1961

Dean Jones, Australian cricketer and coach (died 2020)

Dean Mervyn Jones was an Australian cricket player, coach and commentator who played Tests and One Day Internationals (ODIs) for Australia. He had an excellent record in Test cricket and is best remembered for revolutionising the ODI format. Jones was a part of the Australian team that won their first world title during the 1987 Cricket World Cup. Through the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was recognised as among the best ODI batsmen in the world, a view which has been validated in the retrospective ICC Player Rankings. His batting was often characterised by his agile footwork against both pace and spin, aggressive running between wickets, and willingness to take risks and intimidate bowlers. In 2019, Jones was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.

Yanis Varoufakis, Greek economist and politician, Greek Minister of Finance

Ioannis Georgiou "Yanis" Varoufakis is a Greek economist, academic, author, and politician. Since 2018, he has served as Secretary-General of Democracy in Europe Movement 2025, the left-wing European political party he co-founded in 2016. Previously, he served as Minister of Finance in the government of Alexis Tsipras in 2015, during the 2009–2018 Greek government-debt crisis, where he became internationally known for opposing EU-imposed austerity measures.

24/03/1960

Jan Berglin, Swedish cartoonist

Jan Berglin is a Swedish cartoonist who made his debut in the Uppsala student newspaper Ergo in 1985. After completing his studies, Berglin has been living in Gävle where he works as a teacher of Swedish and religion. He published his early strips in the local social democratic newspaper Arbetarbladet, but became known to a wider audience in 1995, when he started to draw for the Stockholm-based but nationally distributed conservative newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. His strips have been collected and republished in several albums.

Barry Horowitz, American wrestler

Barry Horowitz is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

Nena, German singer-songwriter and actress

Gabriele Susanne Kerner, better known by her stage name Nena, is a German singer who rose to international fame in 1983 as the lead vocalist of the band Nena with the Neue Deutsche Welle song "99 Luftballons". In that same year, the band re-recorded this song in English as "99 Red Balloons". Nena's re-recording of some of the band's old hit songs as a solo artist, produced by the co-composer of most of them, her former Nena band colleague and keyboard player Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, rekindled her solo career in 2002. Combined with the success of the Nena band years, she has sold over 25 million records, making her the most successful German pop singer in chart history.

Scott Pruett, American race car driver

Scott Donald Pruett is an American former racing driver who has competed in numerous disciplines of the sport. In the 1980s, Pruett established himself as a top sports car racer, winning two IMSA GTO, and three Trans-Am championships. Later in his career, he won five Grand-Am championships. In the 1990s, Pruett competed in CART Championship cars. After a brief stint in NASCAR, he returned to sports cars.

Annabella Sciorra, American actress

Annabella Gloria Philomena Sciorra is an American actress. She came to prominence with her film debut in True Love (1989) and worked steadily throughout the 1990s in films such as Jungle Fever (1991), The Hard Way (1991), The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), The Addiction (1995), Cop Land (1997), and What Dreams May Come (1998). She received an Emmy Award nomination for her portrayal of Gloria Trillo on The Sopranos (2001–2004), appeared as Detective Carolyn Barek on Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2005–2006), and had recurring roles on GLOW (2018), Truth Be Told (2019–2020), and Tulsa King (2022). Her stage credits include The Motherfucker with the Hat.

24/03/1959

Emmit King, American sprinter (died 2021)

Emmit King was an American track and field sprinter, who twice was a member of the American Relay Team for the Summer Olympics but he did not compete. He is best known for winning the bronze medal at the inaugural 1983 World Championships in the men's 100 metres. At the same championships, he was part of the team that won gold in the 4 × 100 m relay for the United States, and in doing so set a new world record of 37.86 s. He set his personal best (10.04) in the 100 metres on June 17, 1988, at the 1988 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Tampa, Florida.

Renaldo Nehemiah, American hurdler and football player

Renaldo Nehemiah is a retired American track and field athlete who specialized in the 110 m hurdles. He was ranked number one in the world for four straight years, and is a former world record holder. Nehemiah is the first man to run the event in under 13 seconds. Nehemiah also played pro football in the National Football League (NFL) as a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers from 1982 to 1985, before returning to track and field athletics from 1986 to 1991. After retiring from competition, he has worked in sports management.

Derek Statham, English footballer

Derek James Statham is an English former footballer who played at left-back. He played for West Bromwich Albion, Southampton, Walsall and Stoke City.

24/03/1958

Mike Woodson, American basketball player and coach

Michael Dean Woodson is an American professional basketball coach and former professional basketball player who is the associate head coach of the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

24/03/1957

Pierre Harvey, Canadian cyclist and skier

Pierre Harvey, is a Canadian sports athlete. He was the first Canadian male athlete to compete in both the 1984 Summer Olympics and 1984 Winter Olympics.

24/03/1956

Steve Ballmer, American businessman

Steven Anthony Ballmer is an American businessman and investor who was the chief executive officer of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. He is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and a co-founder of the Ballmer Group, a philanthropic investment company.

Bill Wray, American cartoonist and painter

William York Wray, known professionally in animation as Bill Wray, is an American cartoonist, animator and landscape painter. He is best known for his contributions to Mad and The Ren & Stimpy Show, as well as his current focus on regional landscape painting.

24/03/1955

Doug Jarvis, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Douglas McArthur Jarvis is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals and Hartford Whalers in the National Hockey League. He was a four-time Stanley Cup winner with the Canadiens.

Pat Price, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Shaun Patrick Price is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) for the Vancouver Blazers and the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Quebec Nordiques, New York Rangers and Minnesota North Stars. He reached the NHL playoff semifinals four times, three times with the Islanders and once with the Nordiques.

24/03/1954

Rafael Orozco Maestre, Colombian singer (died 1992)

Rafael José Orozco Maestre was a Colombian singer of vallenato music. He was one of the major representatives of Colombian popular folk music and was lead singer and co-founder, alongside fellow accordionist Israel Romero, of the vallenato group Binomio de Oro de América, which was very popular in Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela.

24/03/1953

Anita L. Allen, American lawyer, philosopher, and academic

Anita LaFrance Allen is the Henry R. Silverman Professor of Law and professor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She was formerly Vice Provost for Faculty from 2013 to 2020.

Louie Anderson, American actor and comedian (died 2022)

Louis Perry Anderson was an American stand-up comedian, actor, author and game show host. He created the cartoon series Life with Louie and the television sitcom The Louie Show, and wrote four books, including Hey Mom: Stories for My Mother, But You Can Read Them Too, which was published in 2018. Anderson was the third host of the game show Family Feud from 1999 to 2002 — the first host in its third and current run.

24/03/1952

Greg McCrary, American football player (died 2013)

Gregory Alonza McCrary was an American professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons, Washington Redskins, and the San Diego Chargers. He played college football for the Clark Atlanta Panthers and was selected in the fifth round of the 1975 NFL draft.

24/03/1951

Peter Boyle, Scottish-Australian footballer and manager (died 2013)

Peter Boyle was a footballer and manager who played as a striker. Born in Scotland, he represented Australia at international level.

Pat Bradley, American golfer

Pat Bradley is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1974 and won 31 tour events, including six major championships. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Tommy Hilfiger, American fashion designer, founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation

Thomas Jacob Hilfiger is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation.

Anna Włodarczyk, Polish long jumper and coach

Anna Bożena Włodarczyk is a Polish athlete. She is the 1980 European long jump champion.

24/03/1950

Gary Wichard, American football player and agent (died 2011)

Gary Theodore Wichard was a college football player and professional sports agent.

24/03/1949

Tabitha King, American author and poet

Tabitha Jane King is an American author.

Ruud Krol, Dutch footballer and coach

Rudolf Jozef "Ruud" Krol is a Dutch former professional footballer who was capped 83 times for the Netherlands national team. Most of his career he played for his home town club, Ajax. He became a coach after retirement. Regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time, Krol mainly played as a sweeper or left-back, though he could play anywhere across the back line, or in midfield as a defensive midfielder, due to his range of passing with both feet, temperament, tactical intelligence, and his ability to start attacking plays after winning back the ball.

Steve Lang, Canadian bass player (died 2017)

Stephen Keith Lang was a Canadian bassist best known for his time and work with the rock band April Wine from 1976 to 1984 during the band's most successful years.

Ali Akbar Salehi, Iranian academic and politician, 36th Foreign Affairs Minister of Iran

Ali Akbar Salehi is an Iranian academic, diplomat and former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, who served in this position from 2009 to 2010 and also from 2013 to 2021. He served for the first time as head of the AEOI from 2009 to 2010 and was appointed to the post for a second time on 16 August 2013. Before the appointment of his latter position, he was foreign affairs minister from 2010 to 2013. He was also the Iranian representative in the International Atomic Energy Agency from 1998 to 2003.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 13th prime minister of Sri Lanka

Ranil Wickremesinghe is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the ninth president of Sri Lanka from 2022 to 2024. He has also served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1993–1994, 2001–2004, 2015–2018, 2018-2019 and in 2022. Wickremesinghe has held several ministerial roles, including Minister of Finance, Minister of Defence, Minister of Technology and Minister of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment. Wickremesinghe has led the United National Party (UNP) since 1994. He is also the eighth executive president of Sri Lanka, a role established by the 1977 constitutional amendment that expanded presidential powers.

24/03/1948

Javier Diez Canseco, Peruvian sociologist and politician (died 2013)

Javier Diez Canseco Cisneros was a Peruvian politician and member of the Peruvian Congress representing the Socialist Party of Peru (PS), of which he was a founding member and also served as its Party President.

Jerzy Kukuczka, Polish mountaineer (died 1989)

Józef Jerzy Kukuczka was a Polish mountaineer, regarded as one of the greatest high-altitude climbers in history. In 1987, he became the second man to climb all 14 eight-thousanders in the world, a feat known as the "Crown of the Himalayas." He accomplished this feat in less than eight years, and climbed all, except for Lhotse, by new routes or in winter. He is the only person to have climbed two eight-thousanders in one winter, and his ascents of Cho Oyu, Kangchenjunga and Annapurna were the first winter ascents. His ascent of K2 in 1986, in alpine style with Tadeusz Piotrowski, is now known as the Polish Line. No other mountaineers have attempted an ascent using the route since.

24/03/1947

Dennis Erickson, American football player and coach

Dennis Brian Erickson is an American football coach who most recently served as the head coach for the Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) league. He was also the head coach at the University of Idaho, the University of Wyoming (1986), Washington State University (1987–1988), the University of Miami (1989–1994), Oregon State University (1999–2002), and Arizona State University (2007–2011). During his tenure at Miami, Erickson's teams won two national championships, in 1989 and 1991. A coach who won conference championships with four different programs, his record as a college football head coach is 179–96–1 (.650).

Christine Gregoire, American lawyer and politician, 22nd governor of Washington

Christine Gregoire is an American attorney and politician who served as the 22nd governor of Washington, from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she was elected in 2004 and re-elected in 2008, the first of which was the closest gubernatorial election in the history of Washington. She was the state’s second female governor. Gregoire served as chair of the National Governors Association from 2010 to 2011. She also served on the governors' council of the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Mick Jones, English footballer and coach (died 2022)

Michael Jones was an English professional footballer and coach.

