THIS DAY IN HISTORY
JUNE 24FEATURED EVENT
1812
Russia invaded by Napoleon and his Grand Army
On this day in 1812, French Emperor Napoleon—who had massed his troops in Poland in the spring to intimidate Russian Tsar Alexander I—and 600,000 troops of his Grand Army launched an ill-fated invasion of Russia.
Featured Biography
American boxer
- born
- June 24, 1895
Manassa, Colorado
(Birthday tomorrow)
- died
- May 31, 1983 (aged 87)
New York City, New York
Born on This Day
1987
Lionel Messi
Argentine-born football player
1979
Mindy Kaling
American actress, comedian, and author
1895
Jack Dempsey
American boxer
1842
Ambrose Bierce
American author
MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY
2010
Australian politician Julia Gillard was sworn in as Australia's first female prime minister. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Australia
1987
Football (soccer) player Lionel Messi, one of the game's premier players, was born in Argentina. Take our quiz about all things football
1948
The Berlin blockade intensified when the Soviet Union announced that the Western Allied powers no longer had any rights in Berlin.
1932
The Promoters Revolution, a bloodless coup, overthrew Prajadhipok, the king of Thailand, ending the absolute monarchy in that country and initiating the so-called Constitutional Era. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Thailand
1859
The Battle of Solferino, the last engagement of the second War of Italian Independence, was fought in Lombardy. Match the battle with the war in our quiz
1821
South American patriots under Simón Bolívar defeated Spanish royalists on the plains near Caracas, Venezuela, in the Battle of Carabobo. Test your knowledge of Latin American history
1795
William Smellie, the Scottish compiler of the first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, died in Edinburgh.
1519
Theodore Beza, an author, translator, educator, and theologian who assisted and later succeeded John Calvin as a leader of the Protestant Reformation centred at Geneva, was born. Take our quiz about Christianity
1497
John Cabot became the first European to set foot in North America since the Vikings. Take our quiz about exploration and discovery
History at your fingertips
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June 1
1980Debut of CNN -
June 2
1953Elizabeth II crowned queen -
June 3
1989Pro-democracy protest in Tiananmen Square crushed by Chinese military -
June 4
2003Martha Stewart indicted -
June 5
1967Start of the Six-Day War -
June 6
1944Normandy Invasion begun -
June 7
1929Lateran Treaty ratified -
June 8
1504Michelangelo's David installed in Florence -
June 9
1983Landslide reelection victory for Margaret Thatcher -
June 10
1692First “witch” hanged in Salem Village -
June 11
2001Oklahoma City bomber executed -
June 12
1991Election of Boris Yeltsin -
June 13
2000Historic meeting between North and South Korean leaders -
June 14
1940First prisoners at Auschwitz -
June 15
1215Magna Carta sealed by King John -
June 16
1963First woman in space -
June 17
1994Arrest of O.J. Simpson -
June 18
1812War of 1812 begun -
June 19
1953Rosenbergs executed for espionage -
June 20
1567Casket Letters found -
June 21
1945Japanese defenses destroyed on Okinawa -
June 22
1611Mutiny against Henry Hudson -
June 23
1314Battle of Bannockburn -
June 24
1812Russia invaded by Napoleon and his Grand Army -
June 25
1950Korean War begun -
June 26
1976Opening of CN Tower -
June 27
1871Yen made official monetary unit of Japan -
June 28
1914Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand -
June 29
1613London's Globe Theatre destroyed by fire -
June 30
1934Night of the Long Knives
