June 24

0 In Ancient Roman times, June 24 in the Julian calendar was the date of the summer solstice, so 'midsummer' and the solstice were the same thing. The Summer solstice is a tradition for many pagans. Some choose to hold the rite on June 21, even when this is not the longest day of the year, and some celebrate June 24, the day of the solstice in Roman times.

Summer solstice sunset over the Mojave Desert 

0 Although Midsummer was originally a pagan holiday, in Christianity it is associated with the nativity of John the Baptist, which is observed on the same day, June 24, in the Catholic, Orthodox and some Protestant churches. In Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Quebec, Midsummer Day (June 24th) is a public holiday.

1374 Dancing mania was a phenomenon seen primarily in mainland Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries. During such outbreaks, groups of up to thousands of people would dance uncontrollably, screaming, shouting, and claiming to have visions until they collapsed from exhaustion. One of the first major outbreaks of dancing mania took place in Aachen (present-day Germany) on June 24, 1374, before spreading to other cities and countries.

A painting by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, after drawings by his father.

1398 Following his seizure of the Yuan capital, Khanbaliq (present-day Beijing), Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne of China as the Hongwu Emperor in a coronation ceremony in January 1368. This initiated the Ming Dynasty rule over China that would last for three centuries. Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of China's Ming dynasty, died on June 24, 1398.

1497 Genoese navigator John Cabot first settled in Bristol, England in about 1490. He set sail in 1497 with two ships, accompanied by his three sons. They made landfall somewhere on the coast of North America on June 24, 1497 becoming the first European since the Vikings to set foot on the North America mainland. The exact location of the landfall has long been disputed, with historians proposing either Newfoundland or Cape Breton Island (Nova Scotia) as the most likely places.

Route of Cabot's voyage By Evan T Jones

1509 Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon were crowned King and Queen of England on June 24, 1509. Henry was the first English king to be addressed as "your majesty". Before then, "Your Highness" or "Your Lord King" was always used. His reign is best known for Henry's six marriages, and, in particular, his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled.

1519 Lucrezia Borgia's life ended tragically on June 24, 1519, just ten days after giving birth. The childbirth itself proved difficult, resulting in the stillbirth of her daughter. Complications arose from the delivery, leading to her death at the young age of 39.

Possible Lucrezia portrait painted from life (attributed to Dosso Dossi, c. 1519

1537 At the age of 19, the Spaniard Francis Xavier went to at Paris University, where he became acquainted with Ignatius Loyola, who was already planning the foundation of the Society of Jesus. Xavier joined the Jesuit fraternity and in 1537 they traveled to Italy to seek papal approval for their order. Pope Paul III gave them a commendation, and permitted Xavier and his colleagues to be ordained priests. On June 24, 1537, Xavier received Holy orders with St. Ignatius.

1547 The Great Fire of Moscow began on June 24, 1547 several months after Ivan the Terrible was officially crowned as first Tsar of Russia. The fire destroyed sections of Moscow which had been built almost entirely of wood. It swept into the Kremlin and blew up the powder stores in several of the Kremlin's towers. The fire displaced about 80,000 people and killed about 3,200 (not including children).

1571 Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi founded Manila, the capital of the Republic of the Philippines on June 24, 1571. Spanish missionaries started christianizing the city and on January 19, 1607 San Agustin Church in Manila was officially completed; it is the oldest church still standing in the Philippines. (Photo is a front view of the historic San Agustin Church). Due to Its central location in the Pacific sea trade routes, Manila received the moniker of the "Pearl of the Orient".

Front view of the historic San Agustin Church . Wikipedia 

1717 The Premier Grand Lodge of England was founded on St. John the Baptist's Day, June 24, 1717, when four existing lodges gathered at the Goose and Gridiron Ale-house in St Paul's Churchyard, London and constituted themselves as a Grand Lodge. It was the first Masonic Grand Lodge in the world, and it is now known as the United Grand Lodge of England.

1813 Congregationalist clergyman and social reformer Henry Ward Beecher was born in Litchfield, Connecticut on June 24, 1813.  His siblings included Uncle Tom's Cabin writer Harriet Beecher Stowe and educator Catharine Beecher. Henry had a childhood stammer and was considered slow-witted; his less than stellar performance at Biston Latin school earned him punishments such as being forced to sit for hours in the girls' corner wearing a dunce cap.

1858 Florence Nightingale never married. In 1857 Sir Harry Verney 2nd Baronet, an MP for Buckingham, proposed to Florence, but she declined because she was committed to her work as a nurse. He then proposed to her sister Parthenope, who accepted, and they married on June 24, 1858.

1859 The Battle of Solferino was fought on June  24, 1859, during which Sardinia and France defeated Austria in Solferino, northern Italy. Swiss-born businessman Henry Dunant arrived in Solferino that evening. Thousands lay wounded, dying and dead on the battlefield. Shocked, the Christian-influenced businessman himself took the initiative to organize a group of volunteers to help them beginning the process that led to the establishment of the International Red Cross.

