24 October in history
5 events that happened on 24 October, from 1360 to 2003.
✦ Anniversary of the day
1360 CE 666 years ago
The Treaty of Brétigny is ratified at Calais
Edward III and John II of France ratified at Calais the peace agreed at Brétigny in May. England gained Aquitaine and Calais in full sovereignty and a huge ransom for the captured French king, pausing the Hundred Years' War.
1648 CE 378 years ago
The Peace of Westphalia ends the Thirty Years' War
Treaties signed at Münster and Osnabrück ended the Thirty Years' War, which had devastated central Europe. The settlement confirmed the autonomy of the German princes and recognised Dutch and Swiss independence.
1929 CE 97 years ago
Black Thursday: panic selling hits Wall Street
Nearly 13 million shares changed hands as panic swept the New York Stock Exchange. Bankers briefly steadied prices, but the crash that followed the next week opened the way to the Great Depression.
1945 CE 81 years ago
The United Nations comes into being
The United Nations Charter entered into force once a majority of signatories, including the five permanent Security Council members, had ratified it. The date is celebrated annually as United Nations Day.
