May 24

Today in History
• 1153 - Malcolm IV becomes king of Scotland
• 1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt
• 1300 - French King Philip IV occupies Flanders and captures the Count of Flanders
• 1621 - The Protestant Union is formally dissolved
• 1626 - Peter Minuet buys Manhattan from Indians for trinkets, valued at $24
• 1689 - English Parliament guarantees freedom of religion for Protestants
• 1738 - John Wesley is converted, launching the Methodist movement
• 1844 - Samuel Morse taps out "What hath God wrought" in the world's first telegraph message


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Aviation Maintenance Technician Day
• Bermuda Day
• Emergency Medical Services for Children Day (EMSC)
• Empire Day
• Independence Day in Eritrea
• International Women's Day for Peace and Disarmament
• National Scavenger Hunt Day
• The Battle of Pichincha Day

Birthdays
• 15 BC - Julius Caesar Germanicus, Roman commander
• 1544 - William Gilbert, Essex England, physicist, researcher into magnetism
• 1605 - Nikon [Nikita Minin], patriarch of Russian-orthodox church
• 1650 - John Churchill, 1st duke of Marlborough, English general strategist
• 1686 - Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, physicist, inventor, invented the thermometer and Fahrenheit scale
• 1738 - George III, king of Great Britain, 1760-1820
• 1751 - Charles Emanuel IV, King of Sardinia (1796-1802)
• 1753 - Oliver Cromwell, decorated African American soldier who served with Washington