May 24 in history — What Happened Today in History

Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo and five other people are assassinated in a shootout at Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport in Mexico.

The last Thai dictator, General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigns following pro-democracy protests.

The ethnic cleansing in Kozarac, Bosnia and Herzegovina begins when Serbian militia and police forces enter the town.

Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

Section 28 of the United Kingdom's Local Government Act 1988, a controversial amendment stating that a local authority cannot intentionally promote homosexuality, is enacted.

Liberation of Khorramshahr: Iranians recapture the port city of Khorramshahr from the Iraqis during the Iran–Iraq War.

Ecuadorian president Jaime Roldós Aguilera, his wife, and his presidential committee die in an aircraft accident while travelling from Quito to Zapotillo minutes after the president gave a famous speech regarding the 24 de mayo anniversary of the Battle of Pichincha.

The Judgment of Paris takes place in France, launching California as a worldwide force in the production of quality wine.

Egypt imposes a blockade and siege of the Red Sea coast of Israel.

Belle de Jour, directed by Luis Buñuel, is released.

Project Mercury: American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.

American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus.

Following the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, the largest ever recorded earthquake, Cordón Caulle begins to erupt.

United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.

The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland.

Arab–Israeli War: Egypt captures the Israeli kibbutz of Yad Mordechai, but the five-day effort gives Israeli forces time to prepare enough to stop the Egyptian advance a week later.

Börse Berlin building burns down after being hit in an air raid during World War II.

Congress of Përmet occurs which establishes a provisional government in Albania in areas under partisan control, the first independent Albanian government since 1939. In honor of this the national emblem of Albania inscribed this date from 1946 until 1992.

World War II: Battle of the Atlantic: In the Battle of the Denmark Strait, the German battleship Bismarck sinks the pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood, killing all but three crewmen.

Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.

Acting on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, NKVD agent Iosif Grigulevich orchestrates an unsuccessful assassination attempt on exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky in Coyoacán, Mexico.

The first night game in Major League Baseball history is played in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the Cincinnati Reds beating the Philadelphia Phillies 2–1 at Crosley Field.

Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight).

Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.

The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.

Patrick Francis Healy becomes the first black president of a predominantly white university in the United States.

American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia, with Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth becoming the first Union officer to be killed during the war.

John Brown and his men kill five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.

Cody Eakin, Canadian ice hockey player

Mattias Ekholm, Swedish ice hockey player

Joey Logano, American race car driver

G-Eazy, American rapper

Andrew Jordan, English race car driver

Kalin Lucas, American basketball player

Artem Anisimov, Russian ice hockey player

Monica Lin Brown, American sergeant

Billy Gilman, American musician

Lucian Wintrich, American political artist and White House correspondent

Denis Petrić, Slovenian footballer

Guillaume Latendresse, Canadian ice hockey player

Mark Ballas, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, dancer, and actor

Knowlton Nash, Canadian journalist and author (born 1927)

John Vasconcellos, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (born 1932)

Helmut Braunlich, German-American violinist and composer (born 1929)

Ron Davies, Welsh footballer (born 1942)

Gotthard Graubner, German painter (born 1930)

Haynes Johnson, American journalist and author (born 1931)

Pyotr Todorovsky, Ukrainian-Russian director and screenwriter (born 1925)

Klaas Carel Faber, Dutch-German SS officer (born 1922)

Kathi Kamen Goldmark, American journalist and author (born 1948)

Jacqueline Harpman, Belgian psychoanalyst and author (born 1929)

Juan Francisco Lombardo, Argentinian footballer (born 1925)

Lee Rich, American production manager and producer (born 1918)

Huguette Clark, American heiress, painter, and philanthropist (born 1906)