History of 24 March
- 1991 – The African nation of Benin held its first presidential elections in about 30 years.
- 1993 – In Israel, Ezer Weizman, an advocate of peace with neighboring Arab nations, was elected President.
- 1995 – Russian forces surrounded Achkoi-Martan. It was one of the few remaining strongholds of rebels in Chechenia.
- 1995 – The U.S. House of Representatives passed a welfare reform package that made the most changes in social programs since the New Deal.
- 1997 – The Australian parliament overturned the world’s first and only euthanasia law.
- 1998 – In Jonesboro, AR, two young boys open fire at students from woods near a school. Four students and a teacher were killed and 10 others were injured. The two boys were 11 and 13 years old cousins.
- 1998 – A former FBI agent said papers found in James Earl Ray’s car supports a conspiracy theory in the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
- 1999 – In Kenya, at least 31 people were killed when a passenger train derailed. Hundreds were injured.
- 1999 – NATO launched air strikes against Yugoslavia (Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Vojvodina). The attacks marked the first time in its 50-year history that NATO attacked a sovereign country. The bombings were in response to Serbia’s refusal to sign a peace treaty with ethnic Albanians who were seeking independence for the province of Kosovo.
- 1999 – The 7-mile tunnel under Mont Blanc in France became an inferno after a truck carrying flour and margarine caught fire. At least 30 people were killed.
- 2001 – Apple Computer Inc’s operating system MAC OS X went on sale.
- 2002 – Thieves stole five 17th century paintings from the Frans Hals Museum in the Dutch city of Haarlem. The paintings were worth about $2.6 million. The paintings were works by Jan Steen, Cornelis Bega, Adriaan van Ostade and Cornelis Dusart.
- 2005 – The government of Kyrgyzstan collapsed after opposition protesters took over President Askar Akayev’s presidential compound and government offices.
- 2005 – Sandra Bullock received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- 2006 – In Spain, the Basque separatist group ETA announced a permanent cease-fire.
- 2014 – It was announced that the U.S. and its allies would exclude Russia from the G8 meeting and boycott a planned summit in Sochi in response to Russia’s takeover of Crimea.
- 2019 – U.S. Attorney General William Barr released a four-page summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report in U.S. President Donald Trump’s election campaign. The report concluded that there was no evidence of members of the campaign being involved in a criminal conspiracy.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Mike Adams, American football player
- 1981 – Ron Hainsey, American ice hockey player
- 1981 – Dirk Hayhurst, American baseball player
- 1981 – Mark Looms, Dutch footballer
- 1981 – Gary Paffett, English racing driver
- 1982 – Corey Hart, American baseball player
- 1982 – Jack Swagger, American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler
- 1982 – Epico Colon, Puerto Rican professional wrestler
- 1982 – Jimmy Hempte, Belgian footballer
- 1982 – Dustin McGowan, American baseball player
- 1983 – Luca Ceccarelli, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Riccardo Musetti, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1983 – T.J. Ford, American basketball player
- 1984 – Benoît Assou-Ekotto, French born Cameroonian international footballer, left-back
- 1984 – Chris Bosh, American basketball player
- 1984 – Adrian D’Souza, Indian field hockey player
- 1984 – Lucy Wangui Kabuu, Kenyan runner
- 1984 – Park Bom, South Korean singer
- 1984 – Philipp Petzschner, German tennis player
- 1985 – Lana, American wrestler and manager
- 1985 – Haruka Ayase, Japanese actress and singer
- 1987 – Ramires, Brazilian footballer
- 1987 – Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladeshi cricketer
- 1987 – Billy Jones, English footballer
- 1987 – Yuma Asami, Japanese actress and singer
- 1988 – Aiga Grabuste, Latvian heptathlete
- 1988 – Ryan Higgins, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1988 – Matías Martínez, Argentinian footballer
- 1988 – Kardo Ploomipuu, Estonian swimmer
- 1988 – Matt Todd, New Zealand rugby union player
- 1990 – Starlin Castro, American baseball player
- 1990 – Aljur Abrenica, Filipino actor
- 1990 – Keisha Castle-Hughes, Australian-New Zealand actress
- 1991 – Nick Browne, English cricketer
- 1991 – Dalila Jakupovic, Slovenian tennis player
- 1995 – Enzo Fernandez, French-Spanish footballer