Mar 24 in History
809 — Harun al-Rashid, 46, fifth caliph of Abbasid (from 786), dies in Tüs. He is a recurring protagonist in “One Thousand and One Nights” (aka “Arabian Nights”), a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales. 1603 — Queen Elizabeth I, 69, dies at Richmond Palace. She reigned from November 17 1558, the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor.
1693 — John Harrison, inventor of the marine chronometer, is born in Foulby, England. A carpenter and clockmaker, his long-sought-after device to solve the problem of calculating longitude at sea, revolutionises navigation and greatly increases the safety of long-distance sea travel. Following the 1707 Sicily naval disaster (the loss of four Royal Navy warships and between 1,400 and 2,000 lives in severe weather), the British government offers up to £20,000 (about £3m today) for a solution under the 1714 Longitude Law. Harrison presents his first design in 1730 and works five more years on improvements. Britain and its colonies change from the Julian (Old Style, OS) to the Gregorian calendar (New Style, NS) in 1752. Under the NS, Harrison’s birthdate is April 3. He dies on March 24 1776 (NS).
1721 — Johann Sebastian Bach presents the (six) Brandenburg Concertos, regarded as some of the best of the Baroque era, to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt.
1765 — Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa issues a decree to establish a School for Healing Animal Diseases, marking the founding of what is now the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna.
1873 — Mary Ann Cotton, 40, believed to be Britain’s worst female serial killers, is hanged at Durham County Gaol. She was arrested in July 1872 after the death of her stepson Charles Edward Cotton, 7. Tests revealed arsenic in his body. She gave birth to her 13th child in jail on January 10 1873. Her trial started on March 3 and she was sentenced to death on the 7th. She is suspected of poisoning upwards of 22 people from 1857 — with strong implications in the deaths of 11 of her children, five stepchildren, her mother, three of her four husbands, a lover and a friend.
1874 — Harry Houdini, magician, escape artist, is born as Erik Weisz in Budapest, Hungary.
1882 — German scientist Robert Koch announces before the Physiological Society of Berlin that he had discovered the tubercle bacillus responsible for tuberculosis. March 24 has been commemorated as World Tuberculosis Day since 1982.
1921 — The first international women’s sporting event, the Women’s Olympiad, starts at the International Sporting Club of Monaco, Monte Carlo. 1958 — Rock’n’roll idol Elvis Presley, 23, is inducted into the US Army at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas.