For superstitious reasons, when the Romans began to intercalate to bring their calendar into line with the solar year, they chose not to place their extra month of Mercedonius after February but within it. February 24 — known in the Roman calendar as “the sixth day before the Kalends of March” — was replaced by the first day of this month since it followed Terminalia, the festival of the Roman god of boundaries. After the end of Mercedonius, the rest of the days of February were observed and the new year began with the first day of March. The overlaid religious festivals of February were so complicated that Julius Caesar opted not to change it at all during his 46 bc calendar reform. The extra day of his system’s leap years was located in the same place as the old intercalary month but he opted to ignore it as a date. Instead, the sixth day before the Kalends of March was simply said to last for 48 hours and all the other days continued to bear their original names. (The Roman practice of inclusive counting initially caused the priests in charge of the calendar to add the extra hours every three years instead of every four and Augustus was obliged to omit them for a span of decades until the system was back to where it should have been.) When the extra hours finally began to be reckoned as two separate days instead of a doubled sixth (“bissextile”) one, the leap day was still taken to be the one following hard on the February 23 Terminalia. Although February 29 has been popularly understood as the leap day of leap years since the beginning of sequential reckoning of the days of months in the late Middle Ages, in Britain and most other countries, no formal replacement of February 24 as the leap day of the Julian and Gregorian calendars has occurred. The exceptions include Sweden and Finland, who enacted legislation to move the day to February 29. This custom still has some effect around the world, for example with respect to name days in Hungary.
February 24 in History
- 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.
- 1303 – Battle of Roslin, of the First War of Scottish Independence.
- 1386 – King Charles III of Naples and Hungary is assassinated at Buda.
- 1525 – A Spanish-Austrian army defeats a French army at the Battle of Pavia.
- 1538 – Treaty of Nagyvárad between Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I and King John Zápolya of Hungary and Croatia.
- 1582 – With the papal bull Inter gravissimas, Pope Gregory XIII announces the Gregorian calendar.
- 1607 – L’Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, one of the first works recognized as an opera, receives its première performance.
- 1711 – The London première of Rinaldo by George Frideric Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage.
- 1739 – Battle of Karnal: The army of Iranian ruler Nader Shah defeats the forces of the Mughal emperor of India, Muhammad Shah.
- 1803 – In Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the principle of judicial review.
- 1809 – London’s Drury Lane Theatre burns to the ground, leaving owner Richard Brinsley Sheridan destitute.
- 1821 – Final stage of the Mexican War of Independence from Spain with Plan of Iguala.
- 1822 – The first Swaminarayan temple in the world, Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad, is inaugurated.
- 1826 – The signing of the Treaty of Yandabo marks the end of the First Anglo-Burmese War.
- 1831 – The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty in accordance with the Indian Removal Act, is proclaimed. The Choctaws in Mississippi cede land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West.
- 1848 – King Louis-Philippe of France abdicates the throne.
- 1854 – A Penny Red with perforations was the first perforated postage stamp to be officially issued for distribution.
- 1863 – Arizona is organized as a United States territory.
- 1868 – Andrew Johnson becomes the first President of the United States to be impeached by the United States House of Representatives. He is later acquitted in the Senate.
- 1875 – The SS Gothenburg hits the Great Barrier Reef and sinks off the Australian east coast, killing approximately 100, including a number of high-profile civil servants and dignitaries.
- 1881 – China and Russia sign the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty.
- 1895 – Revolution breaks out in Baire, a town near Santiago de Cuba, beginning the Cuban War of Independence, that ends with the Spanish–American War in 1898.
- 1916 – The Governor-General of Korea establishes a clinic called Jahyewon in Sorokdo to segregate Hansen’s disease patients.
- 1917 – World War I: The U.S. ambassador Walter Hines Page to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if Mexico declares war on the United States.
- 1918 – Estonian Declaration of Independence.
- 1920 – Nancy Astor becomes the first woman to speak in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom following her election as a Member of Parliament (MP) three months earlier.