Alan Sugar, English businessman

Alan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar is a British businessman, entrepreneur and television personality.

24/03/1946

Klaus Dinger, German guitarist and songwriter (died 2008)

Klaus Dinger was a German musician and songwriter most famous for his contributions to the seminal krautrock band Neu!. He was also the guitarist and chief songwriter of new wave group La Düsseldorf and briefly the percussionist of Kraftwerk.

Kitty O'Neil, American stuntwoman (died 2018)

Kitty Linn O'Neil was an American stuntwoman and auto-racer, often called "the fastest woman in the world" for her various speed records. Her women's absolute land speed record stood until 2019.

24/03/1945

Robert T. Bakker, American paleontologist and academic

Robert Thomas Bakker is an American paleontologist who helped reshape modern theories about dinosaurs, particularly by adding support to the theory that some dinosaurs were endothermic (warm-blooded). Along with his mentor John Ostrom, Bakker was responsible for initiating the ongoing "dinosaur renaissance" in paleontological studies, beginning with Bakker's article "Dinosaur Renaissance" in the April 1975 issue of Scientific American. His specialty is the ecological context and behavior of dinosaurs.

Curtis Hanson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2016)

Curtis Lee Hanson was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Born in Reno, Nevada, Hanson grew up in Los Angeles. After dropping out of high school, Hanson worked as photographer and editor for Cinema magazine. In the 1970s, Hanson participated as a writer for the horror film The Dunwich Horror (1970) and made his directorial debut the B-Movie Sweet Kill (1973), where he lacked creative control to fulfill his vision. While Hanson continued directing, he rose to prominence screenwriting critically acclaimed films such as The Silent Partner (1978), White Dog (1982), and Never Cry Wolf (1983).

Patrick Malahide, English actor and screenwriter

Patrick Gerald Duggan, known professionally as Patrick Malahide, is a British actor of stage and screen. His acting credits include The New Avengers (1976), ITV Playhouse (1977), The Eagle of the Ninth (1977), Sweeney 2 (1978), Comfort and Joy (1984), The Singing Detective (1986), A Month in the Country (1987), Minder (1979–1988), Middlemarch (1994), The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries (1993–1994), Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001), The World Is Not Enough (1999), Brideshead Revisited (2008), The Paradise (2012), Luther (2015–2019), Bridget Jones's Baby (2016), Game of Thrones (2012–2016), Mortal Engines (2018), The Protégé (2021), and Liaison (2023).

24/03/1944

R. Lee Ermey, American sergeant and actor (died 2018)

Ronald Lee Ermey was an American actor and U.S. Marine drill instructor. He achieved fame for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Ermey was also a United States Marine Corps staff sergeant and an honorary gunnery sergeant.

Vojislav Koštunica, Serbian academic and politician, 8th prime minister of Serbia

Vojislav Koštunica is a Serbian former politician who served as the last president of FR Yugoslavia from 2000 to 2003 and as the prime minister of Serbia from 2004 to 2008.

24/03/1942

Jesús Alou, Dominican baseball player (died 2023)

Jesús María Rojas Alou was a Dominican professional baseball outfielder. During a 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played for the San Francisco Giants (1963–68), the Houston Astros, the Oakland Athletics (1973–74), and the New York Mets (1975). He was the youngest of a trio of baseball-playing brothers that included Felipe and Matty.

24/03/1941

Michael Masser, American songwriter, composer and producer (died 2015)

Michael William Masser was an American songwriter, composer and producer of popular music.

24/03/1940

Bob Mackie, American fashion designer

Robert Gordon Mackie is an American fashion designer and costumier, best known for his dressing of numerous entertainment personalities for television, movies, concerts, and live stage shows. He was the costume designer for all of the performers on The Carol Burnett Show during its entire eleven-year run, and the creator of memorable ensembles for Cher and Elton John.

24/03/1938

Holger Czukay, German musician (died 2017)

Holger Schüring, known professionally as Holger Czukay, was a German musician who co-founded the krautrock group Can. Described as "successfully bridg[ing] the gap between pop and the avant-garde", Czukay also created early important examples of ambient music, explored "world music" well before the term was coined, and was a pioneer of sampling.

David Irving, English historian and author

David John Cawdell Irving is an English author who has written on the military and political history of the Second World War, especially Nazi Germany. He was found to be a Holocaust denier in a British court in 2000 as a result of a failed libel case.

Larry Wilson, American football player (died 2020)

Lawrence Frank Wilson was an American professional football safety who played with the St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). An eight-time Pro Bowl selection, he played his entire 13-year career with the Cardinals and remained on the team's payroll until 2003, long after the team moved to Phoenix in the 1988 season.

24/03/1937

Billy Stewart, American singer and pianist (died 1970)

William Larry Stewart II was an American R&B singer and pianist popular during the 1960s.

24/03/1936

Don Covay, American singer-songwriter (died 2015)

Donald James Randolph, better known by the stage name Don Covay, was an American R&B, rock and roll, and soul singer-songwriter most active from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Alex Olmedo, Peruvian-American tennis player (died 2020)

Alejandro "Alex" Olmedo Rodríguez was a tennis player from Peru with American citizenship. He was listed by the USTA as a "foreign" player for 1958, but as a U.S. player for 1959. He helped win the Davis Cup for the United States in 1958 and was the No. 2 ranked amateur in 1959. Olmedo won two Majors in 1959 and the U.S. Pro Championships in 1960, and was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987.

24/03/1935

Carol Kaye, American bass guitarist

Carol Kaye is an American musician. She is one of the most prolific recorded bass guitarists in rock and pop music, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career lasting over 65 years.

24/03/1933

Stephen De Staebler, American sculptor and educator (died 2011)

Stephen De Staebler was an American sculptor, printmaker, and educator, he was best recognized for his work in clay and bronze. Totemic and fragmented in form, De Staebler's figurative sculptures call forth the many contingencies of the human condition, such as resiliency and fragility, growth and decay, earthly boundedness and the possibility for spiritual transcendence. An important figure in the California Clay Movement, he is credited with "sustaining the figurative tradition in post-World War II decades when the relevance and even possibility of embracing the human figure seemed problematic at best."

Lee Mendelson, American television producer (died 2019)

Leland Maurice Mendelson was an American animation producer and executive producer of many Peanuts animated specials.

24/03/1931

Hanno Drechsler, German educator and politician, Mayor of Marburg (died 2003)

Hanno Drechsler was the Lord Mayor of the City of Marburg, Germany between 1970 and 1992, and the instigator of its restoration after urban renewal; he was also an important Social Democratic politician and political scientist.

24/03/1930

David Dacko, Central African politician, 1st president of the Central African Republic (died 2003)

David Dacko was a Central African politician who served as the first President of the Central African Republic from 14 August 1960 to 31 December 1965 and as the third President of the Central African Republic from 21 September 1979 to 1 September 1981. He also served as Prime Minister of the Central African Republic from 1 May 1959 to 14 August 1960. After his second removal from power in a coup d'état led by General André Kolingba, he pursued an active career as an opposition politician and presidential candidate with many loyal supporters; Dacko was an important political figure in the country for over 50 years.

Steve McQueen, American actor and producer (died 1980)

Terrence Stephen McQueen was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of 1960s counterculture, made him a top box office draw for his films of the late 1950s to the mid-1970s. He was nicknamed the "King of Cool" and used the alias "Harvey Mushman" when participating in motor races.

24/03/1929

Pat Renella, Italian-American actor (died 2012)

Pat Renella was an American actor. His motion picture debut was as an engineer in the space drama X-15 (1961) starring David McLean and Charles Bronson.

24/03/1928

Byron Janis, American pianist and composer (died 2024)

Byron Janis was an American classical pianist. He made numerous recordings for RCA Victor and Mercury Records, and occupies two volumes of the Philips series Great Pianists of the 20th Century. His discography covered repertoire from Bach to David W. Guion and included major piano concertos from Mozart to Rachmaninoff and Liszt to Prokofiev.

24/03/1927

John Woodland Hastings, American biochemist and academic (died 2014)

John Woodland "Woody" Hastings, was a leader in the field of photobiology, especially bioluminescence, and was one of the founders of the field of circadian biology. He was the Paul C. Mangelsdorf Professor of Natural Sciences and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University. He published over 400 papers and co-edited three books.

Martin Walser, German author and playwright (died 2023)

Martin Johannes Walser was a German writer, known especially as a novelist. He began his career as journalist for Süddeutscher Rundfunk, where he wrote and directed audio plays. He was a member of Group 47 from 1953 on.

24/03/1926

Desmond Connell, Irish cardinal (died 2017)

Desmond Connell was an Irish cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. He was an Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland. Cardinal Connell was one of a number of senior clergy to have been heavily criticised for inaction, making misleading statements and covering up clerical sex abuse in Dublin. He died on 21 February 2017, aged 90.

Dario Fo, Italian playwright, actor, director, and composer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2016)

Dario Luigi Angelo Fo was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. In his time he was "arguably the most widely performed contemporary playwright in world theatre". Much of his dramatic work depends on improvisation and comprises the recovery of "illegitimate" forms of theatre, such as those performed by giullari and, more famously, the ancient Italian style of commedia dell'arte.

William Porter, American hurdler (died 2000)

William "Bill" Franklin Porter III was an American track and field athlete, gold medal winner of the 110-meter hurdles at the 1948 Summer Olympics.

24/03/1924

Norman Fell, American actor (died 1998)

Norman Fell was an American actor of film and television, most famous for his role as landlord Mr. Roper on the sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers, and his film roles in Ocean's 11 (1960), The Graduate (1967), and Bullitt (1968). Early in his career, he was billed as Norman Feld.

24/03/1923

Murray Hamilton, American actor (died 1986)

Murray Hamilton was an American stage, screen and television character actor who appeared in such acclaimed films as The Spirit of St. Louis, Anatomy of a Murder, The Hustler, The Graduate, The Way We Were, Jaws and The Amityville Horror.

Michael Legat, English author and publisher (died 2011)

Michael Legat was a British writer of writers' guides and romance novels. He was Chairman of Swanwick writers' summer school and an associate vice-president of the Romantic Novelists' Association.

24/03/1922

Onna White, Canadian dancer and choreographer (died 2005)

Onna White was a Canadian choreographer and dancer, nominated for eight Tony Awards.

24/03/1921

Franciszek Blachnicki, Polish priest (died 1987)

Franciszek Blachnicki was a Polish Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Light-Life movement, also known as the Oasis Movement, and the Secular Institute of the Immaculate Mother of the Church. He founded several other movements and religious congregations that would address a range of social and ethical issues. These issues included anti-alcoholism and human rights. His movements first came about after starting out as simple retreats designed for both altar servers and families that later began to address a series of issues in Poland at the time. His concern for human rights came during the communist era in Poland as well as his experiences as a prisoner of war during World War II in which he was incarcerated in Auschwitz and other concentration camps under the German Nazi regime.

