What happened on June 24 ?

972 - Battle of Cedynia, near Cedynia. Polish forces have had their first documented victory.

1128 - Battle of São Mamede, near Guimarães. Portuguese forces led by Alfonso I defeat his mother D.Teresa and D.Fernão Peres de Trava. After this battle, the future king calls himself "Prince of Portugal", the first step towards "official independence" in 1143.

1314 - End of the Battle of Bannockburn. Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce defeat Edward II of England. Scotland regains its independence.

1340 - Hundred Years' War: Battle of Sluys The French fleet was almost totally destroyed by the English Fleet commanded in person by Edward III of England.

1374 - A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion.

1441 - Eton College founded.

1497 - John Cabot lands on North America in Newfoundland; first European exploration of the region since the Vikings.

1497 - Cornish traitors Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank executed at Tyburn, London

1509 - Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon crowned King and Queen of England.

1534 - Jacques Cartier makes the European discovery of Prince Edward Island.

1535 - The Anabaptist state of Münster is conquered and disbanded.

1597 - The first Dutch voyage to the East Indies reaches Bantam (on Java).

1662 - Dutch attempt but fail to capture Macau.

1664 - The colony of New Jersey is founded.

1692 - Kingston, Jamaica is founded.

1793 - First republican constitution in France adopted.

1794 - Bowdoin College is founded.

1812 - Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon's Grande Armée crosses the Neman River beginning his invasion of Russia.

1813 - Battle of Beaver Dams : A British, and Indian joint force defeat the U.S Army.

1821 - Battle of Carabobo : Venezuela gains total independence from Spain.

1859 - Battle of Solferino: (Battle of the Three Sovereigns). Sardinia and France defeat Austria in Solferino, northern Italy.

1880 - First performance of O Canada, the song that would become the national anthem of Canada, at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français.

1894 - The IOC decides to hold the Olympic Games every four years.

1894 - Marie Francois Sadi Carnot assassinated by Sante Jeronimo Caserio.

1901 - First exhibition of Pablo Picasso's work opens.

1902 - King Edward VII of the United Kingdom develops appendicitis, delaying his coronation.

1913 - Greece and Serbia annul their alliance with Bulgaria.

1913 - Joseph Cook becomes the 6th Prime Minister of Australia.

1916 - Mary Pickford becomes first female film star to get million dollar contract.

1916 - Battle of the Somme begins with a week long artilary bombardment on the German Line.

1918 - First airmail service in Canada from Montreal to Toronto.

1928 - With declining business, the Great Gorge and International Railway begins using one-person crews on trolley operations in Canada

1932 - A military coup ends the absolute power of the king of Siam (Thailand).

1940 - France and Italy sign an armistice.

1945 - Moscow Victory Parade

1946 - Georges Bidault becomes Prime Minister of France.

1946 - Fred M. Vinson is sworn in as the 13th Chief Justice of the United States.

1947 - First known sighting of UFOs: Kenneth Arnold, flying over Washington, notices nine luminous disks in the form of saucers.

1948 - Start of the Berlin Blockade. The Soviet Union makes overland travel between the West with West Berlin impossible.

1949 - The first Television Western, Hopalong Cassidy, is aired on NBC starring William Boyd.

1957 - The U.S. Supreme Court rules that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment.

1963 - Zanzibar is granted internal self-government by the UK.

1975 - An Eastern Air Lines Boeing 727 crashes at John F. Kennedy Airport, New York. 113 people die.

1978 - The first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is held in Australia.

1981 - What would be the world's longest single-span suspension bridge for 17 years, the Humber Bridge opens, connecting Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

1983 - Space Shuttle program: STS-7 Mission Sally Ride, first female American astronaut, returns to earth.

1983 - Yasir Arafat banned from Damascus.

1993 - Yale computer science professor Dr. David Gelernter loses the sight in one eye, the hearing in one ear, and part of his right hand after receiving a mailbomb from the Unabomber.

1995 - The New Jersey Devils win their first Stanley Cup by sweeping the Detroit Red Wings.

1996 - Michael Johnson breaks the world record in the 200 metres with a time of 19.66 seconds

2004 - Habib Dodo, the general secretary of the Communist Youth of Côte d'Ivoire is assassinated by pro-government forces.