Today in History

On May 24 in history ..

1086 - Abbott Dauferio/Desiderius becomes Pope Victor III
1153 - Malcolm IV becomes king of Scotland
1300 - King Philip IV occupies Flanders, Earl Gwijde captured
1370 - Hanzesteden signs peace treaty with Danish king Waldemar IV
1487 - Imposter Lambert Simnel ceremony crowned as King Edward VI of Dublin
1626 - Peter Minuet buys Manhattan from Indians for trinkets, valued at $24
1653 - German Parliament selects Ferdinand II king of Austria
1658 - Battle of Dunes (Spanish-French War) fought
1660 - English king Charles II visits Netherlands
1667 - French troops attack into Southern Netherlands
1689 - English Parliament guarantees freedom of religion for Protestants
1697 - English king Willem III travels through northern Europe
1726 - -26] People's revolt due to increase in gin/brandy tax
1738 - Methodist Church forms
1809 - Dartmoor Prison opens to house French prisoners of war
1815 - George Evans discovers Lachlan River, Australia
1818 - Gen Andrew Jackson captures Pensacola Florida
1822 - Battle of Pichincha, Bolívar secures independence of Quito from Spain
1824 - Pope Leo XII proclaims a universal jubilee
1829 - Pope Pius VIII issues his program for pontificate
1830 - "Mary Had A Little Lamb," is written
1830 - 1st passenger rail service in US (Baltimore & Elliots Mill, Maryland)
1844 - Samuel FB Morse taps out "What hath God wrought" (1st telegraph msg)
1846 - Gen Zachary Taylor captures Monterey in Méxican War
1854 - Anthony Burns, slave, arrested by US Deputy marshals in Boston
1854 - Lincoln University, Penn, 1st Black college in US forms by Prebyts
1856 - Pottawatomie Massacre took place in Kansas
1861 - Alexandria, VA occupied by Federal troops
1861 - Maj Gen Benjamin Butler declares slaves "contraband of war"
1862 - Beardslee field telegraph used for 1st time
1862 - Westminster Bridge across Thames opens
1866 - Berkeley, Calif named (for George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne)
1870 - Memoria of Jackson Kemper, 1st Missionary Bishop in US
1873 - Leo Delibes' opera "Le Roi l'a Dit," premieres in Paris
1877 - 5th Preakness: C Holloway aboard Cloverbrook wins in 2:45½
1878 - CA Parker (Harvard) wins 1st American bike race, Beacon Park Boston
1879 - 7th Preakness: L Hughes aboard Harold wins in 2:40½
1881 - Canadian ferry Princess Victoria sinks near London Ontario, 200 die
1883 - Brooklyn Bridge opened by Pres Arthur & Gov Cleveland
1884 - Anti-Monopoly party & Greenback Party forms People's Party in US
1887 - Sultan Bargash of Zanzibar grants E Afr Assn at East African harbors
1890 - Caprivi succeeds Bismarck on as chancellor of Germany
1890 - Geo Train & Sam Wall circle world in record 67 days, Tacoma-Tacoma
1890 - Tivoli Theater of Varities opens in London
1895 - Henry Irving becomes 1st theatrical knight
1899 - 1st auto repair shop opens (Boston)
1900 - 34th Belmont: Nash Turner aboard Ildrim wins in 2:21¼
1900 - Britain annexes Orange Free State
1902 - Cleve's Bill Bradley is 1st ALer to hit a HR run in 4 consecutive games, not duplicated until Babe Ruth does it June 25, 1918
1902 - Empire Day 1st celebrated in Britain
1905 - 39th Belmont: Eugene Hildebrand aboard Tanya wins in 2:08
1908 - Belgium Catholic socialist/liberal parliamentary election
1908 - John Masefields "Tragedy of Nan," premieres in London
1909 - Bristol University granted Royal Charter
1915 - Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary
1915 - Thomas Edison invents telescribe to record telephone conversations
1916 - Conscription begins in Britain
1916 - French driven out of Fort Douaumont after 500 killed or injured
1916 - Last British-Indian contract workers arrive in Suriname
1916 - US pilot William Thaw shoots down a German Fokker
1918 - Cleveland beats Yankees 3-2 in 19 inning