Vasily Smyslov, Russian chess player (died 2010)

Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who was the seventh World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions. Smyslov twice tied for first place at the USSR Chess Championships, and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won is an all-time record. In five European Team Championships, Smyslov won ten gold medals.

24/03/1920

Gene Nelson, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1996)

Gene Nelson was an American actor, dancer, screenwriter, and director.

Mary Stolz, American author (died 2006)

Mary Stolz was an American writer of fiction for children and young adults. She received the 1953 Child Study Association of America's Children's Book Award for In a Mirror, Newbery Honors in 1962 for Belling the Tiger and 1966 for The Noonday Friends, and her entire body of work was awarded the George G. Stone Recognition of Merit in 1982.

24/03/1919

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, American poet and publisher, co-founded City Lights Bookstore (died 2021)

Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti was an American poet, painter, social activist, and co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers. An author of poetry, translations, fiction, theatre, art criticism, and film narration, Ferlinghetti was best known for his second collection of poems, A Coney Island of the Mind (1958), which has been translated into nine languages and sold over a million copies. When Ferlinghetti turned 100 in March 2019, the city of San Francisco turned his birthday, March 24, into "Lawrence Ferlinghetti Day".

Robert Heilbroner, American economist and historian (died 2005)

Robert L. Heilbroner was an American economist and historian of economic thought. The author of some two dozen books, Heilbroner was best known for The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers (1953), a survey of the lives and contributions of famous economists, notably Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes.

24/03/1917

Constantine Andreou, Greek painter and sculptor (died 2007)

Constantine Andreou was a Brazilian-born Greek painter and sculptor with a highly successful career that spanned six decades. Andreou has been praised by many as an eminent figure in international art of the 20th century.

John Kendrew, English biochemist and crystallographer, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1997)

Sir John Cowdery Kendrew, was an English biochemist, crystallographer, and science administrator. Kendrew shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Max Perutz, for their work at the Cavendish Laboratory to investigate the structure of haem-containing proteins.

24/03/1916

Donald Hamilton, Swedish-American soldier and author (died 2006)

Donald Bengtsson Hamilton was an American writer of novels, short stories, and non-fiction about the outdoors. His novels consist mostly of paperback originals, principally spy fiction, but also crime fiction and westerns, such as The Big Country. He is known best for his long-running Matt Helm series (1960–1993), which chronicles the adventures of an undercover counter-agent/assassin working for a secret American government agency. The noted critic Anthony Boucher wrote: "Donald Hamilton has brought to the spy novel the authentic hard realism of Dashiell Hammett; and his stories are as compelling, and probably as close to the sordid truth of espionage, as any now being told."

Harry B. Whittington, English palaeontologist and academic (died 2010)

Harry Blackmore Whittington FRS was a British palaeontologist who made a major contribution to the study of fossils of the Burgess Shale and other Cambrian fauna. His works are largely responsible for the concept of Cambrian explosion, whereby modern animal body plans are explained to originate during a short span of geological period. With initial work on trilobites, his discoveries revealed that these arthropods were the most diversified of all invertebrates during the Cambrian Period. He was responsible for setting the standard for naming and describing the delicate fossils preserved in Konservat-Lagerstätten.

24/03/1915

Eugène Martin, French racing driver (died 2006)

Eugène Martin was a racing driver from France. He participated in two Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 13 May 1950. He scored no championship points.

24/03/1912

Dorothy Height, American educator and activist (died 2010)

Dorothy Irene Height was an African-American civil rights and women's rights activist. She focused on the issues of Foundational Black American women, including unemployment, illiteracy, and voter awareness. Height is credited as the first leader in the civil rights movement to recognize inequality for women and Foundational Black Americans as problems that should be considered as a whole. She was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years. Height's role in the "Big Six" civil rights movement was frequently ignored by the press due to sexism. In 1974, she was named to the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, which published the Belmont Report, a bioethics report in response to the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study.

24/03/1911

Joseph Barbera, American animator, director, and producer, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (died 2006)

Joseph Roland Barbera was an American animator and cartoonist. He co-founded the animation studio Hanna-Barbera alongside William Hanna.

24/03/1910

Richard Conte, American actor, singer, and director (died 1975)

Richard Conte was an American actor. He was known for his starring roles in films noir and crime dramas during the 1940s and 1950s, including Call Northside 777, Cry of the City, House of Strangers, Whirlpool, The Blue Gardenia, and The Big Combo.

24/03/1909

Clyde Barrow, American criminal (died 1934)

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut "Champion" Barrow were American outlaws who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression, committing a series of criminal acts such as bank robberies, kidnappings and murders between 1932 and 1934. The couple were known for their bank robberies and multiple murders, although they preferred to rob small stores or rural gas stations. Their exploits captured the attention of the American press and its readership during what is occasionally referred to as the "public enemy era" between 1931 and 1934. On May 23, 1934, they were ambushed and killed on Louisiana Highway 154 in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, by a law enforcement posse led by retired Texas Ranger Frank Hamer. They are believed to have murdered at least nine police officers and three civilians.

Richard Wurmbrand, Romanian pastor and evangelist (died 2001)

Richard Wurmbrand, also known as Nicolai Ionescu, was a Romanian Evangelical Lutheran priest, and professor of Jewish descent. In 1948, having become a Christian ten years before, he publicly said Communism and Christianity were incompatible. Wurmbrand preached at bomb shelters and rescued Jews during World War II. He experienced imprisonment and torture by the Communist regime of Romania, which maintained a policy of state atheism.

24/03/1907

Paul Sauvé, Canadian lawyer and politician, 17th premier of Quebec (died 1960)

Joseph-Mignault-Paul Sauvé was a Canadian lawyer, World War II veteran, and politician. He was the 17th premier of Quebec in 1959 and 1960.

24/03/1905

Pura Santillan-Castrence, Filipino author and diplomat (died 2007)

Pura Santillan-Castrence was a Filipino writer and diplomat. Of Filipino women writers, she was among the first to gain prominence writing in the English language. She was named a Chevalier de Légion d'honneur by the French government.

24/03/1903

Adolf Butenandt, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1995)

Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt was a German biochemist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1939 for his "work on sex hormones." He initially rejected the award in accordance with government policy, but accepted it in 1949 after World War II. He was President of the Max Planck Society from 1960 to 1972. He was also the first, in 1959, to discover the structure of the sex pheromone of silkworms, which he named bombykol.

Malcolm Muggeridge, English journalist, author, and scholar (died 1990)

Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge was a British journalist and satirist. His father, H. T. Muggeridge, was a socialist politician and one of the early Labour Party Members of Parliament. Malcolm's brother Eric was one of the founders of Plan International. In his twenties, Muggeridge was attracted to communism and went to live in the Soviet Union in the 1930s, and the experience turned him into an anti-communist.

24/03/1902

Thomas E. Dewey, American lawyer and politician, 47th governor of New York (died 1971)

Thomas Edmund Dewey was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican Party's nominee for president of the United States in 1944 and 1948, losing the former election to Franklin D. Roosevelt and the latter election to Harry S. Truman in a major upset.

24/03/1901

Ub Iwerks, American animator, director, and producer, co-created Mickey Mouse (died 1971)

Ub Iwerks was an American animator, cartoonist, film director, film producer, character designer, inventor, and special effects technician. He was widely known for his early work with Walt Disney Productions, especially for having worked on the creation of Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, among other characters.

José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer (died 1968)

José Nasazzi Yarza was a Uruguayan footballer who played as a right-back or centre-back. He captained his country when they won the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930.

24/03/1897

Wilhelm Reich, Austrian-American psychotherapist and academic (died 1957)

Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian doctor of medicine and a psychoanalyst, a member of the second generation of analysts after Sigmund Freud. The author of several influential books, The Impulsive Character (1925), The Function of the Orgasm (1927), Character Analysis (1933), and The Mass Psychology of Fascism (1933), he became one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry.

24/03/1893

Walter Baade, German astronomer and author (died 1960)

Wilhelm Heinrich Walter Baade was a German astronomer who worked in the United States from 1931 to 1959.

George Sisler, American baseball player and scout (died 1973)

George Harold Sisler, nicknamed "Gorgeous George", was an American professional baseball first baseman and player-manager. From 1915 through 1930, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators, and Boston Braves. He managed the Browns from 1924 through 1926.

24/03/1892

Marston Morse, American mathematician and academic (died 1977)

Harold Calvin Marston Morse was an American mathematician best known for his work on the calculus of variations in the large, a subject where he introduced the technique of differential topology now known as Morse theory. The Morse–Palais lemma, one of the key results in Morse theory, is named after him, as is the Thue–Morse sequence, an infinite binary sequence with many applications.

24/03/1891

Sergey Ivanovich Vavilov, Russian physicist and academic (died 1951)

Sergey Ivanovich Vavilov was a Soviet physicist, the President of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union from July 1945 until his death. His elder brother Nikolai Vavilov was a famous Russian geneticist.

24/03/1890

Agnes Macphail, Canadian educator and politician (died 1954)

Agnes Campbell Macphail was a Canadian politician and the first woman elected to Canada's House of Commons. She served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1921 to 1940; from 1943 to 1945 and again from 1948 to 1951, she served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the Toronto riding of York East. Active throughout her life in progressive politics, Macphail worked for multiple parties, most prominently the Progressive Party, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and the United Farmers of Ontario. She promoted her ideas through column-writing, activist organizing, and legislation.

24/03/1889

Albert Hill, English-Canadian runner (died 1969)

Albert George Hill was a British track and field athlete. He competed at the 1920 Olympics and won gold medals in the 800 m and 1500 m and a silver medal in the 3000 m team race.

24/03/1888

Viktor Kingissepp, Estonian politician (died 1922)

Viktor Eduard Kingissepp was an Estonian communist politician who was a founder and leading member of the Estonian Communist Party.

24/03/1887

Roscoe Arbuckle, American actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1933)

Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle was an American silent film actor, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked with Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd as well as with his nephew, Al St. John. He also mentored Charlie Chaplin, Monty Banks and Bob Hope, and brought vaudeville star Buster Keaton into the movie business. Arbuckle was one of the most popular silent stars of the 1910s and one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood, signing a contract in 1920 with Paramount Pictures for $1 million a year.

24/03/1886

Edward Weston, American photographer (died 1958)

Edward Henry Weston was an American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his 40-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of subjects, including landscapes, still lifes, nudes, portraits, genre scenes, and even whimsical parodies. It is said that he developed a "quintessentially American, and especially Californian, approach to modern photography" because of his focus on the people and places of the American West. In 1937 Weston was the first photographer to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship, and over the next two years he produced nearly 1,400 negatives using his 8 × 10 view camera. Some of his most famous photographs were taken of the trees and rocks at Point Lobos, California, near where he lived for many years.

Robert Mallet-Stevens, French architect and designer (died 1945)

Robert Mallet-Stevens was a French architect, designer, production designer and professor.

24/03/1885

Charles Daniels, American swimmer (died 1973)

Charles Meldrum Daniels was an American competition swimmer, eight-time Olympic medalist, and world record-holder in two freestyle swimming events. Daniels was an innovator of the front crawl swimming style, helping to develop the "American crawl".