- 1920 – The Nazi Party (NSDAP) was founded by Adolf Hitler in the Hofbräuhaus beer hall in Munich, Germany
- 1942 – The Battle of Los Angeles: A false alarm led to an anti-aircraft barrage that lasted into the early hours of February 25.
- 1942 – An order-in-council passed under the Defence of Canada Regulations of the War Measures Act gives the Canadian federal government the power to intern all “persons of Japanese racial origin”.
- 1944 – Merrill’s Marauders: The Marauders begin their 1,000-mile journey through Japanese-occupied Burma.
- 1945 – Egyptian Premier Ahmad Mahir Pasha is killed in Parliament after reading a decree.
- 1946 – Colonel Juan Perón, founder of the political movement that became known as Peronism, is elected to his first term as President of Argentina.
- 1949 – The Armistice Agreements are signed, to formally end the hostilities of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
- 1968 – Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnam recaptures Hué.
- 1971 – The All India Forward Bloc holds an emergency central committee meeting after its chairman, Hemantha Kumar Bose, is killed three days earlier. P.K. Mookiah Thevar is appointed as the new chairman.
- 1976 – The current constitution of Cuba is formally proclaimed.
- 1978 – The Yuba County Five disappear in California. Four of their bodies are found four months later.
- 1980 – The United States Olympic hockey team completes its Miracle on Ice by defeating Finland 4–2 to win the gold medal.
- 1981 – The 6.7 Gulf of Corinth earthquake affected Central Greece with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). Twenty-two people were killed, 400 were injured, and damage totaled $812 million.
- 1983 – A special commission of the United States Congress condemns the Japanese American internment during World War II.
- 1984 – Tyrone Mitchell perpetrates the 49th Street Elementary School shooting in Los Angeles, killing two children and injuring 12 more.
- 1989 – United Airlines Flight 811, bound for New Zealand from Honolulu, rips open during flight, blowing nine passengers out of the business-class section.
- 1991 – Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war.
- 1996 – Two civilian airplanes operated by the Miami-based group Brothers to the Rescue are shot down in international waters by the Cuban Air Force.
- 1999 – China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509, a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft, crashes on approach to Wenzhou Longwan International Airport in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China. All 61 people on board are killed.
- 2004 – The 6.3 Al Hoceima earthquake strikes northern Morocco with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). At least 628 people are killed, 926 are injured, and up to 15,000 are displaced.
- 2006 – Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declares Proclamation 1017 placing the country in a state of emergency in attempt to subdue a possible military coup.
- 2007 – Japan launches its fourth spy satellite, stepping up its ability to monitor potential threats such as North Korea.
- 2008 – Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba and the Council of Ministers after 32 years. He remains as head of the Communist Party for another three years.
- 2015 – A Metrolink train derails in Oxnard, California following a collision with a truck, leaving more than 30 injured.
- 2016 – Tara Air Flight 193, a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft, crashed, with 23 fatalities, in Solighopte, Myagdi District, Dhaulagiri Zone, while en route from Pokhara Airport to Jomsom Airport.