1921 - 1st parliament for Northern Ireland elected
1921 - British Legion forms
1922 - Record temperature in Netherlands for May (35.6°C)
1922 - Russian-Italian trade agreement signed
1926 - Paavo Nurmi runs world record 3000 m (8:25.4)
1928 - Record 12 future Hall of Famers take the field, as Yanks beat A's 9-7
1928 - Umberto Nobile flies airship over North Pole again
1929 - Detroit Tigers beats Chicago White Sox, 6-5, in 21 innings
1930 - 1st woman to fly from England to Australia solo, lands (Amy Johnson)
1930 - Bradman scores 252* Australia v Surrey, 290 mins, 29 fours
1930 - Ruth homers in both games of a doubleheader, giving him 9 in one week
1931 - 1st air-conditioned train installed-B&O Railroad
1933 - Dmitri Shostakovitch's Preludes, premieres in Moscow
1934 - Colombia & Peru sign accord about harbor city Leticia
1935 - 1st major league night baseball game, in Cincinnati (Reds 2, Phil 1)
1935 - Swedish princess Ingrid marries Danish crown prince Frederik (IX)
1936 - Dutch bishops forbid membership of Nazi party
1936 - Tony Lazerri 2 grand slams (11 RBIs); Ben Chapman sets record by reaching 1st 7 times safely, Yanks beat A's 25-2
1940 - 1st night game at NY's Polo Grounds (Giants 8, Braves 1)
1940 - 1st night game at St Louis Sportsman Park (Indians 3, Browns 2)
1940 - Dutch army demobilizes
1940 - Dutch Queen Wilhelmina speaks on BBC radio
1940 - German tanks reach Atrecht France
1940 - Hitler affirms Gen von Rundstedts "Stopbevel"
1940 - NY Giants rip Boston Bees 8-1 in 1st night game at Polo Grounds
1941 - Bismarck sinks British battle cruiser HMS Hood, 1,416 die 3 survive
1943 - Admiral Dönitz stops U-boat in Atlantic Ocean
1943 - U-441 shoots Sunderland seaplane down over Gulf of Biskaje
1944 - Enver Hoxha becomes head of Albania anti fascists
1944 - Icelandic voters severe all ties with Denmark
1946 - Bill Dickey replaces Joe McCarthy as Yankee manager
1948 - Benjamin Brittens "Beggar's Opera," premieres in Cambridge
1951 - Racial segregation in Wash DC restaurants ruled illegal
1951 - US performs nuclear test at Enwetak (atmospheric tests)
1951 - Willie Mays begins playing for NY Giants
1953 - Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Doctor Mellifluus
1954 - 1st rocket attains 150 mi (241 km) altitude, White Sands, NM
1954 - Dr Peter Murray Marshall becomes 1st black to head an AMA unit
1954 - German airline Lufthansa forms
1954 - IBM announces vacuum tube "electronic" brain that could perform 10 million operations an hour
1957 - Anti American riots breakout in Taipei, Taiwan
1957 - Heavy earthquake strikes Colombia
1958 - "New Girl in Town" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 432 perfs
1958 - Pres Batista opens offensive against Fidel Castro's rebellion
1958 - UP & International News Service merge into United Press International
1959 - 1st house with built-in bomb shelter exhibited (Pleasant Hills Pa)
1959 - Empire Day renamed Commonwealth Day in England
1960 - 1 millionth Dutch telephone installed
1961 - 27 Freedom Riders arrested in Jackson, Mississippi
1961 - Explorer (12) fails to reach Earth orbit
1962 - M Scott Carpenter aboard Aurora 7 launched into Earth orbit
1963 - 1st Lockheed A-12 to crash, CIA pilot Ken Collins ejects safely
1964 - 18th Tony Awards: Luther & Hello Dolly win
1964 - Beatles' 3rd appearance on Ed Sullivan
1964 - Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Dallas Civitan Golf Open Invitational
1964 - Longest HR (471') in Balt Memorial Stadium (Harmon Killebrew, Minn)
1964 - Panic in Lima Peru soccer stadium, kills 300
1965 - Supreme Court declares federal law allowing post office to intercept communist propaganda is unconstitutional
1966 - "Mame" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 1508 performances