Dimitrie Cuclin, Romanian violinist and composer (died 1978)

Dimitrie Cuclin was a Romanian classical music composer, musicologist, philosopher, translator, and writer.

24/03/1884

Peter Debye, Dutch-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1966)

Peter Joseph William Debye was a Dutch-American physicist and physical chemist, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry.

Chika Kuroda, Japanese chemist (died 1968)

Chika Kuroda was a Japanese chemist whose research focused on natural pigments. She was the first woman in Japan to receive a Bachelor of Science.

Eugène Tisserant, French cardinal (died 1972)

Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant was a French prelate and cardinal of the Catholic Church. Elevated to the cardinalate in 1936, Tisserant was a prominent and long-time member of the Roman Curia.

24/03/1883

Dorothy Campbell, Scottish-American golfer (died 1945)

Dorothy Lee Campbell was a Scottish amateur golfer. Campbell was the first woman to win the American, British and Canadian Women's Amateurs.

24/03/1882

Marcel Lalu, French gymnast (died 1951)

Marcel Lalu was a French gymnast who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics, in the 1908 Summer Olympics, and in the 1912 Summer Olympics. In 1900 he finished eighth in the combined exercises competition which was the only Olympic gymnastic event. Eight years later he finished seventh in the 1908 all-around competition and at the 1912 Games he finished again seventh in the all-around contest.

George Monckton-Arundell, 8th Viscount Galway, English politician, 5th governor-general of New Zealand (died 1943)

George Vere Arundell Monckton-Arundell, 8th Viscount Galway, was a British politician. He served as the fifth Governor-General of New Zealand from 1935 to 1941.

24/03/1879

Neyzen Tevfik, Turkish philosopher, poet, and composer (died 1953)

Tevfik Kolaylı, better known by his pen name Neyzen Tevfik, was a Turkish poet, satirist, and neyzen. Tevfik was born in Bodrum and died in Istanbul. In addition to his satire, he composed taksims and saz semais. He used satire against tyranny during the Ottoman period and against those who opposed revolutions during the Republic years. He wrote poems criticising injustice and corruption. He was frequently arrested.

24/03/1875

William Burns, Canadian lacrosse player (died 1953)

William Laurie Burns was a Canadian lacrosse player who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics. In 1904 he was member of the Shamrock Lacrosse Team which won the gold medal in the lacrosse tournament.

24/03/1874

Luigi Einaudi, Italian economist and politician, 2nd president of the Italian Republic (died 1961)

Luigi Numa Lorenzo Einaudi was an Italian politician, economist and banker who served as the president of Italy from 1948 to 1955 and is considered one of the founding fathers of the Italian Republic.

Harry Houdini, Hungarian-American magician and actor (died 1926)

Erik Weisz, known professionally as Harry Houdini, was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts.

24/03/1871

Alec Hurley, English music hall singer (died 1913)

Alexander Hurley was an English music hall singer, and Marie Lloyd's second husband.

24/03/1869

Émile Fabre, French author and playwright (died 1955)

Émile Fabre was a French playwright and general administrator of the Comédie-Française from 1915 to

24/03/1862

Frank Weston Benson, American painter and educator (died 1951)

Frank Weston Benson, frequently referred to as Frank W. Benson, was an American artist from Salem, Massachusetts, known for his Realistic portraits, American Impressionist paintings, watercolors and etchings. He began his career painting portraits of distinguished families and murals for the Library of Congress. Some of his best known paintings depict his daughters outdoors at Benson's summer home, Wooster Farm, on the island of North Haven, Maine. He also produced numerous oil, wash and watercolor paintings and etchings of wildfowl and landscapes.

24/03/1855

Andrew W. Mellon, American banker, financier, and diplomat, 49th United States Secretary of the Treasury (died 1937)

Andrew William Mellon, known also as A. W. Mellon, was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. The son of Mellon family patriarch Thomas Mellon, he established a vast business empire before moving into politics. He served as United States Secretary of the Treasury from March 9, 1921, to February 12, 1932, presiding over the boom years of the 1920s and the Wall Street crash of 1929. A conservative Republican, Mellon favored policies that reduced taxation and the national debt of the United States in the aftermath of World War I. Mellon also helped fund and manage Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania.

Olive Schreiner, South African author and activist (died 1920)

Olive Schreiner was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel The Story of an African Farm (1883), which has been highly acclaimed. It deals boldly with such contemporary issues as agnosticism, existential independence, individualism, the professional aspirations of women, and the elemental nature of life on the colonial frontier.

24/03/1854

Henry Lefroy, Australian politician, 11th premier of Western Australia (died 1930)

Sir Henry Bruce Lefroy was the eleventh Premier of Western Australia.

24/03/1850

Silas Hocking, English minister and author (died 1935)

Silas Kitto Hocking was a Cornish novelist and Methodist preacher. He is known for his novel for youth called Her Benny (1879), which was a best-seller.

24/03/1848

Honoré Beaugrand, Canadian journalist and politician, 18th mayor of Montreal (died 1906)

Honoré Beaugrand was a French Canadian journalist, politician, author and folklorist, born in Saint-Joseph-de-Lanoraie, Quebec.

24/03/1835

Joseph Stefan, Slovene physicist, mathematician, and poet (died 1893)

Josef Stefan was a Carinthian Slovene physicist, mathematician, and poet of the Austrian Empire.

24/03/1834

William Morris, English textile designer, poet, and author (died 1896)

William Morris was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he campaigned for socialism in fin de siècle Great Britain.

John Wesley Powell, American soldier, geologist, and explorer (died 1902)

John Wesley Powell was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He is famous for his 1869 geographic expedition, a three-month river trip down the Green and Colorado rivers, including the first official U.S. government-sponsored passage through the Grand Canyon.

24/03/1830

Robert Hamerling, Austrian poet and playwright (died 1889)

Robert Hamerling was an Austrian poet.

24/03/1829

George Francis Train, American businessman (died 1904)

George Francis Train was an American businessman who organized the clipper ship line that sailed around Cape Horn to San Francisco; he also was an organizer of the Union Pacific Railroad and the Credit Mobilier in the United States in 1864 to construct the eastern portion of the Transcontinental Railroad, and a horse tramway company in England while there during the American Civil War.

Ignacio Zaragoza, Mexican general (died 1862)

Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín was a Mexican military officer and politician. He is best known for leading a Mexican army of 3,791 men which defeated a 5,730-strong force of French troops at the battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862 during the second French intervention in Mexico. The Mexican victory is celebrated annually as Cinco de Mayo.

24/03/1828

Horace Gray, American lawyer and jurist (died 1902)

Horace Gray was an American jurist who served on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and then on the United States Supreme Court, where he frequently interpreted the Constitution in ways that increased the powers of Congress. He was a staunch supporter of the authority of precedent throughout his career, and would write landmark opinions in cases such as Elk v. Wilkins and United States v. Wong Kim Ark.

24/03/1826

Matilda Joslyn Gage, American activist and author (died 1898)

Matilda Joslyn Gage was an American writer and activist. She is mainly known for her contributions to women's suffrage in the United States, but also campaigned for Native American rights, abolitionism, and freethought. She is the eponym for the Matilda effect, which describes the tendency to deny women credit for scientific invention. She influenced her son-in-law L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

24/03/1823

Thomas Spencer Baynes, English philosopher and critic (died 1887)

Thomas Spencer Baynes was an English writer and scholar. He was best known for serving as the Editor-in-Chief of Encyclopædia Britannica. He was also well known for his essays in the Edinburgh Review and Fraser's Magazine.

24/03/1820

Edmond Becquerel, French physicist and academic (died 1891)

Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel was a French physicist who studied the solar spectrum, magnetism, electricity, and optics. In 1839, he discovered the photovoltaic effect, the operating principle of the solar cell, which he invented in the same year. He is also known for his work in luminescence and phosphorescence. He was the son of Antoine César Becquerel and the father of Henri Becquerel, the discoverer of radioactivity.

Fanny Crosby, American poet and composer (died 1915)

Frances Jane van Alstyne, more commonly known as Fanny J. Crosby, was an American mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer. A prolific hymnist, she wrote more than 8,000 hymns and gospel songs, with more than 100 million copies printed. She is also known for her teaching and rescue mission work. By the end of the 19th century, she had become a household name.

24/03/1816

Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos, Mexican politician and Roman Catholic archbishop, regent during the Second Mexican Empire (died 1891)

Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos was a Roman Catholic Mexican prelate, lawyer, and doctor of canon law. He notably served as the Archbishop of Mexico (1863-1891), and was a regent of the Second Mexican Empire (1863) until eventually being dismissed from the position and replaced by Juan Bautista Ormaechea.

24/03/1809

Mariano José de Larra, Spanish journalist and author (died 1837)

Mariano José de Larra y Sánchez de Castro was a Spanish romantic writer and journalist best known for his numerous essays and his infamous suicide. His works were often satirical and critical of the 19th-century Spanish society, and focused on both the politics and customs of his time.

Joseph Liouville, French mathematician and academic (died 1882)

Joseph Liouville was a French mathematician who worked on a number of different fields in mathematics, including number theory, complex analysis, and mathematical physics.

24/03/1808

Maria Malibran, Spanish-French soprano (died 1836)

Maria Felicia Malibran was a Spanish singer who commonly sang both contralto and soprano parts, and was one of the best-known opera singers of the 19th century. Malibran was known for her stormy personality and dramatic intensity, becoming a legendary figure after her death in Manchester, England, at age 28. Contemporary accounts of her voice describe its range, power and flexibility as extraordinary.

24/03/1803

Egerton Ryerson, Canadian minister, educator, and politician (died 1882)

Adolphus Egerton Ryerson was a Canadian educator, administrator, author, editor, and Methodist minister. He was a prominent contributor to the design of the Ontario public school system, for which he served as an administrator.

24/03/1796

Zulma Carraud, French author (died 1889)

Zulma Carraud was a French author. She is best known for her children's books and textbooks particularly La Petite Jeanne ou le devoir and Maurice ou le travail.

John Corry Wilson Daly, Canadian businessman and politician (died 1878)

Lieutenant-Colonel John Corry Wilson Daly was a Canadian politician, businessperson, militia officer, and the first Mayor of Stratford, Ontario.

24/03/1782

Orest Kiprensky, Russian-Italian painter (died 1836)

Orest Adamovich Kiprensky was a leading Russian portraitist in the Age of Romanticism. His most familiar work is probably his portrait of Alexander Pushkin (1827), which prompted the poet to remark that "the mirror flatters me."

24/03/1775

Muthuswami Dikshitar, Indian poet and composer (died 1835)

Muthuswami Dikshitar, mononymously known as Dikshitar, was a South Indian, Hindu poet, singer, veena player, and prolific composer of Indian classical music. He was the youngest member of the Trinity of Carnatic music, alongside Tyagaraja and Shyama Sastri. Dikshitar was born on 24 March 1776 in Thiruvarur near Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. His family traditionally traced its lineage to Virinchipuram in the northern part of the state.