1880 The first performance of "O Canada," the song that would become the national anthem of Canada, took place at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français on June 24, 1880. The original lyrics were in French; an English translation was published in 1906.

1885 In April 1883, Woodrow Wilson met Ellen Louise Axson, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister from Savannah, Georgia. At that time, she was keeping house for her widowed father. Woodrow Wilson thought of Ellen, "What splendid laughing eyes!" They fell in love and married on June 24, 1885, at her paternal grandparents' home in Savannah, Georgia. They had three daughters, Margaret, Jessie and Eleanor. Ellen Wilson died of Bright's disease at the White House in 1914.

1889 Butch Cassidy's first major crime was on June 24, 1889, when he and three others robbed the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride, Colorado in which they stole approximately $21,000. In 1896 Cassidy hooked up with other rustlers and thieves, eventually forming a gang known as The Wild Bunch, which included such well-known desperadoes as The Sundance Kid and Harvey Logan. The gang began robbing banks, payrolls and trains all over Colorado and Utah.

1901 Pablo Picasso held his first Paris exhibition at Ambroise Vollard's Gallery on the Rue Lafitte on June 24, 1901. In his early days in Paris the struggling Picasso kept warm by burning some of his paintings and was often near starvation. He worked at night and slept during the day whilst his flatmate, Max Jacob, did the opposite. In the morning Jacob often got up and trod on Picasso's drawings which were lying on the floor. Later his foot-marks had to be removed.

Pablo Picasso Le Gourmet, 1901

1908 Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States, died on June 24, 1908 at age 71.  In the autumn of 1907 Cleveland fell seriously ill. He suffered a heart attack the following year and died on June 24th. His last words were, "I have tried so hard to do right." Grover Cleveland is buried in the Princeton Cemetery of the Nassau Presbyterian Church.

1916 Mary Pickford became the first female film actress to sign a million-dollar contract on June 24, 1916. The contract granted her full authority over production of the films in which she starred, and a salary of $10,000 a week. In addition, Pickford's compensation was half of a film's profits, with a guarantee of $1,040,000 (US$ 17,330,000 in 2017).

1980 Fred Astaire's second wife, jockey Robyn Smith, was forty-five years his junior. He first saw Robyn Smith when she was riding in a horse race. Astaire was 81 when they married on June 24, 1980. Their marriage was met with some surprise, as his first wife was much closer to his own age. However, the couple seemed very happy together, and they remained married until Astaire's death in 1987.

1987 Barcelona soccer star Lionel Messi was born on June 24, 1987 in Rosario, Argentina the third of four children of Jorge Messi, a steel factory manager, and his wife Celia Cuccittini, who worked in a magnet manufacturing workshop. Lionel's parents were huge Lionel Richie fans and they named their son after the singer. Messi began football at a young age and his potential was quickly seen by Barcelona FC. He left Newell's Old Boys's youth team in 2000 and moved with his family to Spain.

1987 Bruce Willis, the actor, proposed to Demi Moore, also an actress, at Pink's Hot Dog Stand in Hollywood and got married on November 21, 1987. They were a high-profile Hollywood couple during the late 1980s and 1990s. Willis and Moore announced their separation on June 24, 1998 and they filed for divorce 28 months later.

2008 The longest journey by skateboard was 12,159 km (7,555 miles). New Zealander Rob Thomson started his journey in Leysin, Switzerland on June 24, 2007 and finished it in Shanghai, China, on September 28, 2008. Thomson averaged 40 kilometers per day and faced many challenges along the way, including steep hills, rough terrain, bad weather, and even being run over by a car.

2009 Unilever was founded in 1929, by the merger Margarine Unie and Lever Brothers. Their notable brands include Flora and Stork. Flora margarine was originally named after the wife of one of Unilever's marketing directors, "Louis Flora Catlow". She died on June 24, 2009.

2010 When John Isner of the United States defeated Nicolas Mahut of France, 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7–9), 7–6(7–3), 70–68 at Wimbledon, it was the longest match in professional tennis history.  In total, they played for 11 hours and five minutes over three days completing their marathon on June 24, 2010.

2016 The record attendance for a domestic Rugby Union club match is 99,124, set when Racing 92 defeated Toulon in the 2016 Top 14 final on June 24, at Camp Nou in Barcelona. The match had been moved from its normal site of Stade de France near Paris due to scheduling conflicts with France's hosting of UEFA Euro 2016.

2022 Roe v. Wade was a significant ruling by the US Supreme Court. It determined that the Constitution of the United States generally safeguards the fundamental right to abortion, recognizing the pregnant individual's liberty. However, on  June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the decision. The Court based its ruling on the argument that the substantive right to abortion was not deemed to be firmly established in the historical traditions and foundations of the nation, therefore not recognized as an inherent right.