1967 - AFL grants a franchise to Cincinnati Bengals
1968 - Haiti closes down shortwave station 4VEH for 40 days
1968 - Mick Jagger & Marianne Faithfull arrested for drug possession
1968 - Pres De Gaulle proposes referendum & students set fire to Paris bourse
1969 - Beatles' "Get Back," single goes #1 & stays #1 for 5 weeks
1970 - Donna Caponi Young wins LPGA Bluegrass Golf Invitational
1970 - Peter Queen quits Fleetwood Mac to join a religious cult
1971 - A commuter bus plunges into Panama Canal, killing 38 of 43 aboard
1972 - Glasgow Rangers wins 12th Europe Cup II at Barcelona
1972 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1974 - Dean Martin Show, last airs on NBC-TV
1975 - Dutch Govt of De Uyl decides to obtain an F-16
1976 - 1st commercial SST flight to North America (Concorde to Wash DC)
1976 - Muhammad Ali TKOs Richard Dunn in 5 for heavyweight boxing title
1977 - USSR President Podgorny resigns
1978 - Dutch Investment bill (WIR) law goes into effect
1979 - Billy Martin issues a public apology to Reno sportswriter Ray Hagar
1979 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1980 - "Rock Lobster" by B-52's hits #56
1980 - Iran rejects a call to World Court to release US hostages
1980 - Stanley Cup: NY Islanders beat Phila Flyers, 4 games to 2
1981 - Al Unser wins, loses, & wins a controversial Indy 500
1981 - Hostage situation ends at Central Bank in Barcelona Spain
1981 - Kathy Hite wins LPGA Corning Golf Classic
1983 - Fred Sinowatz succeeds Bruno Kreisky as chancellor of Austria
1983 - Supreme Court rules govt can deny tax breaks to schools that racially discriminated against students
1984 - "Wiz" opens at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC for 13 performances
1984 - Det Tigers win AL record 17th straight road game
1985 - -25) cyclone hits Bangladesh; about 10,000 die
1985 - "View to a Kill" premieres in US
1986 - Country Singer Garth Brooks marries Sandy
1986 - Margaret Thatcher becomes 1st British PM to visit Israel
1986 - Reginald Huffstetler trode water for 985 hrs
1986 - Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens beat Calgary Flames, 4 games to 1
1987 - 33rd LPGA Championship won by Jane Geddes
1987 - Al Unser Sr, 47, wins his 4th Indy 500
1988 - John Moschitta set record for fast talking: 586 words per minute
1988 - Porntip Nakhirunkanok, 19, of Thailand, crowned 37th Miss Universe
1988 - Power outage in Boston Garden in NHL's Stanley Cup finals
1989 - "Indiana Jones & Last Crusade" premieres
1989 - AC Milan wins 34th Europe Cup 1 at Barcelona
1989 - French war criminal Paul Touvier arrested in monastery in Nice
1989 - NHL's NY Rangers fire GM & coach Phil Esposito
1989 - NY Yankee hurler Lee Gutterman sets record of pitching 30-2/3 innings before giving up his 1st run of season
1989 - Weird Al Yankovic records his UHF soundtrack
1990 - Andre Dawson receives a record 5 intentional walks in a game
1990 - Stanley Cup: Edmonton Oilers beat Boston Bruins, 4 games to 1
1992 - Al Unser Jr wins Indy 500
1992 - Colleen Walker wins LPGA Corning Golf Classic
1992 - Despite trailing 7-1, NY Yanks tie Milwaukee Brewers & then score 1 in 9th to avoid 5th straight extra inning game
1992 - Pat Bradley wins J C Penney/LPGA Skins Game Golf Tournament
1993 - Eritrea achieved independence from Ethiopia after 30-year civil war
1993 - Kim Basinger files for bankruptcy to avoid paying $7.4M settlement
1993 - Kurd rebellion kills 33 soldiers & 5 citizens in Turkey
1994 - Poison singer Bret Michaels gets into a car crash
1996 - "Spy Hard," starring Leslie Nielsen is released
1997 - Actor Tim Allen arrested for drunk driving in Mich
1997 - STS 84 (Atlantis 19), lands
1997 - Telstar-5 Proton Launch, Successful
1998 - Indianapolis 500 race
1998 - wins J C Penney LPGA Skins Game

Famous birthdays on May 24 ..