24/03/1762

Marcos Portugal, Portuguese organist and composer (died 1830)

Marcos António da Fonseca Portugal, also known in Italian as Marco Portogallo, was a Portuguese and Brazilian classical composer, organist and music teacher. In his lifetime his operas circulated widely in Europe, and he became one of the best-known Portuguese composers of his period.

24/03/1755

Rufus King, American lawyer and politician, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (died 1827)

Rufus King was an American Founding Father, lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress and the Philadelphia Convention and was one of the signers of the United States Constitution in 1787. After formation of the new Congress, he represented New York in the United States Senate. He emerged as a leading member of the Federalist Party and was the party's last presidential nominee during the 1816 presidential election.

24/03/1725

Samuel Ashe, American lawyer and politician, 9th governor of North Carolina (died 1813)

Samuel Ashe was the ninth governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1795 to 1798. He was also one of the first three judges of the North Carolina Superior Court in 1787.

Thomas Cushing, American lawyer and politician, 1st lieutenant governor of Massachusetts (died 1788)

Thomas Cushing III was an American lawyer, merchant, and statesman from Boston, Massachusetts. Active in Boston politics, he represented the city in the provincial assembly from 1761 to its dissolution in 1774, serving as the lower house's speaker for most of those years. Because of his role as speaker, his signature was affixed to many documents protesting British policies, leading officials in London to consider him a dangerous radical. He engaged in extended communications with Benjamin Franklin who at times lobbied on behalf of the legislature's interests in London, seeking ways to reduce the rising tensions of the American Revolution.

24/03/1693

John Harrison, English carpenter and clock-maker, invented the Marine chronometer (died 1776)

John Harrison was an English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the problem of how to calculate longitude while at sea.

24/03/1657

Arai Hakuseki, Japanese academic and politician (died 1725)

Arai Hakuseki was a Confucianist, scholar-bureaucrat, academic, administrator, writer and politician in Japan during the middle of the Edo period, who advised the shōgun Tokugawa Ienobu. His personal name was Kinmi or Kimiyoshi (君美). Hakuseki (白石) was his pen name. His father was a Kururi han samurai Arai Masazumi.

24/03/1628

Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (died 1685)

Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Calenberg was Queen of Denmark and Norway as the consort of the King Frederick III of Denmark. She is known for her political influence, as well as for her cultural impact: she acted as the adviser of her husband, and introduced ballet and opera to Denmark.

24/03/1607

Michiel de Ruyter, Dutch admiral (died 1667)

Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter was a Dutch States Navy officer. His achievements with the Dutch navy during the Anglo-Dutch Wars earned him the reputation as one of the greatest naval commanders in history.

24/03/1577

Francis, Duke of Pomerania-Stettin, Bishop of Cammin (died 1620)

Francis of Pomerania was Duke of Pomerania-Stettin and Bishop of Cammin.

24/03/1494

Georgius Agricola, German mineralogist and scholar (died 1555)

Georgius Agricola was a German Renaissance humanist scholar, mineralogist and metallurgist. Born in the small town of Glauchau, in the Electorate of Saxony of the Holy Roman Empire, he was broadly educated, but took a particular interest in the mining and refining of metals. He was the first to drop the Arabic definite article al-, exclusively writing chymia and chymista in describing activity that we today would characterize as chemical or alchemical, giving chemistry its modern name. For his groundbreaking work De Natura Fossilium published in 1546, he is generally referred to as the father of mineralogy and the founder of geology as a scientific discipline.

24/03/1441

Ernest, Elector of Saxony, German ruler of Saxony (died 1486)

Ernest, known in German as Ernst, was Elector of Saxony from 1464 to 1486. He established the Ernestine line of Saxon princes.

24/03/1103

Yue Fei, Chinese military general (died 1142)

Yue Fei, courtesy name Pengju (鵬舉), was a Chinese military general of the Song dynasty and is remembered as a patriotic national hero, known for leading its forces in the wars in the 12th century between Southern Song and the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in northern China. Because of his warlike stance, he was put to death by the Southern Song government in 1142 under a frameup, after a negotiated peace was achieved with the Jin dynasty. He was posthumously pardoned. Yue Fei is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu by Jin Guliang.

Lives Remembered on 24th March

On 24th March, 107 remarkable people passed away — from 809 to 2026. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.

24/03/2026

Biruté Galdikas, Canadian primatologist and conservationist (born 1946)

Birutė Marija Filomena Galdikas or Biruté Mary Galdikas was a Canadian anthropologist, primatologist, conservationist, ethologist and author. She was a professor at Simon Fraser University. In the field of primatology, Galdikas was recognized as a leading authority on orangutans. Prior to her field study of orangutans, scientists knew little about the species.

Tracy Kidder, American writer (born 1945)

John Tracy Kidder was an American writer of nonfiction books. He received the Pulitzer Prize for The Soul of a New Machine (1981), about the creation of a new computer at Data General Corporation. Kidder received praise and awards for other works, including Mountains Beyond Mountains (2003), a biography of physician and anthropologist Paul Farmer, the founder of Partners in Health.

Mel Schilling, Australian TV personality and coach (born 1972)

Melanie Jane Brisbane-Schilling was an Australian television personality, psychologist and relationship coach, best known for appearing as one of the dating experts on the Nine Network reality series Married at First Sight from 2016 until her death in 2026.

24/03/2025

Dick Carlson, American journalist and diplomat (born 1941)

Richard Warner Carlson was an American journalist, diplomat and lobbyist who was the director of the Voice of America from 1986 to 1991. Carlson also was a newspaper and wire service reporter, magazine writer, documentary filmmaker, and television/radio correspondent. He was the father of conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson.

24/03/2024

Lou Whittaker, American mountaineer, mountain guide, and businessman (born 1929)

Louis Winslow Whittaker was an American mountaineer, mountain guide, and businessman. He and his twin brother, Jim Whittaker, also a renowned mountaineer and guide, were born and raised in Seattle.

24/03/2023

Gordon Moore, American businessman, engineer and co-founder of Intel Corporation (born 1929)

Gordon Earle Moore was an American businessman, scientist, engineer, and the co-founder and emeritus chairman of Intel Corporation. He proposed Moore's law, which makes the observation that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years.

Pradeep Sarkar, Indian writer and director (born 1955)

Pradeep Sarkar was an Indian director and screenwriter, best known for directing Parineeta (2005). He was a recipient of the Abby Award, Rapa Award, and the National Film Award. His body of work spans movies, music videos, feature film songs, and over 1000 commercials.

24/03/2022

Dagny Carlsson, Swedish blogger and influencer (born 1912)

Dagny Valborg Carlsson was a Swedish blogger and influencer.

24/03/2021

Jessica Walter, American actress and voice artist (born 1941)

Jessica Ann Walter was an American actress who appeared in more than 170 film, stage, and television productions.

24/03/2020

Albert Uderzo, French comic book artist (born 1927)

Alberto Aleandro Uderzo, better known as Albert Uderzo, was a French comic book artist and scriptwriter. He is best known as the co-creator and illustrator of the Astérix series in collaboration with René Goscinny. He also drew other comics such as Oumpah-pah, again with Goscinny. Uderzo retired in September 2011.

Manu Dibango, Cameroonian musician and songwriter (born 1933)

Emmanuel N'Djoké "Manu" Dibango was a Cameroonian musician and songwriter who played saxophone and vibraphone. He developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk, and traditional Cameroonian music. His father was a member of the Yabassi ethnic group, while his mother was a Duala. He was best known for his 1972 single "Soul Makossa". The song has been referred to as the most sampled African song in addition Dibango, himself, as the most sampled African musician in history. He died from COVID-19 on 24 March 2020.

24/03/2019

Joseph Pilato, American film and voice actor (born 1949)

Joseph Pilato was an American film and voice actor. He was perhaps best known for his performance as Captain Henry Rhodes in the 1985 film Day of the Dead.

24/03/2018

Lys Assia, Swiss singer and First Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest (born 1924)

Rosa Mina Schärer, known by her stage name Lys Assia, was a Swiss singer who won the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. Assia was born in Rupperswil, Aargau, and began her stage career as a dancer, but changed to singing in 1940 where she met her first musical success in 1950 with "O mein Papa".

Rim Banna, Palestinian singer, composer, arranger and activist (born 1966)

Rim Banna was a Palestinian singer and composer who was most known for her modern interpretations of traditional Palestinian songs and poetry. Banna was born in Nazareth, where she graduated from Nazareth Baptist School. She lived in Nazareth with her three children. She met her husband, Ukrainian guitarist Leonid Alexeyenko, while studying music together at the Higher Music Conservatory in Moscow and they married in 1991, and got divorced in 2010.

24/03/2016

Johan Cruyff, Dutch footballer (born 1947)

Hendrik Johannes Cruijff, or Johan Cruyff, was a Dutch professional football player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest players in history and as the greatest Dutch footballer ever, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973, and 1974. Cruyff was a proponent of the football philosophy known as Total Football developed by Rinus Michels, which Cruyff also employed as a manager. Because of the far-reaching impact of his playing style and his coaching ideas, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in modern football, and he is also regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time.

Garry Shandling, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (born 1949)

Garry Emmanuel Shandling was an American actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer.

24/03/2015

Yehuda Avner, English-Israeli diplomat (born 1928)

Yehuda Avner was an Israeli prime ministerial advisor, diplomat, and author. He served as Speechwriter and Secretary to Israeli Prime Ministers Golda Meir and Levi Eshkol, and as Advisor to Israeli Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin, and Shimon Peres. Avner served in diplomatic positions at the Israeli Consulate in New York, and the Israeli Embassy to the US in Washington, D.C., and as Israel's Ambassador to Britain, Ireland and Australia. In 2010, he turned his insider stories about Israeli politics and diplomacy into a bestselling book, The Prime Ministers, which subsequently became the basis for a two-part documentary movie. In 2015, his novel, The Ambassador, which Avner co-authored with thriller writer Matt Rees, was posthumously published.

notable deaths of the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash:

Oleg Bryjak was a Kazakhstani-German bass-baritone opera singer. Born in Jezkazgan, Kazakh SSR, into an ethnic Ukrainian family, he moved to Germany in 1991 to join the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe. From 1996 until his death, he was a soloist with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf.

notable deaths of the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash:

Maria Friderike Radner was a German contralto who performed internationally in opera and in concerts. She studied at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf. She was described as an "extremely talented interpreter of Wagner's music" by Stern magazine and Abendzeitung. Possessing the "rare pitch of a true alto", she frequently appeared as Erda in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Leipzig Opera, Schwertleite in Die Walküre at the Teatro Comunale di Firenze with Zubin Mehta, and in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection) conducted by Antonio Pappano in Rome and Milan. Her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2012 in Götterdämmerung was part of that company's documentary Wagner's Dream.

24/03/2014

Oleksandr Muzychko, Ukrainian activist (born 1962)

Oleksandr Ivanovych Muzychko was a Ukrainian political activist, a member of UNA-UNSO and coordinator of Right Sector in Western Ukraine.

