What happened on February 24 ?

303 - Galerius, Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Empire.

1387 - King Charles III of Naples and Hungary is assassinated at Buda.

1538 - Treaty of Nagyvarad between Ferdinand I and John Zápolya.

1582 - Pope Gregory XIII announces the Gregorian calendar.

1711 - The London premiere of Rinaldo by George Friderich Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage.

1739 - Battle of Karnal: The army of Iranian ruler Nadir Shah defeats the forces of the Mughal emperor of India, Muhammad Shah.

1803 - The Supreme Court of the United States, in Marbury v. Madison, establishes the principle of judicial review.

1804 - London's Drury Lane Theatre burns to the ground, leaving owner Richard Brinsley Sheridan destitute.

1826 - The signing of the Treaty of Yandaboo marks the end of the First Burmese War.

1831 - The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty in accordance with the Indian Removal Act, is proclaimed. The Choctaws in Mississippi cede land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West.

1839 - William Otis receives a patent for the steam shovel.

1848 - King Louis-Philippe of France abdicates the throne.

1863 - Arizona is organized as a United States territory.

1868 - The first parade to have floats is staged at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1868 - Andrew Johnson becomes the first President of the United States to be impeached by the United States House of Representatives. He is later acquitted in the Senate.

1881 - China and Russia sign the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty.

1899 - Western Washington University is established.

1909 - The Hudson Motor Car Company is founded.

1917 - World War I: The U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if that country declares war on the United States.

1918 - Estonia: Declaration of independence from Russia.

1925 - A thermite (magnesium) bomb is used for the first time to break up a 250,000-ton ice jam clogging the St. Lawrence River near Waddington, New York.

1938 - A nylon-bristle toothbrush becomes the first commercial product (DuPont) to be made with nylon yarn.

1942 - The Voice of America begins broadcasting.

1945 - Egyptian Premier Ahmed Maher Pasha is killed in Parliament after reading a decree.

1946 - Juan Perón is elected president of Argentina.

1948 - Cold War: The Communist Party seizes control of Czechoslovakia.

1968 - Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnam recaptures Hué.

1970 - National Public Radio is founded.

1975 - Hard rock band Led Zeppelin release the classic double album Physical Graffiti.

1976 - Cuba : national Constitution proclaimed.

1981 - Buckingham Palace announces the engagement of The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.

1981 - Jean Harris is convicted of murdering Dr. Herman Tarnower, the author of the bestselling The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet.

1983 - A special commission of the U.S. Congress releases a report that condemns the practice of Japanese internment during World War II.

1988 - The Supreme Court of the United States sides with Larry Flynt's Hustler magazine by overturning a lower court decision to award Jerry Falwell $200,000 for defamation.

1989 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offers a USD $3 million bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie.

1989 - United Airlines Flight 811, bound for New Zealand from Honolulu, Hawaii, rips open during flight, sucking 9 passengers out of the business-class section.

1992 - Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain marries Courtney Love.

1995 - The Corona reconnaissance satellite program, in existence from 1959 to 1972, is declassified.

1996 - The last occurrence of February 24 as a leap day in the European Union and for the Roman Catholic Church.

1999 - The State of Arizona executes Karl LaGrand, a German national involved in an armed robbery, in spite of Germany's legal action to attempt to save him.

1999 - A China Southern Airlines Tupolev TU-154 airliner crashes on approach to Wenzhou airport in eastern China, killing 61.

2002 - The Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah end.

2006 - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declares Proclamation 1017 placing the country in a state of emergency in attempt to subdue a possible military coup.