0015 - Julius Caesar Germanicus, Roman commandant
1544 - William Gilbert, Essex England, physicist (researcher into magnetism)
1605 - Nikon, [Nikita Minin], patriarch of Russian-orthodox church
1610 - Giovanni Battista Chinelli, composer
1619 - Philips Wouwerman(s), Dutch painter
1650 - John Churchill, 1st duke of Marlborough, English general strategist
1677 - Alexandre de Villenueve, composer
1736 - Juan de Sesse y Balaguer, composer
1738 - George III, king of Great-Britain (1760-1820)
1743 - Jean-Paul Marat, France, revolutionist
1751 - Charles Emanuel II, King of Sardina (1796-1802)
1753 - Oliver Cromwell, Burlington NJ, black who served with Washington
1754 - Giacomo Conti, composer
1767 - Joseph Ignaz Schnabel, composer
1781 - Louis-François Dauprat, composer/horn player
1794 - William Whewell, British philosopher (History of Inductive Science)
1803 - Charles LJL Bonaparte, Corsican/French prince of Canino/Musignano
1807 - Cornelis E van Koetsveld, vicar/literature
1807 - Thomas Duncan, painter
1810 - Abraham Geiger, theologian/author/leader of Reform Judaism
1811 - Charles Clark, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1877
1816 - Emanuel Leutze, US, painter (Washington Crossing the Delaware)
1816 - Robert Seaman Granger, (Union Army Bvt Major general, died in 1894)
1819 - Victoria Alexandrine, Queen of Great Britain (1837-1901)
1831 - Richard Hoffman, composer
1838 - Paul Laband, German lawyer
1840 - Frederick Walker, painter
1841 - Charles Napier Henry, painter
1841 - Tito Mattei, pianist/composer
1850 - Ernest Albert Waterlow, water-color painter
1852 - Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham, author/politician
1854 - Louis Mountbatten, admiral (WW I)
1855 - Arthur Wing Pinero, British playwright
1858 - Johan C Braakensiek, political cartoonist (Green Amsterdammer)
1866 - Armando Frid, Argentina, live until July 28 1990 (124 years)
1870 - Jan Christian Smuts, proponnent of Commonwealth & League of Nations
1878 - Lillian Moller Gilbreth, engineer (CIOS Gold Medal-1954)
1881 - Mikulas Schneider-Trvavsky, composer
1882 - Creighton Hale, Cork Ireland, actor (Gorilla Man, Way Down East)
1886 - Paul Paray, Le Tréport Normandy, conductor/composer (Artemis Trouble)
1891 - Benedictus H Danser, Dutch botanist
1891 - William F Albright, US old testament scholar/archaeologist
1893 - W H Walter Baade, German/US astronomer (Andromeda)
1895 - H S T L "Stork" Hendry, cricketer (Australian all-rounder post-WWI)
1895 - Samuel I Newhouse, US millionaire publisher (Parade, Vogue, Glamour)
1898 - Kathleen Hale, British children book writer/illustrator (Orlando)
1899 - Suzanne Lenglen, France, Wimbledon tennis champion (6-times)
1903 - Aram Katchaturian, Armenian composer, (Earth)
1903 - Hilding Hallnas, composer
1904 - George Formby, [William Booth], Brit singer/comic (Let George Do It)
1904 - Kenneth Buckley, British rear-admiral
1904 - Patrick Johnson, physicist