John Rowe Townsend, English author and scholar (born 1922)

John Rowe Townsend was a British children's writer and children's literature scholar. His best-known children's novel is The Intruder, which won a 1971 Edgar Award. His best-known academic work is a reference series, Written for Children: An Outline of English Children's Literature (1965), the definitive work of its time on the subject. It was greatly expanded for the first revised edition as Written for Children: An Outline of English-language Children's Literature (1974) and updated for its 2nd to 4th revised editions in 1983, 1987, and 1990 – the last, "A survey of imaginative writing, including poetry and picture books, accompanied by a bibliography of works on children's literature and illustrations from many of the classics of children's literature through 1989.".

David A. Trampier, American illustrator (born 1954)

David A. Trampier was an artist and writer whose artwork for TSR, Inc. illustrated some of the earliest editions of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Many of his illustrations, such as the cover of the original Player's Handbook, became iconic. Trampier was also the creator of the Wormy comic strip that ran in Dragon magazine for several years.

24/03/2013

Barbara Anderson, New Zealand author (born 1926)

Barbara Lillias Romaine Anderson, Lady Anderson was a New Zealand fiction writer who became internationally recognised and a best-selling author after her first book was published in her sixties.

Inge Lønning, Norwegian theologian, academic, and politician (born 1938)

Inge Johan Lønning was a Norwegian Lutheran theologian and politician for the Conservative Party of Norway. As an academic, he was Professor of Theology and Rector of the University of Oslo during the term 1985–1992. As a politician, he served as President of the European Movement in Norway, as a Member of Parliament, as Vice President of the Parliament, as Vice President of the Conservative Party, and as President of the Nordic Council.

Gury Marchuk, Russian physicist, mathematician, and academic (born 1925)

Gury Ivanovich Marchuk was a Soviet and Russian scientist in the fields of computational mathematics, and physics of atmosphere. Academician ; the President of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1986–1991. Among his notable prizes are the USSR State Prize (1979), Demidov Prize (2004), Lomonosov Gold Medal (2004).

Paolo Ponzo, Italian footballer (born 1972)

Paolo Ponzo was an Italian footballer who last played as a midfielder for Liguria club Imperia.

Mohamed Yousri Salama, Egyptian dentist and politician (born 1974)

Mohamed Yousri Salama was an Egyptian politician, writer and activist.

Francis Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, 8th Baron Thurlow, English diplomat (born 1912)

Francis Edward Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, 8th Baron Thurlow, was a British diplomat. He was the last surviving former British colonial governor of The Bahamas.

24/03/2012

Paul Callaghan, New Zealand physicist and academic (born 1947)

Sir Paul Terence Callaghan was a New Zealand physicist who, as the founding director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology at Victoria University of Wellington, held the position of Alan MacDiarmid Professor of Physical Sciences and was President of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance.

Nick Noble, American singer-songwriter (born 1926)

Nick Noble was an American pop singer, who was best known for his recordings of "The Tip of My Fingers" and "Moonlight Swim".

24/03/2010

Robert Culp, American actor (born 1930)

Robert Martin Culp was an American actor and screenwriter widely known for his work in television. Culp earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy (1965–1968), the espionage television series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played secret agents. Before this, he starred in the CBS/Four Star Western series Trackdown as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman in 71 episodes from 1957 to 1959. The 1980s brought him back to television as FBI Agent Bill Maxwell on The Greatest American Hero. Later, he had a recurring role as Warren Whelan on Everybody Loves Raymond, and was a voice actor for various computer games, including Half-Life 2. Culp gave hundreds of performances in a career spanning more than 50 years.

Jim Marshall, American photographer (born 1936)

James Joseph Marshall was an American photographer and photojournalist who photographed musicians of the 1960s and 1970s. Earning the trust of his subjects, he had extended access to them both on and off-stage. Marshall was the official photographer for the Beatles' final concert in San Francisco's Candlestick Park, and he was head photographer at Woodstock.

24/03/2009

George Kell, American baseball player and sportscaster (born 1922)

George Clyde Kell was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1943 to 1957, most prominently as a member of the Detroit Tigers, where he became a perennial All-Star player and won the American League (AL) batting championship in 1949.

Hans Klenk, German racing driver (born 1919)

Hans Klenk was a racing driver from Germany. He participated in one World Championship Grand Prix on 3 August 1952 and did not score any championship points. Klenk won the 1952 edition of La Carrera Panamericana in a Mercedes Benz W194, along with Karl Kling.

Gábor Ocskay, Hungarian ice hockey player (born 1975)

Gábor Ocskay Jr. was a Hungarian ice hockey player. As the center of the first line, he played a huge part in his national team's promotion to the 2009 World Championship. He died of a heart attack weeks before the start of the 2009 Championships. Ocskay was posthumously awarded the Torriani Award by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in 2016, and was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame.

24/03/2008

Chalmers Alford, American guitarist (born 1955)

Chalmers Edward "Spanky" Alford was an American gospel, jazz, and neo-soul guitarist. Alford was born in Philadelphia. He was well known for his playing style, utilizing chord embellishments. He had an illustrious career as a gospel quartet guitar player in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with groups such as the Mighty Clouds of Joy. His most notable contributions are to the D'Angelo album Voodoo, and his contributions to music from other popular artists including Tupac Shakur, Roy Hargrove, and The Roots.

Neil Aspinall, Welsh-English record producer and manager (born 1941)

Neil Stanley Aspinall was a British music industry executive. A school friend of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, he went on to head the Beatles' company Apple Corps.

Rafael Azcona, Spanish author and screenwriter (born 1926)

Rafael Azcona Fernández was a Spanish screenwriter and novelist who worked with some of the best Spanish and international filmmakers. Azcona won five Goya Awards during his career, including a lifetime achievement award in 1998.

Richard Widmark, American actor (born 1914)

Richard Weedt Widmark was an American actor and film producer. For his debut film role as the villainous Tommy Udo in the film noir Kiss of Death (1947), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won the inaugural Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer.

Boris Dvornik, Croatian actor (born 1939)

Boris Dvornik was a Croatian actor.

24/03/2007

Shripad Narayan Pendse, Indian Marathi novelist (born 1913)[citation needed]

Shripad Narayan Pendse was a Marathi writer.

24/03/2006

Rudra Rajasingham, Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat (born 1926)

Rudra Srichandra Rajasingham was a Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat. He was the Inspector General of Police and Sri Lankan Ambassador to Indonesia.

24/03/2003

Hans Hermann Groër, Austrian cardinal (born 1919)

Hans Hermann Wilhelm Groër, OSB was an Austrian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Vienna from 1986 to 1995 and became a cardinal in 1988. Pope John Paul II replaced him as archbishop after he became the subject of multiple allegations of child sexual abuse. At John Paul's request, Groër relinquished all ecclesiastical duties and privileges as an archbishop and cardinal on 14 April 1998.

24/03/2002

César Milstein, Argentinian-English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1927)

César Milstein, CH, FRS was an Argentine biochemist in the field of antibody research. Milstein shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1984 with Niels Kaj Jerne and Georges J. F. Köhler for developing the hybridoma technique for the production of monoclonal antibodies.

Bob Said, American race car driver and bobsledder (born 1932)

Boris Robert Said Jr., better known as Bob Said, was an American racing driver from the United States. The son of a Syrian father and a Russian mother, he grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut, and attended Deerfield Academy and Princeton. He discovered sports car racing during his first year at Princeton.

24/03/2001

Muriel Young, English television host and producer (born 1928)

Muriel Young was an English television continuity announcer, presenter, producer and actress.

24/03/1999

Gertrud Scholtz-Klink, German politician (born 1902)

Gertrud Emma Scholtz-Klink, born Treusch, later known under the alias Maria Stuckebrock, was a German official and member of the Nazi Party best known as the leader of the National Socialist Women's League, a position she was appointed to by Adolf Hitler in 1934. She headed numerous other Party and government organizations for women and was the highest ranking female official in Nazi Germany. She was known in Britain as "The Perfect Nazi Woman". Following the end of the Second World War, she underwent denazification proceedings and was adjudged a "major offender". An unrepentant Nazi, she lived another half-century and published a book in which she professed her continued belief in Nazi ideology.

Birdie Tebbetts, American baseball player and manager (born 1912)

George Robert "Birdie" Tebbetts was an American professional baseball player, manager, scout and front office executive. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians from 1936 to 1952. Tebbetts was regarded as the best catcher in the American League in the late 1940s.

24/03/1995

Joseph Needham, English historian and academic (born 1900)

Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham was a British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology, initiating publication of the multivolume Science and Civilisation in China. He called attention to what has come to be known as the Needham Question, of why and how China had ceded its leadership in science and technology to Western countries.

24/03/1993

Albert Arlen, Australian pianist, composer, actor, and playwright (born 1905)

Albert Arlen AM was a Turkish Australian pianist, composer, actor and playwright. He is best known for his musical The Sentimental Bloke, the "Alamein Concerto", and his setting of Banjo Paterson's Clancy of the Overflow.

John Hersey, American journalist and author (born 1914)

John Richard Hersey was an American writer and journalist. He is considered one of the earliest practitioners of the so-called New Journalism, in which storytelling techniques of fiction are adapted to non-fiction reportage. In 1999, Hiroshima, Hersey's account of the aftermath of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, was adjudged the finest work of American journalism of the 20th century by a 36-member panel associated with New York University's journalism department.

24/03/1991

John Kerr, Australian lawyer and politician, 18th governor-general of Australia (born 1914)

Sir John Robert Kerr was an Australian barrister and judge who served as the 18th governor-general of Australia, in office from 1974 to 1977. He is primarily known for his involvement in the 1975 constitutional crisis, which culminated in the dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and the appointment of Malcolm Fraser as caretaker prime minister.

24/03/1990

Ray Goulding, American comedian and radio host (born 1922)

Raymond Walter Goulding was an American comedian, who, together with Bob Elliott formed the comedy duo of Bob and Ray.

24/03/1988

Turhan Feyzioğlu, Turkish academic and politician, 27th deputy prime minister of Turkey (born 1922)

Turhan Feyzioğlu was a Turkish academic and a politician.

24/03/1984

Sam Jaffe, American actor (born 1891)

Shalom "Sam" Jaffe was an American actor, teacher, musician, and engineer. In 1951, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance in The Asphalt Jungle (1950). He also appeared in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and Ben-Hur (1959), and is additionally known for his roles as the titular character in Gunga Din (1939) and as the "High Lama" in Lost Horizon (1937).

24/03/1980

Óscar Romero, Salvadoran archbishop (born 1917)

Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was a prelate of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Salvador, the Titular Bishop of Tambeae, as Bishop of Santiago de María, and finally as the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador. As archbishop, Romero spoke out against social injustice and violence amid the escalating conflict between the military government and left-wing insurgents that led to the Salvadoran Civil War. In 1980, Romero was fatally shot by an assassin while celebrating Mass. Though no one was ever convicted for the crime, investigations by the UN-created Truth Commission for El Salvador concluded that Major Roberto D'Aubuisson, a death squad leader and later founder of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) political party, had ordered the killing.

24/03/1978

Park Mok-wol, influential Korean poet and academic (born 1916)

Pak Mok-wol was an influential Korean poet and academic.

