August 24 Historical Events

The following events took place on August 24. The list is arranged in chronological order.

Found 66 events. Showing 1 - 30.

• 49 BC
  Julius Caesar’s general Gaius Scribonius Curio is defeated in the Battle of the Bagradas (49 BC) by the Numidians under Publius Attius Varus and King Juba of Numidia. Curio commits suicide to avoid capture.
• 79
  Mount Vesuvius erupts. The cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae are buried in volcanic ash (note: this traditional date has been challenged, and many scholars believe that the event occurred on October 24).
• 394
  The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom, the latest known inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphs, was written.
• 410
  The Visigoths under king Alaric I begin to pillage Rome.
• 455
  The Vandals, led by king Genseric, begin to plunder Rome. Pope Leo I requests Genseric not destroy the ancient city or murder its citizens. He agrees and the gates of Rome are opened. However, the Vandals loot a great amount of treasure.
• 1185
  Sack of Thessalonica by the Normans.
• 1200
  King John of England, signer of the first Magna Carta, marries Isabella of Angoulême in Bordeaux Cathedral.
• 1215
  Pope Innocent III declares Magna Carta invalid.
• 1349
  Six thousand Jews are killed in Mainz after being blamed for the bubonic plague.
• 1391
  Jews are massacred in Palma de Mallorca.
• 1456
  The printing of the Gutenberg Bible is completed.
• 1482
  The town and castle of Berwick upon Tweed is captured from Scotland by an English army
• 1516
  The Ottoman Empire under Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate and captures present-day Syria at the Battle of Marj Dabiq.
• 1561
  Willem of Orange marries duchess Anna of Saxony.
• 1608
  The first official English representative to India lands in Surat.

• 1662
  The Act of Uniformity requires England to accept the Book of Common Prayer.
• 1682
  William Penn receives the area that is now the state of Delaware, and adds it to his colony of Pennsylvania.
• 1690
  Job Charnock of the East India Company establishes a factory in Calcutta, an event formerly considered the founding of the city (in 2003 the Calcutta High Court ruled that the city has no birthday).
• 1781
  American Revolutionary War: A small force of Pennsylvania militia is ambushed and overwhelmed by an American Indian group, which forces George Rogers Clark to abandon his attempt to attack Detroit.
• 1812
  Peninsular War: A coalition of Spanish, British, and Portuguese forces succeed in lifting the two-and-a-half-year-long Siege of Cádiz.
• 1814
  British troops invade Washington, D.C. and during the Burning of Washington the White House, the Capitol and many other buildings are set ablaze.
• 1815
  The modern Constitution of the Netherlands is signed.
• 1816
  The Treaty of St. Louis is signed in St. Louis, Missouri.
• 1820
  Constitutionalist insurrection at Oporto, Portugal.
• 1821
  The Treaty of Córdoba is signed in Córdoba, now in Veracruz, Mexico, concluding the Mexican War of Independence from Spain.
• 1857
  The Panic of 1857 begins, setting off one of the most severe economic crises in United States history.
• 1858
  In Richmond, Virginia, 90 blacks are arrested for learning. - needs to be explained/expanded-->
• 1870
  The Wolseley expedition reaches Manitoba to end the Red River Rebellion.
• 1875
  Captain Matthew Webb became first person to swim the English Channel
• 1891
  Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera.