Crossing The Brooklyn Bridge

1883

Brooklyn Bridge opens

Born on This Day

A Rare Smile

Bob Dylan

1941 -

Singer-songwriter who revolutionized rock and folk music with songs like "Blowin' in the Wind." Won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Patti LaBelle Portrait

Patti LaBelle

1944 -

R&B singer and actress known as the "Godmother of Soul" whose hits include "Lady Marmalade" and "On My Own."

Alfred Molina Portrait Session

Alfred Molina

1953 -

London-born character actor best known for playing duplicitous villains in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Spider-Man 2."

Bob Dylan

Getty Images

Patti LaBelle

Getty Images

Alfred Molina

Getty Images

1956

MAY

24

The Eurovision song contest debuts. Seven nations competed, two (Austria and Denmark) missed the deadline, and the winner was...host nation Switzerland, with "Refrain," from dancer-turned-singer Lys Assia, performing behind a giant ring of flowers.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on May 24th

1775

John Hancock becomes president of Congress

On May 24, 1775, John Hancock is elected president of the Second Continental Congress. John Hancock is best known for his large signature on the Declaration of Independence, which he jested the British could read without spectacles. He was serving as president of Congress upon the declaration’s adoption on July 4, 1776, and, as such, […]

1797

Thomas Jefferson inquires about a former flame

On May 24, 1797, future President Thomas Jefferson writes to his friend Angelica Church, inquiring casually about their mutual friend, Maria Cosway, a woman who had once captured his heart and inspired a romantically themed essay. In 1786, a widowed Thomas Jefferson met Maria (pronounced Mariah) Cosway in Paris while he was serving as the […]

1844

Samuel Morse demonstrates the telegraph with the message, “What hath God wrought?”

In a demonstration witnessed by members of Congress, American inventor Samuel F.B. Morse dispatches a telegraph message from the U.S. Capitol to Alfred Vail at a railroad station in Baltimore, Maryland. The message—“What Hath God Wrought?”—was telegraphed back to the Capitol a moment later by Vail. The question, taken from the Bible (Numbers 23:23), had […]

1917

British naval convoy system introduced

On May 24, 1917, driven by the spectacular success of the German U-boat submarines and their attacks on Allied and neutral ships at sea, the British Royal Navy introduces a newly created convoy system, whereby all merchant ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean would travel in groups under the protection of the British navy. For more […]

1935

MLB holds first night game

The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 on May 24, 1935 in Major League Baseball’s first-ever night game, played courtesy of recently installed lights at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The first-ever night game in professional baseball took place May 2, 1930, when a Des Moines, Iowa, team hosted Wichita for a Western League game. […]

1941

German battleship, the Bismarck, sinks Britain’s HMS Hood

On May 24, 1941, Germany’s largest battleship, the Bismarck, sinks the pride of the British fleet, HMS Hood. The Bismarck was the most modern of Germany’s battleships, a prize coveted by other nation’s navies, even while still in the blueprint stage (Hitler handed over a copy of its blueprints to Joseph Stalin as a concession […]

1964

Riot erupts at Lima, Peru soccer match, killing hundreds

A referee’s call in a soccer match between Peru and Argentina sparks a riot on May 24, 1964. More than 300 fans were killed and another 500 people were injured in the violent melee that followed at National Stadium in Lima, Peru. The match was a qualifier for the 1964 Olympics and the Peruvian fans […]

1989

Lori Ann Auker disappears from a parking lot

Lori Ann Auker, a 19-year-old pet shop worker, disappears from Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. After failing to show up for work, her car was found the next day in the parking lot of the Susquehanna Valley Mall where The Pet Place was located. Police had no clues as to what had happened to her when she […]

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