24/03/1976

Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, English field marshal (born 1887)

Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and the Second World War.

24/03/1973

Bertram Stevens, Australian accountant and politician, 25th premier of New South Wales (born 1889)

Sir Bertram Sydney Barnsdale Stevens, also referred to as B. S. B. Stevens, was an Australian politician who served as the 25th Premier of New South Wales, in office from 1932 to 1939 as leader of the United Australia Party (UAP).

24/03/1971

Arne Jacobsen, Danish architect, designed the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel and Aarhus City Hall (born 1902)

Arne Emil Jacobsen, Hon. FAIA was a Danish architect and furniture designer. He is remembered for his contribution to architectural functionalism and for the worldwide success he enjoyed with simple well-designed chairs.

Arthur Metcalfe, Australian public servant (born 1895)

Arthur John Metcalfe was a senior Australian public servant, best known for his time as Director-General of the Department of Health.

24/03/1968

Alice Guy-Blaché, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1873)

Alice Ida Antoinette Guy-Blaché was a French pioneer film director. She was one of the first filmmakers to make a narrative fiction film, as well as the first woman to direct a film. From 1896 to 1906, she was probably the only female filmmaker in the world. She experimented with Gaumont's Chronophone sync-sound system, and with color-tinting, interracial casting, and special effects.

24/03/1962

Jean Goldkette, French-American pianist and bandleader (born 1899)

John Jean Goldkette was a jazz pianist and bandleader.

Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist and explorer (born 1884)

Auguste Antoine Piccard was a Swiss physicist, inventor and explorer known for his record-breaking hydrogen balloon flights, with which he studied the Earth's upper atmosphere and became the first person to enter the upper atmosphere. Piccard testified in a 1931 science magazine, "The earth appeared to be a flat disk with an upturned edge." Piccard was also known for his invention of the first bathyscaphe, FNRS-2, with which he made a number of unmanned dives in 1948 to explore the ocean's depths.

24/03/1956

E. T. Whittaker, British mathematician and physicist (born 1873)

Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker was a British mathematician, physicist, and historian of science. Whittaker was a leading mathematical scholar of the early 20th century who contributed widely to applied mathematics and was renowned for his research in mathematical physics and numerical analysis, including the theory of special functions, along with his contributions to astronomy, celestial mechanics, the history of physics, and digital signal processing.

24/03/1953

Mary of Teck, Queen of the United Kingdom (born 1867)

Mary of Teck was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 January 1936 as the wife of King George V.

24/03/1951

Lorna Hodgkinson, Australian educator and educational psychologist (born 1887)

Lorna Myrtle Hodgkinson was an Australian educator and educational psychologist who worked with intellectually disabled children. She was the first woman to receive a Doctor of Education degree from Harvard University. She called out the poor system in Australia and her reputation was ruined by the minister responsible.

24/03/1950

James Rudolph Garfield, American lawyer and politician, 23rd United States Secretary of the Interior (born 1865)

James Rudolph Garfield was an American lawyer and politician. Garfield was a son of President James A. Garfield and First Lady Lucretia Garfield. He served as Secretary of the Interior during President Theodore Roosevelt's administration.

24/03/1948

Sigrid Hjertén, Swedish painter and illustrator (born 1885)

Sigrid Maria Hjertén was a Swedish modernist painter. Hjertén is considered a major figure in Swedish modernism. Periodically she was highly productive and participated in 106 exhibitions. She worked as an artist for thirty years before dying of complications from a lobotomy, after having been diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1932.

24/03/1946

Alexander Alekhine, Russian chess player (born 1892)

Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns.

Carl Schuhmann, German gymnast, shot putter, and jumper (born 1869)

Carl August Berthold Schuhmann was a German athlete who won four Olympic titles in gymnastics and wrestling at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, becoming the most successful athlete at the inaugural Olympics of the modern era. He also competed in weightlifting.

24/03/1944

Orde Wingate, Indian-English general (born 1903)

Major-General Orde Charles Wingate, was a senior British Army officer known for his creation of the Chindit deep-penetration missions in Japanese-held territory during the Burma Campaign of the Second World War.

24/03/1940

Édouard Branly, French physicist and academic (born 1844)

Édouard Eugène Désiré Branly was a French physicist and inventor known for his early involvement in wireless telegraphy and his invention of the coherer in 1890.

24/03/1938

Yondonwangchug, Mongolian politician (born 1870)

Yondonwangchug was an Inner Mongolian nobleman of Ulanqab League and politician under the Qing Dynasty, Republic of China and Mengjiang governments.

24/03/1932

Frantz Reichel, French rugby player and hurdler (born 1871)

François Étienne "Frantz" Reichel was a French sports administrator, athlete, cyclist and journalist. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens as a runner and at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris as a rugby union player. He co-founded the International Sports Press Association (AIPS), and served as its first president in 1924–1932.

24/03/1926

Phan Châu Trinh, Vietnamese activist (born 1872)

Phan Châu Trinh, courtesy name Tử Cán (梓幹), pen name Tây Hồ (西湖) or Hi Mã (希馬), was an early 20th-century Vietnamese nationalist and reformer. He sought to end France's colonial occupation of Vietnam. His method of ending French colonial rule over Vietnam had opposed both violence and turning to other countries for support, and instead believed in attaining Vietnamese liberation by educating the population and by appealing to French democratic principles.

24/03/1916

Enrique Granados, Spanish pianist and composer (born 1867)

Enric Granados i Campiña, born Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados Campiña was a Spanish and Catalan composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Joaquin Malats and other pianists, he was part of the modern Catalan school of piano, initiated by Pere Tintorer.

24/03/1915

Margaret Lindsay Huggins, Anglo-Irish astronomer (born 1848)

Margaret Lindsay, Lady Huggins was an Irish-English scientific investigator and astronomer. With her husband William Huggins she was a pioneer in the field of spectroscopy and co-wrote the Atlas of Representative Stellar Spectra (1897).

Karol Olszewski, Polish chemist, mathematician, and physicist (born 1846)

Karol Stanisław Olszewski was a Polish chemist, mathematician, and physicist. Together with Zygmunt Wróblewski, in 1883 he was the first scientist in the world to liquify oxygen and nitrogen.

24/03/1909

John Millington Synge, Irish playwright and poet (born 1871)

Edmund John Millington Synge, popularly known as J. M. Synge, was an Irish playwright, poet, writer and collector of folklores. As a key figure of the Irish Literary Revival during the early 20th century, he is widely regarded by critics and scholars as the most prolific playwright in Irish literature of the Edwardian era, and by several of his peers, among them William Butler Yeats,.

24/03/1905

Jules Verne, French novelist, poet, and playwright (born 1828)

Jules Gabriel Verne was a French novelist, poet, and playwright.

24/03/1888

Vsevolod Garshin, Russian author (born 1855)

Vsevolod Mikhailovich Garshin was a Russian author of short stories.

24/03/1887

Ivan Kramskoi, Russian painter and critic (born 1837)

Ivan Nikolayevich Kramskoi was a Russian Realist painter and art critic. One of the most prominent artisans during Tsar Alexander II's reign, he is remembered as co-founding member and public frontman of the Peredvizhniki movement.

24/03/1882

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet and educator (born 1807)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. He was the first American to completely translate Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy and was one of the fireside poets from New England.

24/03/1881

Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse, French geologist and mineralogist (born 1817)

Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse was a French geologist and mineralogist. He is credited for inventing the Delesse principle in stereology.

24/03/1869

Antoine-Henri Jomini, French-Russian general (born 1779)

Baron Antoine-Henri Jomini was a Swiss-French military officer who served as a general in French and later in Russian service, and one of the most celebrated writers on the Napoleonic art of war. Jomini was largely self-taught in military strategy, and his ideas are a staple at military academies, the United States Military Academy at West Point being a prominent example; his theories were thought to have affected many officers who later served in the American Civil War. He may have coined the term logistics in his Summary of the Art of War (1838).

24/03/1866

Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, Queen of France (born 1782)

Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily was Queen of the French by marriage to Louis Philippe I, King of the French. She was the last Queen of the French.

24/03/1838

Abraham Hume, English floriculturist and Tory politician (born 1748/49)

Sir Abraham Hume, 2nd Baronet was a British floriculturist and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1818.

24/03/1824

Louis Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux, French lawyer (born 1753)

Louis Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux was a deputy to the National Convention during the French Revolution. He later served as a prominent leader of the French Directory.

24/03/1776

John Harrison, English carpenter and clockmaker, invented the Marine chronometer (born 1693)

John Harrison was an English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the problem of how to calculate longitude while at sea.

24/03/1773

Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, English politician, Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard (born 1694)

Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield was a British politician, diplomat and writer.

24/03/1684

Pieter de Hooch, Dutch painter (born 1629)

Pieter Hendricksz. de Hooch, was a Dutch Golden Age painter famous for his genre works of quiet domestic scenes with an open doorway. He was a contemporary, in the Delft Guild of St. Luke, of Jan Vermeer with whom his work shares themes and style. De Hooch was first recorded in Delft on 5 August 1652, when he and another painter, Hendrick van der Burgh witnessed the signing of a will. He was last documented in 1679, but his date of death is unknown.

Elizabeth Ridgeway, English woman convicted of poisoning her husband

Elizabeth Ridgeway was an English woman convicted of poisoning her husband. While awaiting execution by burning at the stake, she confessed to previously poisoning her mother, a fellow servant, and a lover.

24/03/1653

Samuel Scheidt, German organist and composer (born 1587)

Samuel Scheidt was a German composer, organist and teacher of the early Baroque era.

24/03/1603

Elizabeth I of England (born 1533)

Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history and culture, gave name to the Elizabethan era.

24/03/1575

Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, Spanish-Portuguese rabbi and author (born 1488)

Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro, was a prominent Sephardic Jewish rabbi renowned as the author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Beit Yosef, and its popular analogue, the Shulhan Arukh. Karo is regarded as the preeminent halakhic authority of his time, and is often referred to by the honorific titles HaMechaber and Maran.

24/03/1563

Hosokawa Harumoto, Japanese daimyō (born 1514)[citation needed]

Hosokawa Harumoto was a Japanese daimyō of the Muromachi and Sengoku periods, and the head of the Hosokawa clan. Harumoto's childhood name was Sōmei-maru (聡明丸). He was born to Hosokawa Sumimoto, another renowned samurai of the Muromachi era.

24/03/1499

Edward Stafford, 2nd Earl of Wiltshire, English nobleman (born 1470)

Edward Stafford, 2nd Earl of Wiltshire KB was an English nobleman.

24/03/1455

Pope Nicholas V (born 1397)

Pope Nicholas V, born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene IV made him a cardinal in 1446 after successful trips to Italy and Germany, and when Eugene died the next year, Parentucelli was elected in his place. He took his name Nicholas in memory of his obligations to Niccolò Albergati. He remains the most recent pope to take the pontifical name "Nicholas".

24/03/1443

James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas (born 1371)

James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas, 1st Earl of Avondale, latterly known as James the Gross, and prior to his ennoblement as James of Balvenie, was a late mediaeval Scottish magnate. He was the second son of Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas, and Joan Moray of Bothwell and Drumsargard, d. after 1408.

