Thursday 24th of May 1494

Painter Jacopo Pontormo is born as Jacopo Carucci in Pontorme, Toscana, Italy.

Monday 24th of May 1543

Mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus dies of a stroke at the age of 70 in Frombork, Województwo Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Poland.

Friday 24th of May 1686

Physicist, engineer and glass blower Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit is born in Hundegasse 32A, Gdańsk, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland.

Friday 24th of May 1743

Activist during the French Revolution Jean-Paul Marat is born in Boudry, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

Monday 24th of May 1819

Queen Alexandrina Victoria is born in Kensington Palace, London, Kensington, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Wednesday 24th of May 1899

Poet, writer and painter Henri Michaux is born in Namur, Namur, Belgium.

Monday 24th of May 1909

Dentist Philip Blaiberg is born in Uniondale, Cape Province, South Africa.

Thursday 24th of May 1917

Dentist and murderer Arthur Warren Waite aka The Playboy Poisoner is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 28 in Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York, United States.

He poisoned his mother-in-law Hannah Peck and his father-in-law John E. Peck with germs of diphtheria and tuberculosis between 30 January and 12 March 1916.

Saturday 24th of May 1930

47-year-old Serial killer Peter Kürten aka The Vampire of Düsseldorf is arrested in Mettmanner Straße, Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Friday 24th of May 1935

Murderer Tellie McQuate aka Thomas Jones is executed by hanging at the age of 44 in Folsom State Prison, Represa, Folsom, California, United States.

McQuate killed and dismembered wealthy eccentric 74-year-old Ella Straw on 8 October 1933 in San Diego.

Wednesday 24th of May 1939

Performance artist Gina Pane is born in Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.

Friday 24th of May 1940

Poet Joseph Brodsky is born as Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky in St. Petersburg, Northwestern Federal District, Russia.

Saturday 24th of May 1941

Musician Bob Dylan is born as Robert Allen Zimmerman in St. Mary's Hospital, 400 E 3rd Street, Duluth, Minnesota, United States.

Thursday 24th of May 1945

Priscilla Presley is born as Priscilla Ann Wagner in New York, Brooklyn, New York, United States.

Monday 24th of May 1954

Murderer Arthur Martin Ross is born in Ohio, United States.

Thursday 24th of May 1956

Mass murderer Steven Timothy Judy is born in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.

Sunday 24th of May 1964

328 die in Peru versus Argentina soccer riot in Estadio Nacional, Lima, Lima Metropolitana, Peru.

Peruvian fans decided to invade the pitch after an unpopular decision given by the referee. Police retaliated by firing tear gas into the stadium crowd, causing a mass exodus.

Wednesday 24th of May 1972

Car bomb attack by die Rote Armee Fraktion aka Baader-Meinhof Gruppe 'Kommando 15. Juli' - death of Petra Schelm - in Seventh United States Army Headquarters, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Captain Clyde R. Bonner, specialist Ronald A. Woodward and specialist Charles L. Peck are killed by the blast.

Wednesday 24th of May 1972

Actress Asta Sofie Amalie Nielsen aka Die Asta dies of natural causes at the age of 91 in Frederiksberg, Hovedstaden, Denmark.

Friday 24th of May 1974

Bandleader and composer Duke Edward Kennedy Ellington dies of lung cancer and pneumonia at the age of 75 in New York City, New York, United States.

Saturday 24th of May 1975

Spree killer Russell Lee Smith commits suicide by a shot through the head at the age of 28 in Dayton, Ohio, United States.

On the same day he killed his 16-year-old girlfriend Joan Marie Gatewood and 25-year-old Paulette Couch, he also wounded 27-year-old James Bailey, 38-year-old Charles Baltozer, 38-year-old Carole Baltozer, 17-year-old Charles Baltozer Jr., 6-year-old Heather Baltozer, 28-year-old George Christopherson, 27-year-old Ocie Curry, 29-year-old Joseph Pickett and 19-year-old Ann Wenclewicz.