1905 - Mikhail Sholokhov, USSR, writer (And Quiet Flows the Don, Nobel 1965)
1905 - Zdenek Blazek, composer
1906 - Edmund Sargant, solicitor
1906 - John Mayo, director-general (Help the Aged)
1908 - Kresimir Fribec, composer
1908 - Michael Roberts, historian
1909 - Guillermo Diaz-Plaja, Spanish literary/poet (Lorca)
1909 - Louis Fürnberg, writer
1909 - Wilbur Mills, (Rep-D-Ark)/involved with Fanne Foxe
1910 - Margers Zarins, composer
1910 - Nils-Eric Fougstedt, composer
1912 - Joan Hammond, British operatic soprano
1912 - Joseph Anthony, [Deuster], US director/actor (Matchmaker, Tomorrow)
1913 - Audrey Brown, England, 4 X 100m runner (Olympic-silver-1936)
1913 - Willi Daume, olympic organizer
1914 - Clifford Irving, Chairman (Isle of Man Govt)
1914 - George Tabori, writer
1914 - Lilli Palmer, [Peiser], Germany, actress (Gentle Sex, Lotte in Weimar)
1916 - Roden Cutler, Governor (New South Wales)
1917 - Derek Hodgson, British high court judge
1917 - Lord Campbell of Alloway, QC
1917 - Theodore Hesburgh, Syracuse NY, president (Notre Dame)
1918 - Coleman A Young, civil rights leader (Mayor-D-Detroit)
1918 - D V Jennings, solicitor
1922 - Sadao Bekku, composer
1923 - Paul Bramley, oral surgeon
1923 - Siobhan McKenna, Ireland, stage actress (Saint Joan)
1925 - François J [Frank] le Roux, chief whip (South Afr Conserv Party)
1925 - Mai Zetterling, Sweden, actress (Witches, Offbeat, Jet Storm)
1926 - Len Maddocks, cricket wicket-keeper (Australian mid-50's)
1927 - John Kelly Jr, US, sculls (Oly-bronze-1956)/brother of Grace Kelly
1927 - Martinus J Mentz, South African MP (Conservative)
1927 - Timothy Beven, CEO (Barclays Bank)
1928 - Peter Griffiths, MP
1928 - Stanley Baxter, British comedian (Joey Boy, Fast Lady)
1928 - William Trevor, Brit writer (Children of Dynmouth, Fools of Fortune)
1930 - Hans-Martin Linde, composer
1930 - Ivor Richardson, Judge (NZ Court of Appeals)
1932 - Arnold Wesker, British playwright (Bratkartoffeln Inbegriffen)
1932 - Elaine Malbin, opera singer
1932 - Graham Arnold, artist
1932 - James Anderton, Chief constable (Manchester England)
1932 - Terence Heiser, British senior civil servant
1933 - Christopher Staughton, British Lord Justice of Appeal
1933 - Hemchandra Tukaram Dani, cricketer (Test Ind v Pak, 1-19, ct 1, DNB)
1933 - Joaquín Vaquero Turcios, Spanish painter
1933 - Tony Mullett, dir-general (National Criminal Intelligence Service)
1934 - Jane Byrne, (Mayor-D-Chic)
1936 - Harold Budd, composer
1938 - Glen Hall, cricket leg-spinner (S African in one Test v England 1964)
1938 - Tommy Chong, Edmonton, Alberta, comedian/actor (Cheech & Chong)
1939 - Gert J Schutte, Dutch MP (GPV)
1940 - Gary Burghoff, Bristol CT, actor (Radar-M*A*S*H)
1940 - Joseph Brodsky, USSR, author (Less than 1, Nobel 1987)
1941 - Andres Garcia, Santo Domingo Dom Rep, actor (Tiger Shark)
1941 - Baroness Hollis of Heigham, history lecturer (U of East Anglia)
1941 - Bob Dylan, [Zimmerman], Minn, singer/songwriter (Blowin' in Wind)
