What happened on March 24 ?

1603 - James VI of Scotland also becomes James I King of England.

1765 - American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain passes the Quartering Act that requires the 13 American colonies to house British troops.

1832 - In Hiram, Ohio a group of men beat, tar and feather Mormon leader Joseph Smith, Jr..

1837 - Canada gives African men the right to vote.

1868 - Metropolitan Life Insurance Company is formed.

1878 - The UK frigate Eurydice sinks, killing 300.

1882 - Robert Koch announces the discovery of the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis (mycobacterium tuberculosis).

1898 - Robert Allison of Port Carbon, Pennsylvania becomes the first person to buy an American-built automobile when he buys a Winton automobile that was advertised in Scientific American.

1900 - New York City Mayor Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground "Rapid Transit Railroad" that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.

1923 - Greece becomes a republic.

1934 - U.S. Congress passes Tydings-McDuffie Act.

1944 - In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 prisoners begin breaking out of Stalag Luft III.

1959 - The Party of the African Federation (PFA) is launched by Léopold Sédar Senghor and Modibo Keita.

1965 - NASA spacecraft Ranger 9, equipped to convert its signals into a form suitable for showing on domestic television, brings images of the Moon into ordinary homes before crash-landing.

1972 - The United Kingdom imposes "Direct Rule" over Northern Ireland.

1973 - Kenyan track runner Kip Keino defeats Jim Ryun at the first-ever professional track meet in Los Angeles, sanctioned by the International Track Association.

1973 - Rock band Pink Floyd releases The Dark Side of the Moon

1976 - Argentina's military forces depose president Isabel Perón and start the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional.

1980 - Archbishop ÿscar Romero is killed by right-wing terrorists while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.

1989 - Exxon Valdez oil spill: In Alaska's Prince William Sound the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (42,000 m³) of petroleum after running aground.

1990 - Bob Hawke and the ALP defeats Andrew Peacock and the Liberal Party of Australia in his final election as Prime Minister of Australia.

1998 - Jonesboro massacre: In Jonesboro, Arkansas, two boys (aged 11 and 13 years) fire upon students at Westside Middle School; four students and one teacher are killed and 10 injured.

1999 - Kosovo War: NATO commences air bombardment against Yugoslavia, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.

2003 - The Arab League votes 21-1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of U.S. and British soldiers from Iraq.

2005 - The Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) is released in North America.

2006 - Long-term protests in Belarus are broken by police. More than 400 detained.

2006 - Pope Benedict XVI adds 15 men to the College of Cardinals, in the first consistory of his Pontificate.