May 24 is the 144nd day of the year (145rd in leap years) according to the Gregorian calendar. There are 221 days left until the end of the year.
Railways
- 24 May 1882 The proposal of Mehmet Nahid Bey and Kostaki Teodoridi Efendi’s Mersin-Adana line was sent from the Application to the Nafia Commission.
- 24 May 1924 Anadolu-Baghdad Railways Directorate was established to nationalize the Anatolian Railway Company, operated by foreign companies.
- 24 May 1983 TCDD Ankara Nursery and Day Care Center opened.
Events
- 1218 – In the Fifth Crusade, the Crusaders left the city of Akka to the Ayyubids.
- 1844 – American inventor Samuel Morse sent the first message in Morse code, which was his invention, from the US Congress building to a train station in Baltimore, in an experiment in which members of the US Senate were present.
- 1883 – The Brooklyn Bridge in New York, which took 14 years to build, was opened to traffic.
- 1921 – British spy of Indian origin Mustafa Sagir was executed in Ankara.
- 1921 – Trials of Sacco and Vanzetti begin in the USA.
- 1924 – Anatolian-Baghdad Railways General Manager was established for the nationalization of the Ottoman Anatolian Railways (CFOA) Company, which was operated by foreign companies.
- 1940 – Igor Sikorsky made the first successful single-engine helicopter flight.
- 1941 – In the Battle of the Danish Canal, the British battleship HMS Hood is sunk by DKM Bismarck.
- 1943 – Doctor Josef Mengele, known as the “angel of death”, takes office in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. Mengele was known for his horrific experiments on detainees.
- 1945 – Shapsug National District on the Black Sea coast in Krasnodar Krai was abolished.
- 1956 – The first Eurovision Song Contest was held in Lugano, Switzerland. The song contest, in which 7 countries participated, was performed by Lys Assia, who competed on behalf of the host Switzerland, Refrain song won.
- 1961 – The revolt in the prison on Imrali Island, where 2 prisoners were housed, was suppressed.
- 1964 – Mayhem breaks out at a football match in Peru: 135 people are killed.
- 1976 – The first Concorde voyage from London to Washington begins.
- 1979 – The first Turkish aircraft, ‘Mavi Işık 85-XA’, of which 79% was produced with domestic materials, made a successful test flight at the Kayseri Supply Center.
- 1981 – Turkish Airlines’ Golden Horn plane was hijacked to Bulgaria by 4 people. The militants demanded that 47 of their supporters be released from prison, but they were caught the next day.
- 1983 – When it was revealed that Hülya Avşar, who was selected as Miss Turkey in the contest organized by the Bulvar newspaper, was married, the second beautiful Dilara Haraççı was declared the Queen.
- 1989 – Forced migration from Bulgaria to Turkey began.
- 1991 – Israel begins bringing Ethiopian Jews to Israel in a military operation it calls Operation Solomon.
- 1993 – PKK ambush: PKK members set up an ambush on the Bingöl-Elazig highway and killed 33 unarmed soldiers.
- 1993 – Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia.
- 2000 – Israel ended its 22-year occupation in Southern Lebanon.
- 2003 – Sertab Erener, who competed for Turkey in the 48th Eurovision Song Contest held in Riga, the capital of Latvia, Everyway That I Can won the song.
- 2004 – Cell phones are banned in North Korea.
- 2008 – Dima Bilan, Believe With the song “Eurovision”, he brought Russia the first place.
- 2014 – An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 occurred off the island of Samothrace in the Aegean Sea.