1941 - Brian Dennis, composer
1941 - Konrad Boehmer, composer
1941 - Martin Mogg, governor (British Durham Prison)
1941 - Tony Valentino, rocker (Standells-Dirty Water)
1942 - Ali Bacher, cricketer (South African batsman & capt in 60's)
1942 - Derek Quinn, guitarist (Freddie & Dreamers-I'm Telling You Now)
1942 - Sarah Dash, Trenton NJ, rocker (LaBelle-Lady Marmalade)
1943 - James Levine, British conductor
1944 - Arthur Brown, rock vocalist (Fire) [or Jun 24]
1944 - Patti LaBelle, [Holt], Phila Pa, singer (LaBelle-Lady Marmalade)
1945 - Priscilla Presley, Bkln NY, actress (Jenna-Dallas, Naked Gun)
1945 - Richard Ottaway, MP
1945 - Steven Norris, British MP
1946 - Irina Kirszenstein Szewinska, Lenningrad, long jumper (Oly-bron-1972)
1946 - Jeremy Treglown, English scholar/editor (TLS)
1946 - Steve Upton, rock drummer (Wishbone Ash-There's the Rub, Locked In)
1947 - Luke Rittner, sect-gen (Arts Council)
1947 - Mike Reid, Altoona Penn, country singer (Walk on Faith)
1949 - John Illsley, rocker (Dire Straits)
1950 - Jo Ann Washam, LPGA golfer
1951 - Pat Bradley, golfer (leader in LPGA career earnings)
1951 - Rob Baker, rock drummer (Red Rider)
1951 - Ronald A Parise, Warren Ohio, PhD/astronaut (STS 35, STS 67)
1953 - Alfred Molina, London, actor (Enchanted April, Prick up your Ears)
1953 - Nell Campbell, [Laura], Sydney Australia, actress (Rocky Horror)
1955 - Rosanne Cash, Memphis Tn, country singer (Seven Year Ache, I Wonder)
1955 - Thad Ackel, horse trainer
1956 - Helen Terry, rocker (Now You're Mine)
1957 - John G Rowland, (Rep-R-CT, 1985- )
1959 - George Glanos, horse trainer
1960 - Pete Metzelaars, NFL tight end (Carolina Panthers, GB Packers, Lions)
1962 - Bev Lidyoff, Huntington Park Ca, WPVA volleyballer (US Open-7th-1994)
1962 - Dorothy Trapp, equestrian 3-day (Olympics-96)
1963 - Gene Anthony Ray, Harlem NY, dancer/actor (Leroy-Fame)
1963 - Horace Holden Jr, Atlanta GA, slalom double canoe (Olympics-11th-96)
1963 - Joe Dumars, NBA guard (Detroit Pistons)
1963 - Ken Ftach, St Louis Mo, tennis star
1964 - Adrian Moorhouse, British 100m breaststroker (Olympic-gold-1988)
1964 - Elizabeth McColgan, British running star (world record 5 km indoor)
1964 - Pat Verbeek, Sarnia Ont, NHL forward (Team Canada, NY Rangers)
1965 - Chris Jorgis, Palo Alto Calif, US badminton player (Olympic-92)
1966 - Tommy Turner, jockey
1966 - Tony Jones, NFL tackle (Cleve Browns, Denver Broncos-Superbowl 32)
1967 - Heavy D, rapper
1967 - Margaret Crowley, Australian 800m/1500m runner (Olympics-96)
1967 - Steve McDonald, rocker (Redd Kross)
1968 - Jerry Dipoto, Jersey City NJ, pitcher (NY Mets)
1969 - Martin McCague, cricketer (in Ulster AIS product, Eng quickie 1993-94)
1969 - Rich Robinson, rocker (Black Crowes-Shake Your Money Maker)
1970 - Jeff Zgonina, NFL defensive tackle (Carolina Panthers, Packers, Rams)
1970 - Nick Castaneda, Birmingham Ala, pairs skater (& Dawn Piepenbrink)
1970 - Thomas Alden Page, Glenridge NJ, rocker (New Kids-Hangin' Tough)