24/03/1399

Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk (bornc. 1320)

Margaret of Norfolk or Margaret of Brotherton, Duchess of Norfolk in her own right, was an English peer, the daughter and eventual sole heir of Thomas of Brotherton, eldest son of King Edward I of England by his second marriage. In 1338, she succeeded to the earldom of Norfolk and the office of Earl Marshal. In 1397, she was created Duchess of Norfolk for life.

24/03/1396

Walter Hilton, English mystic and saint (born 1340)

Walter Hilton, Can. Reg. was an English Augustinian mystic, whose works gained influence in 15th-century England and Wales. He is commemorated by the Church of England and by the Episcopal Church in the United States.

24/03/1381

Catherine of Vadstena, Swedish saint (born 1332)

Catherine of Sweden, Katarina av Vadstena, Catherine of Vadstena or Katarina Ulfsdotter was a Swedish noblewoman. She is venerated as a saint in the Evangelical Lutheran Churches and in the Roman Catholic Church. Her father was Ulf Gudmarsson, Lord of Ulvåsa, and her mother was Saint Bridget of Sweden.

24/03/1296

Odon de Pins, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller

Odo de Pins, also known as Eudes de Pin or Odon de Pins, was the twenty-third Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, serving from 1294 until his death in 1296, succeeding Jean de Villiers. He moved the headquarters of the Order to Limasso in modern-day Cyprus. Upon his death, he was succeeded by Guillaume de Villaret.

24/03/1284

Hugh III of Cyprus (born 1235)

Hugh III, also called Hugh of Antioch-Lusignan and the Great, was the king of Cyprus from 1267 and king of Jerusalem from 1268. Born into the family of the princes of Antioch, he effectively ruled as regent for underage kings Hugh II of Cyprus and Conrad III of Jerusalem for several years. Prevailing over the claims of his cousin Hugh of Brienne, he succeeded both young monarchs upon their deaths and appeared poised to be an effective political and military leader.

24/03/0832

Wulfred, archbishop of Canterbury

Wulfred was an Anglo-Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury in medieval England. Nothing is known of his life prior to 803, when he attended a church council, but he was probably a nobleman from Middlesex. He was elected archbishop in 805 and spent his time in office reforming the clergy of his cathedral. He also quarrelled with two consecutive Mercian kings – Coenwulf and Ceolwulf – over whether laymen or clergy should control monasteries. At one point, Wulfred travelled to Rome to consult with the papacy and was deposed from office for a number of years over the issue. After Coenwulf's death, relations were somewhat better with the new king Ceolwulf, but improved much more after Ceolwulf's subsequent deposition. The dispute about control of the monasteries was not fully settled until 838, after Wulfred's death. Wulfred was the first archbishop to place his portrait on the coinage he struck.

24/03/0809

Harun al-Rashid, Arab caliph (born 763)

Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ar-Rashīd, or simply Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī, famously known as Hārūn al-Rashīd, was the fifth Abbasid caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from September 786 until his death in March 809. His reign is traditionally regarded to be the beginning of the Islamic Golden Age. His epithet al-Rashid translates to "the Just", "the Upright", or "the Rightly-Guided".

Celebrations & Special Days Worldwide on 24th March

Christian feast day: Catherine of Vadstena

Catherine of Sweden, Katarina av Vadstena, Catherine of Vadstena or Katarina Ulfsdotter was a Swedish noblewoman. She is venerated as a saint in the Evangelical Lutheran Churches and in the Roman Catholic Church. Her father was Ulf Gudmarsson, Lord of Ulvåsa, and her mother was Saint Bridget of Sweden.

Christian feast day: Hildelith of Barking

Hildelith of Barking, also known as Hildilid or Hildelitha, was an 8th-century Christian saint, from Anglo-Saxon England but was of foreign origin.

Christian feast day: Mac Cairthinn of Clogher

Saint Mac Cairthinn, also Macartan, McCartan, is recognized as the first presiding Bishop of Clogher from 454 to his death. One of the earliest Christian saints in Ireland, he is known as Saint Patrick's "Threin Fhir", or "Strong Man" for his dedication and faithfulness to the fledgling Church. His feast day is 24 March.

Christian feast day: Maria Karłowska

Maria Karłowska – in religious Maria of Jesus Crucified – was a Polish Roman Catholic professed religious and the founder of the Sisters of the Divine Shepherd of Divine Providence. Karłowska worked with poor and abandoned people with an emphasis on girls and also tried to aid prostitutes avoid such a life and build another kind of life so used her order to reach out to such people to render assistance.

Christian feast day: Óscar Romero (Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Lutheranism)

Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was a prelate of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Salvador, the Titular Bishop of Tambeae, as Bishop of Santiago de María, and finally as the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador. As archbishop, Romero spoke out against social injustice and violence amid the escalating conflict between the military government and left-wing insurgents that led to the Salvadoran Civil War. In 1980, Romero was fatally shot by an assassin while celebrating Mass. Though no one was ever convicted for the crime, investigations by the UN-created Truth Commission for El Salvador concluded that Major Roberto D'Aubuisson, a death squad leader and later founder of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) political party, had ordered the killing.

Christian feast day: Paul Couturier (Church of England)

Paul Irénée Couturier was a French Catholic priest and a promoter of the concept of Christian unity. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Christian feast day: Walter Hilton (Church of England)

Walter Hilton, Can. Reg. was an English Augustinian mystic, whose works gained influence in 15th-century England and Wales. He is commemorated by the Church of England and by the Episcopal Church in the United States.

Christian feast day: March 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

March 23 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - March 25

Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice (Argentina)

The Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice is a public holiday in Argentina, commemorating the victims of the Civic-military dictatorship of Argentina. It is held on 24 March, the anniversary of the coup d'état of 1976 that brought the National Reorganization Process to power.

International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims

Right to truth is the right, in the case of grave violations of human rights, for the victims and their families or societies to have access to the truth of what happened. The right to truth is closely related to, but distinct from, the state obligation to investigate and prosecute serious state violations of human rights. Right to truth is a form of victims' rights; it is especially relevant to transitional justice in dealing with past abuses of human rights. In 2006, Yasmin Naqvi concluded that the right to truth "stands somewhere on the threshold of a legal norm and a narrative device ... somewhere above a good argument and somewhere below a clear legal rule".

National Tree Planting Day (Uganda)

Arbor Day is a secular day of observance in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant trees. Today, many countries observe such a holiday. Though usually observed in the spring, the date varies, depending on climate and suitable planting season.

World Tuberculosis Day (International)

World Tuberculosis Day, observed on 24 March each year, is designed to build public awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) and efforts to eliminate the disease. In 2018, 10 million people fell ill with TB, and 1.5 million died from the disease, mostly in low and middle-income countries. This also makes it the leading cause of death from an infectious disease.

What Happened on 24th March?

50 significant events took place on Friday, 24th March — stretching from 1199 to 2026. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.

24/03/2026

OpenAI announces that their flagship Sora app and API are shutting down.

OpenAI is an American artificial intelligence (AI) research organization headquartered in San Francisco, consisting of a for-profit public benefit corporation (PBC) partially controlled by a nonprofit foundation. OpenAI developed the generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) family of large language models, the DALL-E series of text-to-image models, and the Sora series of text-to-video models, which have influenced industry research and commercial applications. Its release of ChatGPT in November 2022 has been credited with catalyzing the AI boom, and widespread interest in generative AI.

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 Mississippi towns of Rolling Fork, Silver City, and Midnight. The tornado, known most simply as the Rolling Fork tornado or informally the Rolling Fork-Silver City Tornado by the National Weather Service (NWS), 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 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 even though clashes 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 consisting 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 Tibet to the north, China northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 800,000 (800,871) and a territory of 38,394 square kilometres (14,824 sq mi), 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 in the southern cone of South America. 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 1,428,363 people living in the Kraków metropolitan area. 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 ruled by James in personal union, with their own parliaments, judiciaries and laws.

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.

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Gonzalo García, Spanish footballer

Clara Burel, French tennis player

Katie Swan, English tennis player

Christopher Briney, American actor

Ethel Cain, American singer-songwriter, record producer, and model

Damar Hamlin, American football player

Mina, Japanese singer and dancer

Myles Turner, American basketball player

Enzo Zidane, French-Spanish footballer

Daniel Sazonov, Finnish politician

Nick Browne, English cricketer

Dalila Jakupovic, Slovenian tennis player

Aljur Abrenica, Filipino actor

Keisha Castle-Hughes, Australian-New Zealand actress

Starlin Castro, American baseball player

Lacey Evans, American wrestler

Alyssa Healy, Australian cricketer

JonTron, American YouTuber

Zyzz, Russian-Australian bodybuilder and internet personality (died 2011)

Aiga Grabuste, Latvian heptathlete

Ryan Higgins, Zimbabwean cricketer

Matías Martínez, Argentinian footballer

Kardo Ploomipuu, Estonian swimmer

Matt Todd, New Zealand rugby union player

Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladeshi cricketer

Yuma Asami, Japanese actress and singer

Billy Jones, English footballer

Ramires, Brazilian footballer

Haruka Ayase, Japanese actress and singer

CJ Perry, American wrestler, manager, and actress

Benoît Assou-Ekotto, French-Cameroonian footballer

Park Bom, South Korean singer

Chris Bosh, American basketball player

Adrian D'Souza, Indian field hockey player

Lucy Wangui Kabuu, Kenyan runner

Philipp Petzschner, German tennis player

Luca Ceccarelli, Italian footballer

T. J. Ford, American basketball player

Riccardo Musetti, Italian footballer

Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Canadian ice hockey player

Epico Colon, Puerto Rican professional wrestler

Jake Hager, American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler

Corey Hart, American baseball player

Jimmy Hempte, Belgian footballer

Dustin McGowan, American baseball player

Mike Adams, American football player

Ron Hainsey, American ice hockey player

Dirk Hayhurst, American baseball player

Mark Looms, Dutch footballer

Gary Paffett, English racing driver

Ramzi Abid, Canadian ice hockey player

Andrew Hutchinson, American ice hockey player

Tassos Venetis, Greek footballer

Norris Hopper, American baseball player

Periklis Iakovakis, Greek hurdler

Graeme Swann, English cricketer

Amir Arison, American actor

Michael Braun, Australian footballer and coach

Tomáš Ujfaluši, Czech footballer and manager

José Valverde, Dominican baseball player

Maxim Kuznetsov, Russian ice hockey player

Aaron Brooks, American football player

Aliou Cissé, Senegalese footballer and coach

Annette Dasch, German soprano

Athanasios Kostoulas, Greek footballer

Thomas Johansson, Swedish-Monégasque tennis player

Sergey Klyugin, Russian high jumper

Jacek Bąk, Polish footballer

Philippe Boucher, Canadian ice hockey player and manager

Steve Corica, Australian footballer and coach

Jure Ivanušič, Slovenian actor, concert pianist and chansonnier

Mette Jacobsen, Danish swimmer

Glen Jakovich, Australian footballer