more events on May 24
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1961
Civil rights activists are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi.
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1951
Willie Mays begins playing for the New York Giants.
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1941
Bob Dylan (Robert Zimmerman), singer and songwriter.
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The British battleship Hood is sunk by the German battleship Bismarck. There are only three survivors.
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1930
Amy Johnson becomes the first woman to fly from England to Australia.
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1928
William Trevor, Irish short story writer and novelist (The Old Boys, The Boarding House).
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1905
Mikhail Sholokhov, Russian novelist (And Quiet Flows the Don).
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1903
Arthur Vineberg, Canadian heart surgeon.
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1895
Samuel I. Newhouse, American publisher.
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1883
The Brooklyn Bridge opened as the first suspension bridge in New York City and, at the time, was the longest suspension bridge in the world.
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1878
Lillian Moller Gilbreth, pioneer in time-motion studies.
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The first American bicycle race is held in Boston.
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1863
Bushwackers led by Captain William Marchbanks attack a Federal militia party in Nevada, Missouri.
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1861
General Benjamin Butler declares slaves to be the contraband of war.
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1846
General Zachary Taylor captures Monterey.
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1844
Samuel Morse taps out the first telegraph message.
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1819
Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1836-1901).
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1798
Believing that a French invasion of Ireland is imminent, Irish nationalists rise up against the British occupation.
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1764
Boston lawyer James Otis denounces “taxation without representation,” calling for the colonies to unite in opposition to Britain’s new tax measures.
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1743
Jean-Paul Marat, French revolutionary.
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1738
The Methodist Church is established.
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1689
The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration, protecting Protestants. Roman Catholics are specifically excluded from exemption.
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1624
After years of unprofitable operation, Virginia’s charter is revoked and it becomes a royal colony.
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1610
Sir Thomas Gates institutes “laws divine moral and marshal, ” a harsh civil code for Jamestown.
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1607
Captain Christopher Newport and 105 followers found the colony of Jamestown at the mouth of the James River on the coast of Virginia.
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1544
William Gilbert, English physician and scientist.
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1543
Nicolaus Copernicus publishes proof of a sun-centered solar system. He dies just after publication.