Monday 24th of May 1976

38-year-old Wiener Aktionist Hermann Nitsch performs his 51. Aktion mit Rosanna Chiessi in Arte Fiera, Quartieri Fieristici, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.

Monday 24th of May 1982

Kidnap victim Suzanne Wagner escapes after being held imprisoned as a sex-slave for over a year by sex researcher Dr. Ulrich Kochwald in Regensburg, Bayern, Germany.

Tuesday 24th of May 1983

Model and actress Seung-yeon Woo is born in Seoul, Seoul National Capital Area, South Korea.

Friday 24th of May 1985

Serial killer Michael Wolpert aka Der Neu-Isenburger Frauenmörder is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of six young women in Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany.

Sunday 24th of May 1987

Almost a million people attempt to walk from each side over the Golden Gate Bridge on it’s 50th anniversary in Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California, United States.

The celebration attracted 750.000 to 1.000.000 people, and ineffective crowd control meant the bridge became congested with roughly 300.000 people, causing the center span of the bridge to flatten out under the weight.

Wednesday 24th of May 1989

Murderer Stephen McCoy is executed by lethal injection at the age of 41 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Friday 24th of May 1991

32-year-old Anthony Hughes is drugged, strangled and dismembered by serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer aka The Milwaukee Cannibal in Oxford Apartments #213, 924 25th North Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.

Hughes was strangled and his body left on Dahmer's bedroom floor for three days before being dismembered, with Dahmer photographing the dismemberment process. At his trial Dahmer said Hughes lost his life due to the “foreseeable but unintended consequences of the drilling technique.”

Wednesday 24th of May 2000

Murderer Richard Donald Foster is executed by lethal injection at the age of 48 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Foster's last words were "I'll see you when you get there, okay?'' to his cousin who witnessed the execution.

Wednesday 24th of May 2006

Double murderer Jesus Ledesma 'Chuy' Aguilar is executed by lethal injection at the age of 43 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Aguilar's last meal was a full meal of enchiladas. Family members of the victims were outraged at the final words, a 'shout-out' to his fellow Texas Syndicate prison gang members which came in a mixture of Spanish and English. Huntsville Unit Warden Charles O'Reilly silently requested the start of the lethal dosage, cutting off Aguilar's speech.

Thursday 24th of May 2007

Murderer Christopher J. Newton is executed by lethal injection at the age of 38 in Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, Lucasville, Ohio, United States.

His final meal request was of steak, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, feta cheese, a soft drink, cake and watermelon. Newton weighed 265 pounds and his veins were very difficult to locate. It took over two hours and 10 attempts before the execution was completed. It took so long that Newton was given a bathroom break.

Monday 24th of May 2010

41-year-old Serial killer Stephen Shaun Griffiths aka The Crossbow Cannibal is arrested after a CCTV camera caught him shooting 36-year-old prostitute Suzanne Blamires in the head with a crossbow in Holmfield Courtflats, Thornton Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

Parts of Blamires's body were found in the river Aire in Shipley on 25 May 2010.

Monday 24th of May 2010

My installation 'The Eyes Have it' with glass jars containing about 300 calves eyes and TV monitors playing movies like 'Hellraiser', 'Hellbound', 'Hell in the Pacific', 'Five for Hell', 'Hell's Angels on Wheels', 'To Hell and Back',.... in Verbeke Foundation, Westakker, Kemzeke, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Tuesday 24th of May 2022

School shooter Salvador Rolando Ramos known for the Robb Elementary School shooting is shot dead by Border Patrol Tactical Unit agents after shooting and killing 19 children and 2 teachers at the age of 18 in Robb Elementary School, 715 Old Carrizo Road, Uvalde, Texas, United States.

Earlier that day, Ramos shot and wounded his grandmother. He also wounded about 15 children and a police officer before being killed. 

Wednesday 24th of May 2023

Musician Tina Turner dies of AIDS at the age of 84 in Küsnacht, Zürich, Switzerland.