Births
- 15 BC – Germanicus (Julius Caesar Claudianus), Roman general (d. 19)
- 1494 – Pontormo, Mannerist painter (d. 1557)
- 1544 – William Gilbert, English physician and physicist (d. 1603)
- 1686 – Gabriel Fahrenheit, German physicist and inventor of the mercury thermometer (d. 1736)
- 1743 – Jean-Paul Marat, French scientist and medical doctor (d. 1793)
- 1794 – William Whewell, English scientist, Anglican priest, philosopher, theologian, and historian of science (d. 1866)
- 1802 – Alexandre Orbeliani, Georgian romantic poet, playwright, journalist, and historian (d. 1869)
- 1819 – Victoria I, Queen of the United Kingdom (d. 1901)
- 1905 – Mikhail Sholokhov, Russian writer and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
- 1911 – Ne Win, Burmese dictator (d. 2002)
- 1914 – Herbert L. Anderson, American nuclear physicist who contributed to the Manhattan Project (d. 1988)
- 1914 – George Tabori, Hungarian theater director, writer and screenwriter (d. 2007)
- 1928 – Adrian Frutiger, Swiss writer and artist (d. 2015)
- 1931 – Michael Lonsdale, French actor and painter (d. 2020)
- 1932 – Arnold Wesker, English play and film screenwriter (d. 2016)
- 1937 – Charly Antolini, Swedish jazz drummer and musician
- 1937 – Archie Shepp, American jazz saxophonist
- 1938 – Prince Buster, Jamaican reggae and rock musician, singer, and composer (d. 2016)
- 1940 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian poet (d. 1996)
- 1941 – Bob Dylan, American musician, writer, and Nobel Prize laureate
- 1942 – Hannu Mikkola, Finnish speedway driver, Former World Rally Champion (d. 2021)
- 1944 – Patti LaBelle, American singer, writer, actress, and entrepreneur
- 1945 – Idris Jetu, former prime minister of Morocco
- 1945 – Jean-Claude Magendie, French judge
- 1946 – Ayten Uncuoğlu, Turkish actress
- 1946 – Tansu Çiller, Turkish economist, academic and politician (Turkey’s first female Prime Minister)
- 1946 – Thomas Nordahl, Swedish former football player and sports commentator
- 1946 – Irena Szewińska, former Polish Olympic female track and field athlete (d. 2018)
- 1949 – James Broadbent, English actor and winner of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
- 1951 – Jean-Pierre Bacri, French actor and screenwriter (d. 2021)
- 1953 – Alfred Molina, English stage and film actor
- 1956 – Sean Kelly, Irish former professional road bike racer
- 1959 – Emire Eren Keskin, Turkish lawyer
- 1960 – Kristin Scott Thomas, Anglo-French actress
- 1964 – Ray Stevenson, Irish-English actor (d. 2023)
- 1965 – John C. Reilly, American actor
- 1966 – Eric Cantona, French football player
- 1967 – Tamer Karadağlı, Turkish actor
- 1968 – Emrah Yücel, Turkish graphic designer
- 1970 – Gulay, Turkish singer
- 1973 – Jill Johnson, Swedish singer-songwriter
- 1973 – Ruslana, Ukrainian singer, dancer, producer and composer
- 1974 – Dan Houser, English game producer, writer and voice actor
- 1979 – Tracy McGrady, American professional basketball player who played in the NBA
- 1981 – Kenan Bajramović, Bosnian national basketball player
- 1981 – Penny Taylor, Australian basketball player
- 1982 – Elvis Beasley, American midfielder
- 1982 – Víctor Bernárdez, Honduran national football player
- 1982 – Damien Chrysostome, Benin national football player
- 1983 – Custódio Castro, Portuguese former football player
- 1983 – Žydrūnas Karčemarskas, former Lithuanian football player
- 1984 – Lucien Aubey, Congolese national football player
- 1984 – Alma Zadić, Austrian lawyer and politician
- 1985 – Cemre Atmaca, Turkish actress
- 1985 – Jordi Gómez, Spanish football player
- 1986 – Ludovic Baal, French national football player
- 1986 – Saul Berjón, Spanish football player
- 1986 – Ladislas Douniama, Congolese football player
- 1986 – Jordan Metcalfe, English actor
- 1986 – Evandro Roncatto, Brazilian football player
- 1986 – Abdulaziz Tevfik, Egyptian national football player
- 1987 – Fabio Fognini, Italian professional tennis player
- 1987 – Deborah François, Belgian actress
- 1987 – Damir Kedžo, Croatian singer
- 1988 – Daniella Álvarez, Colombian model
- 1988 – Ilya Ilyin, Kazakh weightlifter
- 1988 – Ramón Osni Moreira Lage, Brazilian former football player
- 1989 – Izu Azuka, Nigerian football player
- 1989 – Yannick Bolasie, French-Congolese national football player
- 1989 – Cauê, Brazilian football player
- 1989 – G-Eazy, American rapper
- 1989 – Brianne Howey, American actress
- 1989 – Kalin Lucas, American professional basketball player
- 1989 – Adil Taarabt, Moroccan national football player
- 1990 – Daniel García Carrillo, Spanish football player
- 1990 – Sandra Vinces, Ecuadorian model
- 1994 – Anderson Esiti, Nigerian football player
- 1994 – Naoki Kawaguchi, Japanese football player
- 1994 – Dimash Kudaibergen, Kazakh singer and composer
- 1994 – Jarell Martin, American professional basketball player
- 1994 – Rodrigo de Paul, Argentine football player
- 1994 – Milda Valčiukaitė, Lithuanian rower
- 1998 – Daisy Edgar-Jones, English actress
Deaths
- 189 – Eleuterus, ca. 174 – 189 (b. ?)
