24 June in history

9 events that happened on 24 June, from 474 to 1948.

1. 474 CE 1,552 years ago

   Western Roman emperor Glycerius is forced to abdicate

   Glycerius, proclaimed emperor of the West in March 473 by the magister militum Gundobad and not recognised by the Eastern emperor Leo I, was forced to abdicate. The Western Roman Empire ended in 476, when the last emperor was deposed.

   Western Roman Empire

2. ✦ Anniversary of the day

   

   1128 CE 898 years ago

   Afonso Henriques defeats his mother's forces at São Mamede

   Near Guimarães, Afonso Henriques defeated the forces of his mother, Countess Teresa, and her Galician ally Fernão Peres de Trava. The victory gave him control of the County of Portugal and is traditionally seen as the founding event of Portuguese independence.

   Battle of São MamedeAfonso I of PortugalTeresa, Countess of Portugal

3. 1314 CE 712 years ago

   Robert the Bruce routs Edward II at Bannockburn

   On the second day, Scottish spearmen drove the English army into the burns and marshes near Stirling. Edward II fled, and Scotland's independence was secured until England recognised it in 1328.

   ScotlandEngland

4. 1340 CE 686 years ago

   Edward III destroys the French fleet at Sluys

   The English fleet of King Edward III attacked the French fleet assembled for an invasion of England in the Zwin estuary off Sluis, in Flanders, and destroyed it almost entirely. The victory gave England control of the Channel for years.

   Battle of SluysEdward III of EnglandHundred Years' War

5. 1374 CE 652 years ago

   An outbreak of dancing mania begins in Aachen

   One of the biggest outbreaks of dancing mania, in which groups of people danced erratically, allegedly until they collapsed from exhaustion, began in Aachen. It spread to Cologne, Flanders, Metz, Strasbourg, Utrecht and other places, and to Italy.

   Aachen

6. 1497 CE 529 years ago

   John Cabot makes landfall in North America

   Sailing for Henry VII, the Venetian navigator John Cabot landed on the coast, probably of Newfoundland or Cape Breton. His voyage became the basis of later English claims in North America.

   North AmericaNewfoundland

7. 1717 CE 309 years ago

   Premier Grand Lodge of England is founded

   Four London lodges met at the Goose and Gridiron alehouse to form a Grand Lodge. It marks the beginning of organised modern Freemasonry.

   EnglandLondon

8. 1812 CE 214 years ago

   Napoleon's Grande Armée crosses the Niemen into Russia

   Some 450,000 troops in the first wave crossed into Russian territory. By December only a fraction had survived the retreat from Moscow.

   Russian EmpireGrande ArméeNapoleonMoscow

9. 1948 CE 78 years ago

   Soviet Union begins the Berlin Blockade

   Soviet forces cut road, rail and canal links to West Berlin. The Western Allies responded with an airlift that supplied the city's two million people for eleven months.

   Soviet UnionAllies

Born on 24 June 9

• Nuno Álvares Pereira1360–1431
• John of Capistrano1386–1456
• Johannes Bugenhagen1485–1558
• Johannes Brenz1499–1570
• William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel1532–1592
• Herbert Kitchener1850–1916
• Prince George of Greece and Denmark1869–1957
• Ernesto Sabato1911–2011
• Claudia Sheinbaumb. 1962

Died on 24 June 5

• Hongwu Emperor1328–1398
• Frederick IV, Duke of Austria1382–1439
• Lucrezia Borgia1480–1519
• Grover Cleveland1837–1908
• Pierre Werner1913–2002

Dates as the sources give them: in the Julian calendar before 1582, and in some countries for longer (Britain until 1752, Russia until 1918). Only people whose day of birth or death the records agree on are listed.

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