1971 - Paul Ragusa, Bulach Switz, Canadian 48 kg freestyle wrestler (Oly-96)
1971 - Troy Barnett, NFL defensive end (NE Patriots)
1972 - Danny Bautista, Santo Domingo Dom Rep, outfielder (Atlanta Braves)
1972 - Petra Schwarz-Ritter, Vienna Aus, tennis star (1988 Futures-Bari-ITA)
1972 - Tito Paul, NFL defensive back (Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals)
1972 - Viktor Ujcik, Jihlava CZE, hockey (Team Czech Rep)
1973 - Karim Alami, Morocco, tennis star
1973 - Ville Peltonen, Vantaa FIN, NHL forward (Team Finland, San Jose)
1974 - Ace Custis, NBA forward (Dallas Mavericks)
1974 - Marcus Coleman, free safety (NY Jets)
1974 - Maria Alejandra Vento, Caracas Venz, tennis star (1995 Futures-Braz)
1974 - Natalie Neaton, Royal Oak Mich, soccer forward (Olympics-96)
1975 - Katie King, ice hockey forward (USA, Oly-98)
1978 - Jade Winter, Australian swimmer (Olympics-96)
1979 - Tracy McGrady, NBA forward (Toronto Raptors)
1980 - Billy L Sullivan, LI NY, actor (Will Pacino-Something So Right)
1981 - Shelby Lyons, Oswego NY, pairs skater (& Wells-1995 Midwest champ)
1982 - ? Samane, S Afr, son of Christine, heaviest baby (22 lbs 8 oz/10.2 kg)
1996 - Matthew Eappen, Boston Mass, baby murdered by nanny Louise Woodward

Famous deaths on May 24 ..

1144 - Petronella, wife of earl Floris II the Vette of Holland/regent, dies
1153 - David I, King of Scotland, dies
1543 - Nicolas Copernicus, astronomer, dies in Poland
1612 - Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury/PM (1598-1612), dies at 48
1665 - Maria de Jesus de Agreda [Maria Coronel], Spanish franciscans, dies
1669 - Pieter Cuypers, South Neth lawyer, dies at 48
1670 - Ferdinand II, ruler of Toscane, dies at 59
1696 - Albertine Agnes, princess of Orange-Nassau, dies at 62
1751 - William Hamilton, of Gilbertsfield, poet, dies
1762 - Joseph Umstatt, composer, dies at 51
1773 - Jan Zach, composer, dies at 73
1792 - George Brydges, 1st baron Rodney/admiral, dies
1792 - Jakob M R Lenz, writer (That Soldier), dies
1804 - Simon Style, Fries medical/writer, dies at 73
1817 - Juan Meléndez Valdés, Spanish lawyer/poet, dies at 63
1826 - Friedrich Fesca, composer, dies at 37
1831 - Benjamin Carr, composer, dies at 62
1844 - William Crockford, clubman/gambler, dies
1848 - A V Droste-Hülshoff, writer, dies at 51
1850 - Jane Porter, novelist (Scottish Chiefs), dies at 74
1851 - Stanko Vraz, [Jakob Frass], Slavic poet (Grammatica), dies at 40
1861 - Elmer Ellsworth, US warrior (Chicago Zouaves), shot to death at 23
1861 - James T Jackson, US landlord (doodde EE Ellsworth), shot dead)
1871 - Francisco Salvador Daniel, composer, dies at 40
1872 - Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, painter, dies
1876 - Henry Kingsley, English/Australian writer, dies at 46
1879 - William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist (Liberator), dies at 73
1881 - Samuel Palmer, landscape painter, dies
