On This Day: 24 October

24 October in Indian history

• 2003The inaugural Afro-Asian Games opened in Hyderabad, with 2,040 athletes from 96 nations competing.India

24 October in world history

• 2016Three heavily armed terrorists from the Islamic State – Khorasan Province open fire on and eventually suicide bomb a police training centre in Balochistan, Pakistan, killing at least 59 cadets and injuring more than 165 others.
• 2004English football club Manchester United defeated rivals Arsenal 2–0 in the Battle of the Buffet, ending the latter's record-breaking unbeaten run.
• 1960Nedelin catastrophe: An R-16 ballistic missile explodes on the launch pad at the Soviet Union's Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility, killing over 100 people, including Field Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin.
• 1950Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China: The People's Liberation Army ceases all military operations in Tibet, ending the Battle of Chamdo.
• 1947United Air Lines Flight 608 crashes in the Bryce Canyon National Park in Garfield County, Utah, while attempting an emergency landing at Bryce Canyon Airport, killing 52 people.
• 1944World War II: The Japanese battleship Musashi, one of the heaviest and most powerfully armed ever constructed, was sunk by American aircraft during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
• 1931The George Washington Bridge, connecting New York City to Fort Lee, New Jersey, and today the world's busiest motor-vehicle bridge, was dedicated.
• 1929On "Black Thursday", the New York Stock Exchange lost 11 percent of its value at the opening bell on very heavy trading, marking the beginning of the Great Depression.
• 1918World War I: Italian victory in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto.
• 1894First Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Jiuliancheng: Under the command of General Yamagata Aritomo, the Imperial Japanese Army covertly crosses the Yalu River into Qing territory and launches an assault on the fortifications at Hushan.
• 1889Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, gave a speech in which he called for the federation of the six Australian colonies.
• 1885The Russian ship Dmitry ran aground in Whitby, an incident that inspired the arrival of Count Dracula to England in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel.
• 1876Shinpūren rebellion: Upset at the Westernisation of Meiji Japan and the abolition of the Tokugawa feudal hierarchy, the Keishintō, a group of extremist Shinto former samurai, launch a surprise attack against the Meiji government in Kumamoto Prefecture.
• 1860Convention of Peking: The Second Opium War formally comes to a close, with Qing China ceding Kowloon in perpetuity to the victorious British Empire.
• 1813Treaty of Gulistan: The Russo-Persian War of 1804-1813 comes to a close with the signing of the Treaty of Gulistan, under which terms Qajar Iran agrees to cede the bulk of its Caucasian territories, which comprise much of modern Dagestan, Georgia, Armenia, and
• 1789The Brabant Revolution, sometimes considered to be the first expression of Belgian nationalism, began with the invasion of the Austrian Netherlands by an émigré army from the Dutch Republic.
• 1648The Peace of Westphalia is signed, marking the end of the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War.

Born on 24 October

• 1985Wayne Rooney, English footballer
• 1935Mark Tully, Indian-English journalist and authorIndia
• 1929George Crumb, American composer and educator (died 2022)
• 1921R. K. Laxman, Indian illustrator (died 2015)India
• 1914Lakshmi Sahgal, Indian Independence movement revolutionary and Officer of Indian National Army (died 2012)India
• 1675Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham, English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire (died 1749)

Died on 24 October

• 2017Girija Devi, Indian classical singer (born 1929)India
• 2017Fats Domino, American pianist and singer-songwriter (born 1928)
• 1991Ismat Chughtai, Indian author and screenwriter (born 1915)India
• 1960Yevgeny Ostashev, the test pilot of rocket, participant in the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, Lenin Prize winner, Candidate of Technical Sciences (born 1924)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 24 October in history?

2016: Three heavily armed terrorists from the Islamic State – Khorasan Province open fire on and eventually suicide bomb a police training centre in Balochistan, Pakistan, killing at least 59 cadets and injuring more than 165 others. 2004: English football club Manchester United defeated rivals Arsenal 2–0 in the Battle of the Buffet, ending the latter's record-breaking unbeaten run. 2003: The inaugural Afro-Asian Games opened in Hyderabad, with 2,040 athletes from 96 nations competing. 1960: Nedelin catastrophe: An R-16 ballistic missile explodes on the launch pad at the Soviet Union's Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility, killing over 100 people, including Field Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin.

What happened on 24 October in Indian history?

2003: The inaugural Afro-Asian Games opened in Hyderabad, with 2,040 athletes from 96 nations competing.

Which famous people were born on 24 October?

Wayne Rooney, English footballer (1985); Mark Tully, Indian-English journalist and author (1935); George Crumb, American composer and educator (died 2022) (1929); R. K. Laxman, Indian illustrator (died 2015) (1921).

Which day is observed on 24 October?

United Nations Day; Food Day (United States); International Day of Diplomats; United Nations Day, the anniversary of the 1945 Charter of the United Nations (International); World Development Information Day.