History of the Day for:
June 24
- 1314: Robert the Bruce of Scotland inflicted a crushing defeat on King Edward II's forces at the battle of Bannockburn.
- 1340: In the Hundred Years War, the British fleet destroyed the French at Sluys.
- 1497: John Cabot, navigator and explorer, sighted Cape Breton Island and claimed North America for England.
- 1540: Henry VIII divorced fourth wife Anne of Cleves.
- 1795: The U.S. and Great Britain signed the Jay Treaty, the first U.S. extradition treaty with a foreign government.
- 1885: Samuel David Ferguson was named the first U.S. African?American bishop.
- 1894: It was decided that the Olympics would be held every four years.
- 1901: The first exhibition by 19-year-old Pablo Picasso opened in Paris to high critical acclaim.
- 1915: The steamer Eastland capsized at the Clark Street dock in Chicago, killing more than 800.
- 1941: The Germans advanced into Russia and took Vilna, Brest-Litovsk and Kaunas.
- 1947: An American pilot reported seeing strange objects in the sky that looked like "saucers skipping across the water," which led to the first use of the term "flying saucers."
- 1948: The Soviets began a blockade of Berlin, stopping all land traffic and food from entering the city from West Germany.
- 1963: In London, the first home video recorder was unveiled.
- 1964: The FTC ruled health warnings must appear on all cigarette packages beginning in 1965.
- 1982: The Supreme Court ruled a president can not be sued for actions taken while he is in office.
- 1985: STS-51-G Space Shuttle Discovery completes its mission, best remembered for having Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a Payload Specialist.
- 1987: Actor Jackie Gleason, "The Honeymooners'" Ralph Kramden, died.
- 1993: Yale computer science professor Dr. David Gelernter loses the sight in one eye, the hearing in one ear, and part of his right hand after receiving a mailbomb from the Unabomber.
- 1994: A United States Air Force B-52 aircraft crashes at Fairchild Air Force Base, killing all four members of its crew.
- 1995: South Africa defeats New Zealand in the 1995 Rugby World Cup. The 1995 World cup is the first major sporting event in South Africa after the end of Apartheid.
- 2002: The Igandu train disaster in Tanzania kills 281, the worst train accident in African history.
- 2004: In New York state, capital punishment is declared unconstitutional.
- 2007: The Angora Fire starts near South Lake Tahoe, California destroying 200+ structures in its first 48 hours.