On This Day in History for August 24
Events in History
- 49 BC Julius Caesar's general Gaius Scribonius Curio is defeated in the Second Battle of the Bagradas River by the Numidians under Publius Attius Varus and King Juba of Numidia. Curio commits suicide to avoid capture.
- 79 Believed until 2018 to be the date of the massive eruption of Mt. Vesuvius which buried the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae, killing untold thousands. Latest evidence suggests the eruption occurred after 17 October. [1] [2]
- 410 Rome overrun by Visigoths under Alaric I for the first time in nearly 800 years, seen as the fall of the Western Roman Empire
- 1215 Pope Innocent III declares the Magna Carta invalid
- 1217 Battle of South Foreland: English fleet beats France
- 1349 6,000 Jews, blamed for the plague, are killed in Mainz
- 1349 Jews of Cologne Germany set themselves on fire to avoid baptism
- 1391 Jews of Palma, Mallorca, massacred
- More Events in History
William Wilberforce
Jorge Luis Borges
Carlo Gambino
Howard Zinn
Yasser Arafat
Marsha P. JohnsonWeddings in History
- 1200 King John of England (32) marries Isabella of Angoulême (12) in Bordeaux, despite her engagement to Hugh de Lusignan, Count of La Marche, prompting a rebellion
- 1561 Wiliam of Orange marries for a second time Anna, Duchess of Saxony
- 1899 Businessman James Cash Penney (24) weds Bertha Alva Hess
More Weddings & Divorces in History
Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot
Getulio Vargas
Henry J. Kaiser
Bayard Rustin
Hissène HabréAugust in History
William Wallace Executed
William Wallace on trial at Westminster Hall in a painting by Daniel Maclise
August 23, 1305
Alaric I Sacks Rome
Visigoths led by Alaric I, sack Rome
August 24, 410 AD
Captain Webb Conquers the English Channel
After 22 hours in the water Captain Matthew Webb stepped ashore at Calais on this day – the first person ever to swim across the Channel from England to France.
August 25, 1875
Instant Ramen
The packaging of the first chicken instant ramen in 1958
August 25, 1958