What happened on May 24 ?

1153 - King David I of Scotland (b. 1084)

1351 - Abu al-Hasan 'Ali, Sultan of Morocco

1425 - Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, Scottish politician (b. 1362)

1456 - Ambroise de Loré, French military commander (b. 1396)

1543 - Nicolas Copernicus, astronomer (b. 1473)

1612 - Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English statesman and spymaster (b. 1563)

1627 - Luis de Góngora, Spanish poet (b. 1561)

1725 - Jonathan Wild, English criminal (b. 1683)

1734 - Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (b. 1660)

1749 - Graf Valentin Potocki, Polish nobleman (burned at the stake)

1792 - George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, British naval officer (b. 1718)

1806 - John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, British field marshal (b. 1723)

1879 - William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist, writer, and publisher (b. 1805)

1881 - Samuel Palmer, English artist (b. 1805)

1883 - Abdel Kadir, Algerian leader (b. 1808)

1919 - Amado Nervo, Mexican poet (b. 1870)

1945 - Robert Ritter von Greim, German field marshal (b. 1892)

1947 - C. F. Ramuz, Swiss writer (b. 1878)

1948 - Jacques Feyder, Belgian director and screenwriter (b. 1885)

1949 - Aleksey Shchusev, Russian architect (b. 1873)

1950 - Archibald Wavell, American general (b. 1883)

1959 - John Foster Dulles, United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)

1963 - Elmore James, American musician (b. 1918)

1969 - Willy Ley, German-born rocket scientist (b. 1906)

1974 - Duke Ellington, American composer and musician (b. 1899)

1984 - Vincent J. McMahon, American pro wrestling promoter (b. 1914)

1991 - Gene Clark, American singer and songwriter (The Byrds) (b. 1944)

1995 - Harold Wilson, British statesman and prime minister (b. 1916)

1997 - Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (b. 1923)

2000 - Kurt Schork, American reporter and war correspondent (b. 1947)

2003 - Rachel Kempson, Lady Redgrave, English actress, widow of Sir Michael Redgrave, and the mother of Corin Redgrave, Vanessa Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave (b. 1910)

2004 - Henry Ries, American photographer (b. 1917)

2005 - Arthur Haulot, Belgian journalist and resistance fighter (b. 1913)

2005 - Vivian Liberto, first wife of Johnny Cash (b. 1934)