February 24 in History

February 24 is the 55th day of the year. There are 311 days remaining until the end of the year.

• 1582 – Pope Gregory XIII announced the Gregorian calendar.
• 1607 – L’Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, one of the first works recognized as an opera premièred.
• 1711 – Handel’s Rinaldo, the first Italian opera written for the London stage, premiered.
• 1803 – In Marbury v. Madison, the US Supreme Court established the principle of judicial review.
• 1839 – William Otis received a patent for the steam shovel.
• 1863 – Arizona is organized as a US territory.
• 1868 – The first parade to have floats was staged at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• 1868 – Andrew Johnson became the first US President to be impeached  by the US House of Representatives.
• 1877 – Ettie Rout, New Zealand war hero, was born. She died in 1936.
• 1896 – The Tootsie Roll was invented in Chicago. It was the first penny candy to be individually wrapped.
• 1909 – The Hudson Motor Car Company was founded. 
• 1917 – The US ambassador to the United Kingdom was given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledged to ensure the return of  New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if Mexico declared war on the United States.
• 1920 – The Nazi Party was founded.
• 1970 – National Public Radio was founded in the United States.
• 1980 – The US Olympic hockey team defeated Finland 4-2 to win the gold medal.
• 1981 – Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.
• 1983 – The US Congress released a report that condemned the practice of Japanese internment during World War II.
• 2008 – Fidel Castro retired as the President of Cuba after nearly 50 years.
• 2011 – The final launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery.