Box-office #1
The Empire Strikes Back
1980 · dir. Irvin Kershner
Wide US release on May 23, 1980. Goes on to become the highest-grossing film of the year.
Sci-fiStar Wars $538M worldwide
On this day
August 24 Monday, August 24, 2026
A curious almanac of what happened on August 24 across the years — history, birthdays, the songs that ruled the charts, the films that packed cinemas, and the science that nudged the world forward.
12
Events
7
Birthdays
6
Holidays
1482
UK history 544 years ago
The town and castle of Berwick-upon-Tweed is captured from Scotland by an English army.
Berwick-upon-Tweed falls to English forces, marking the final time the border town changes hands between England and Scotland.
History
What happened on August 24
12 verified entries Full timeline
- 367World history
Gratian, son of Roman Emperor Valentinian I, is named co-Augustus at the age of eight by his father.
Gratian, aged eight, is named co-Augustus alongside his father, Roman Emperor Valentinian I.
- 394Science
The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom, the latest known inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphs, is written.
The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom is inscribed, marking the last known use of Egyptian hieroglyphs.
- 410War
The Visigoths under King Alaric I begin to pillage Rome.
The Visigoths under King Alaric I start sacking Rome, marking the beginning of the city's decline.
- 1185European history
Sack of Thessalonica by the Normans.
Norman forces under William II of Sicily capture and brutally sack Thessalonica, massacring thousands of inhabitants in one of the Byzantine Empire's worst defeats.
- 1200UK history
King John of England, signer of the first Magna Carta, marries Isabella of Angoulême in Angoulême Cathedral.
King John marries Isabella of Angoulême in Angoulême Cathedral, later signing the Magna Carta.
- 1215Religion
Pope Innocent III issues a bull declaring Magna Carta invalid.
Pope Innocent III declares Magna Carta invalid, undermining King John of England's agreement with his barons.
- 1349Disaster
Six thousand Jews are killed in Mainz after being blamed for the bubonic plague.
Six thousand Jews in Mainz are massacred following false accusations of spreading the bubonic plague.
- 1482UK history
The town and castle of Berwick-upon-Tweed is captured from Scotland by an English army.
Berwick-upon-Tweed falls to English forces, marking the final time the border town changes hands between England and Scotland.
- 1516World history
The Ottoman Empire under Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate and captures present-day Syria at the Battle of Marj Dabiq.
Selim I defeats the Mamluk Sultanate at the Battle of Marj Dabiq, capturing present-day Syria and expanding Ottoman territory.
- 1561Royalty
Willem of Orange marries duchess Anna of Saxony.
Willem of Orange marries Duchess Anna of Saxony, expanding political alliances in the Netherlands.
- 1643World history
A Dutch fleet establishes a new colony in the ruins of Valdivia in southern Chile.
A Dutch fleet establishes a short-lived colony in the ruins of Valdivia, southern Chile, abandoned after a 1575 indigenous uprising.
- 1781War
American Revolutionary War: A small force of Pennsylvania militia is ambushed and overwhelmed by an American Indian group, which forces George Rogers Clark to abandon his attempt to attack Detroit.
George Rogers Clark's expedition faces defeat when Pennsylvania militiamen are ambushed by American Indians, forcing him to abandon plans to attack Detroit.
Born today
Famous birthdays on August 24
7 this date All birthdays
Albert Claude
Belgian biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
Albert Claude, the Belgian-American cell biologist who shared the 1974 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Christian de Duve and George Emil Palade, was born today in 1899.
Born
1899
Died
1983
Alexander II of Scotland
1198 – 1249
J. Gordon Edwards
American entomologist, mountaineer, and DDT advocate
1919 – 2004
Enrique Llanes
Mexican wrestler
1919 – 2004
Vladimir Masorin
Russian admiral
b. 1947 · 79
Orson Scott Card
American novelist, critic, public speaker, essayist, and columnist
b. 1951 · 75
Anže Kopitar
Slovenian ice hockey player
b. 1987 · 39
Music
The number one songs on August 24
Across the years Full chart history
🇬🇧 #1 on August 24, 1981
"Stand and Deliver"
by Adam and the Ants
The dandy highwayman spent five weeks at the top — a brash, glam-pop coronation.
#1 for 5 weeks
Also #1 on this day
- 1965"Ticket To Ride"— The Beatles
- 1972"Metal Guru"— T. Rex
- 2003"Make Luv"— Room 5 ft. Oliver Cheatham
Film & TV
At the movies
Box office #1 and premieres All releases
🏆 Sport August 24, 1982
Aston Villa shock Bayern Munich for the European Cup
In Rotterdam, late substitute Peter Withe scores the winner as Villa lift the trophy on their first attempt.
Read the story
🔬 Science August 24, 2016
Proxima Centauri b, the closest exoplanet to Earth, is discovered by the European Southern Observatory.
The European Southern Observatory discovers Proxima Centauri b, the nearest known exoplanet to Earth.
Read the storyToday is also
Holidays & observances
6 celebrated today
Flag Day (Liberia)
International
The following are public holidays in Liberia
Independence Day or Den' Nezalezhnosti, celebrates the independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union in 1991.
International
Independence Day of Ukraine is a state holiday in Ukraine, celebrated on 24 August in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence of 1991
International Strange Music Day
International
Patrick Grant is an American composer living and working in New York City
National Waffle Day (United States)
International
Waffle Day is a tradition that is celebrated in Sweden, Norway and Denmark on 25 March, which is also the Feast of the Annunciation, upon which waffles are typically eaten
Nostalgia Night (Uruguay)
International
The Nostalgia Night is an annual celebration that takes place in Uruguay every August 24, on the eve of the national holiday of Independence Day
Willka Raymi (Cusco, Peru)
International
Willka Raymi is a feast celebrated in the Cusco Region in Peru
❝
For over two billion years, through the apparent fancy of her endless differentiations and metamorphoses, the Cell, as regards its basic physiological mechanisms, has remained one and the same.
— Albert Claude · born August 24, 1899