1894 - William Joseph Westbrook, composer, dies at 63
1895 - Joseph Quinaux, Belgian painter, dies at 73
1919 - Amado Nervo, [Juan C Ruiz de Nervo], Mexican poet, dies at 48
1941 - Lancelot Holland, British vice-admiral ((WW II/Hood), dies in battle
1943 - Vladimir I Nemirovitch-Dantshenko, Russian playwright, dies at 84
1948 - Alfred Kastner, composer, dies at 78
1953 - Cor Hermus, actor (Bleeke Bet, William of Orange, Jantes), dies at 63
1956 - Guy Kibbee, actor (Capt Blood, Babes in Arms), dies at 74
1959 - John Foster Dulles, US Secretary of State (1953-59), dies at 71
1963 - Elmore James, blues guitarist, dies at 45 of a heart attack
1968 - Bernard Rogers, composer (Warrior, Passion), dies at 75
1969 - Mitzi Green, actress (Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer), dies at 48
1972 - Asta Nielsen, actress (Joyless Street), dies at 88
1972 - Gavin Muir, actor (Hollister-Betty Hutton Show), dies at 64
1974 - Duke Ellington, blues singer, dies of cancer at 75
1976 - Henk Lankhorst, pacifist/Dutch MP (PSP), dies at 62
1976 - Melle J Oldeboerrigter ("Melle"), painter/cartoonist, dies at 65
1979 - Jan Arvan, actor (Red Skelton Show, Zorro), dies
1981 - George Jessel, actor (Diary of a Young Comic), dies at 83
1981 - Jack Warner, [Waters], actor (Captive Heart), dies at 84
1981 - Jaime Roldós Aguilera, President of Ecuador, dies in air crash
1986 - Gunnar Björnstrand, actor (7th Seal, Devil's Eye), dies at 76
1986 - Stephen D Thorne, Lt Cmdr USN/astronaut, dies in a plane crash at 33
1986 - Yakima Canutt, actor/director (Diary of a Young Comic), dies at 91
1987 - Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold, actress (Gigi, Music Man), dies at 89
1988 - James "Hamish" Hamilton, Brit publisher (Salinger/Mitford), dies at 87
1988 - Tom Burtt, cricketer (NZ slow left-armer in 11 Tests 1947-53), dies
1989 - Herwig Hensen [Flor Mielants], Flemish dramatist/poet, dies at 72
1991 - Gene Clark, folk-rocker (Byrds-Tambourine Man), dies at 49
1992 - Joan Sanderson, actress (Young Wives' Tale, Fawlty Towers), dies at 79
1993 - Jesus Posadas Ocampo, Mexican cardinal/archbishop, shot dead at 66
1993 - Milton O Thompson, astronaut (Dynasoar, X-15), dies at 66
1994 - Jean-Pierre E Plooij, Dutch writer (Bird House), dies at 48
1994 - John Barrington Wain, author, dies at 69
1994 - Sandor Lakatos, Hungarian violist/orchestra leader, dies at 69
1994 - Yehuda Mor-Mirkovsky, Israeli kibbutz-founder, dies at 96
1995 - Harold Wilson, British PM (1964-70, 74-76), dies of cancer at 79
1995 - Mike Pyne, jazz Pianist, dies at 54
1996 - Alexander Langsdorf, physicist, dies at 83
1996 - Harry Campion, statistician, dies at 91
1996 - Jack McCarthy, kiddie show host (Popeye), dies of cancer at 81
1996 - Jacob R Druckman, composer, dies at 67
1996 - John Abbott, British actor (Lady Jane, Quest), dies at 90
1996 - Joseph Mitchell, writer, dies at 87
1997 - Edward Mulhare, actor (Ghost & Mrs Muir), dies of lung cancer at 74