- 1136 – Hugo de Payens, first grandmaster of the Knights Templar (b. 1070)
- 1408 – Taejo was the founder and first ruler of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea (b. 1335)
- 1524 – Shah Ismail, founder of the Turkish Safavid Empire (b. 1487)
- 1543 – Mikolaj Copernicus, Polish astronomer and explorer of the Solar System (b. 1473)
- 1627 – Luis de Góngora, Spanish Baroque lyric poet (b. 1561)
- 1792 – George Brydges Rodney, naval officer in the Royal Navy of Great Britain (b. 1719)
- 1817 – Juan Meléndez Valdés, Spanish neoclassical poet (b. 1754)
- 1823 – Franz de Paula Adam von Waldstein, Austrian soldier, explorer, herbalist, and naturalist (b. 1759)
- 1848 – Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German writer (b. 1797)
- 1879 – William Lloyd Garrison, American social reformer (b. 1805)
- 1903 – Marcel Renault, one of the three founders of Renault Automotive Industries (b. 1872)
- 1907 – Zacharie Astruc, French sculptor, painter, poet, and art critic (b. 1833)
- 1928 – Teotig, Armenian writer and yearbook writer (b. 1873)
- 1945 – Robert Ritter von Greim, Nazi Germany Air Force Commander (b. 1892)
- 1948 – Jacques Feyder, Belgian film director and screenwriter (b. 1885)
- 1949 – Aleksey Shchusev, Russian architect (b. 1873)
- 1950 – Archibald Wavell, British soldier (b. 1883)
- 1957 – İbnülemin Mahmut Kemal İnal, Turkish writer, historian, museologist and mystic (b. 1870)
- 1959 – John Foster Dulles, American lawyer and politician (b. 1888)
- 1965 – Ashot Madat, Turkish theater artist
- 1965 – Sonny Boy Williamson II, American blues harmonica virtuoso and singer-songwriter (b. 1912)
- 1973 – Selahattin Batu, Turkish veterinarian, academician, politician and literary scholar (b. 1905)
- 1974 – Duke Ellington, American jazz musician (b. 1899)
- 1979 – André Luguet, French film actor (b. 1892)
- 1984 – Vince McMahon Sr., American professional wrestling entrepreneur (b. 1914)
- 1991 – İsmail Selen, Turkish soldier (assassinated) (b. 1931)
- 1995 – Harold Wilson, British politician and Prime Minister (b. 1916)
- 2003 – Rachel Kempson, English actress (b. 1910)
- 2010 – Paul Gray, American bass guitarist (Slipknot) (b. 1972)
- 2014 – Stormé DeLarverie, American activist (b. 1920)
- 2015 – Tanith Lee, British comics, science fiction and story writer (b. 1947)
- 2016 – Burt Kwouk, English-British actor of Chinese descent (b. 1930)
- 2017 – Denis Johnson, American author (b. 1949)
- 2017 – Jared Martin, American film and television actor (b. 1941)
- 2017 – Pierre Seron, Belgian comics artist and illustrator (b. 1942)
- 2018 – Gudrun Burwitz, daughter of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, prominent member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) and chief architect of the Final Solution (b. 1929)
- 2018 – Jerry Maren, American actor (b. 1920)
- 2019 – Gianfranco Bozzao, Former Italian football player (b. 1936)
- 2019 – Murray Gell-Mann, American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate in Physics (b. 1929)
- 2020 – Mukar Cholponbayev, Kyrgyz politician (b. 1950)
- 2020 – Makbul Hossain, Bangladeshi politician and businessman (b. 1950)
- 2020 – Hussein Ahmed kanjoi, Pakistani politician (b. 1985)
- 2020 – Lily Lian, French singer (b. 1917)
- 2020 – Lucia Mee, Northern Irish activist (b. 1999)
- 2020 – Dinaldo Wanderley, Brazilian politician (b. 1950)
- 2021 – John Davis, American singer (b. 1954)
- 2021 – Banira Giri, Nepali poet (b. 1946)
- 2021 – Desiree Gould, American actress and businessperson (b. 1945)
- 2021 – Samuel E. Wright, American actor and singer (b. 1946)
- 2022 – David Datuna, Georgian-American sculptor and artist (b. 1974)
- 2022 – Saccid Kishvar, Pakistani film and television actor (b. 1933)
- 2022 – Ouka Leele, Spanish photographer, poet, and illustrator (b. 1957)