March 24 birthdays & history

Famous people born on March 24

• 1954Rafael Orozco Maestre, Colombian singer
• 1926Dario Fo, Italian playwright, actor, director, and composer, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1874Harry Houdini, Hungarian-American magician and actor
• 1884Peter Debye, Dutch-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1930Steve McQueen, American actor and producer
• 1834William Morris, English textile designer, poet, and author
• 1956Steve Ballmer, American businessman
• 1973Jim Parsons, American actor
• 1903Adolf Butenandt, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1897Wilhelm Reich, Austrian-American psychotherapist and academic

What happened on March 24

• 1603James VI of Scotland succeeded to the thrones of England and Ireland as James I, uniting the realms under a single monarch.
• 1829The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, allowing Catholics to serve in Parliament.
• 1870A Chilean prospecting party led by José Díaz Gana discovers the silver ores of Caracoles in the Bolivian portion of Atacama Desert, leading to the last of the Chilean silver rushes and a diplomatic dispute over its taxation between Chile and Bolivia.
• 1898The Winton Motor Carriage Company, one of the first American car companies, sold its first unit.
• 1900Robert Anderson Van Wyck, mayor of New York City, broke ground for a new underground Rapid Transit Railroad that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.
• 1900Carnegie Steel Company is formed in New Jersey; its capitalization of $160 million is the largest to date.
• 1921The inaugural Women's Olympiad, the first international women's sports event, opened at the International Sporting Club of Monaco in Monte Carlo.
• 1934The Tydings–McDuffie Act came into effect, which provided for self-government of the Philippines and for Filipino independence from the United States after a period of ten years.
• 1964Royal assent was given to Prince Edward Island's Provincial Flag Act, which outlined the design of its provincial flag.
• 2002At the 74th Academy Awards, Halle Berry became the first African American to win Best Actress, winning for her role as Leticia Musgrove in Monster's Ball.
• 2006Hannah Montana, starring Miley Cyrus as an actress whose alter ego is the titular character, premiered.
• 2008Led by Jigme Thinley, the Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party won 45 of 47 seats in the country's first National Assembly election.

Also observed on March 24

• Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice (Argentina)
• National Tree Planting Day (Uganda)
• World Tuberculosis Day (International)