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On this day in history - Today, March, 24

Today in History

  • 1882 Robert Koch discovers the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis

    The German scientist, who is regarded as the father of modern bacteriology, won the Nobel Prize in P

  • 1896 Aleksander Popov achieves the world's first radio transmission

    The Russian physicist transmitted the words “Heinrich Hertz” from one building of St. Petersburg Uni

  • 1965 Millions watch NASA spacecraft Ranger 9 crash into the Moon

    The U.S. space probe broadcast live pictures back to Earth, enabling TV viewers to follow its approa

  • 1989 Oil tanker Exxon Valdez runs aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska

    The mishap resulted in one of the most devastating environmental disasters in history, killing up to

  • 1999 For the first time in its history, NATO attacks a sovereign country

    The military alliance bombed Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War - without a UN mandate.

Illustration of stork, signifying birth

Births On This Day,
March, 24

  • 1930 Steve McQueen

    American actor

  • 1897 Wilhelm Reich

    Austrian/American psychotherapist

  • 1884 Peter Debye

    Dutch/American physicist, chemist, Nobel Prize laureate

  • 1874 Harry Houdini

    Hungarian/American magician, actor

  • 1820 Fanny Crosby

    American composer, songwriter

Illustration of tombstone, signifying death

Deaths On This Day,
March, 24

  • 1976 Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein

    English army officer

  • 1946 Alexander Alekhine

    Russian chess player

  • 1905 Jules Verne

    French author

  • 1882 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

    American poet

  • 1603 Elizabeth I of England