Births on February 24
- 1103 – Emperor Toba of Japan (d. 1156)
- 1304 – Ibn Battuta, Moroccan jurist
- 1413 – Louis, Duke of Savoy (d. 1465)
- 1463 – Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Italian philosopher (d. 1494)
- 1494 – Johan Friis, Danish statesman (d. 1570)
- 1500 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1558)
- 1536 – Pope Clement VIII (d. 1605)
- 1545 – John of Austria (d. 1578)
- 1553 – Cherubino Alberti, Italian engraver and painter (d. 1615)
- 1557 – Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1619)
- 1593 – Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford, English soldier and courtier (d. 1625)
- 1595 – Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Polish author and poet (d. 1640)
- 1604 – Arcangela Tarabotti, Venetian nun and feminist (d. 1652)
- 1619 – Charles Le Brun, French painter and theorist (d. 1690)
- 1622 – Johannes Clauberg, German theologian and philosopher (d. 1665)
- 1709 – Jacques de Vaucanson, French engineer (d. 1782)
- 1721 – John McKinly, Irish-American physician and politician, 1st Governor of Delaware (d. 1796)
- 1723 – John Burgoyne, English general and politician (d. 1792)
- 1736 – Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1806)
- 1743 – Joseph Banks, English botanist and explorer (d. 1820)
- 1762 – Charles Frederick Horn, German-English composer and educator (d. 1830)
- 1767 – Rama II of Siam (d. 1824)
- 1774 – Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (d. 1850)
- 1786 – Martin W. Bates, American lawyer and politician (d. 1869)
- 1786 – Wilhelm Grimm, German anthropologist, author, and academic (d. 1859)
- 1788 – Johan Christian Dahl, Norwegian-German painter (d. 1857)
- 1827 – Lydia Becker, English-French activist (d. 1890)
- 1831 – Leo von Caprivi, German general and politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1899)
- 1835 – Julius Vogel, English-New Zealand journalist and politician, 8th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1899)
- 1836 – Winslow Homer, American painter and illustrator (d. 1910)
- 1837 – Rosalía de Castro, Spanish poet (d. 1885)
- 1842 – Arrigo Boito, Italian journalist, author, and composer (d. 1918)
- 1848 – Andrew Inglis Clark, Australian engineer, lawyer, and politician (d. 1907)
- 1852 – George Moore, Irish author, poet, and playwright (d. 1933)
- 1868 – Édouard Alphonse James de Rothschild, French financier and polo player (d. 1949)
- 1869 – Zara DuPont, American suffragist (d. 1946)
- 1874 – Honus Wagner, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1955)
- 1877 – Rudolph Ganz, Swiss pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1972)
- 1877 – Ettie Rout, Australian-New Zealand educator and activist (d. 1936)
- 1885 – Chester W. Nimitz, American admiral (d. 1966)
- 1885 – Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish author, poet, and painter (d. 1939)
- 1890 – Marjorie Main, American actress (d. 1975)
- 1896 – Richard Thorpe, American director and screenwriter (d. 1991)
- 1898 – Kurt Tank, German pilot and engineer (d. 1983)
- 1900 – Irmgard Bartenieff, German-American dancer and physical therapist, leading pioneer of dance therapy (d. 1981)
- 1903 – Vladimir Bartol, Italian-Slovene author and playwright (d. 1967)
- 1908 – Telford Taylor, American general, lawyer, and historian (d. 1998)
- 1909 – August Derleth, American anthologist and author (d. 1971)
- 1914 – Ralph Erskine, English-Swedish architect, designed The Ark and Byker Wall (d. 2005)
- 1914 – Weldon Kees, American author, poet, painter, and pianist (d. 1955)
- 1915 – Jim Ferrier, Australian golfer (d. 1986)
- 1919 – John Carl Warnecke, American architect (d. 2010)
- 1921 – Abe Vigoda, American actor (d. 2016)
- 1922 – Richard Hamilton, English painter and academic (d. 2011)
- 1922 – Steven Hill, American actor (d. 2016)
- 1924 – Hal Herring, American football player and coach (d. 2014)
- 1924 – Erik Nielsen, Canadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2008)
- 1925 – Bud Day, American colonel and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2013)
- 1927 – Emmanuelle Riva, French actress (d. 2017)
- 1929 – Kintaro Ohki, South Korean wrestler (d. 2006)
- 1930 – Barbara Lawrence, American model and actress (d. 2013)
- 1931 – Dominic Chianese, American actor and singer
- 1931 – Brian Close, English cricketer and coach (d. 2015)
- 1932 – Michel Legrand, French pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2019)
- 1932 – Zell Miller, American sergeant and politician, 79th Governor of Georgia (d. 2018)
- 1932 – John Vernon, Canadian-American actor (d. 2005)
- 1933 – Judah Folkman, American physician and biologist (d. 2008)
- 1933 – Ali Mazrui, Kenyan-American political scientist, philosopher, and academic (d. 2014)
- 1933 – David “Fathead” Newman, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2009)
- 1934 – Bettino Craxi, Italian lawyer and politician, 45th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 2000)
- 1934 – Johnny Hills, English footballer, full-back
- 1934 – Renata Scotto, Italian soprano
- 1935 – Ryhor Baradulin, Belarusian poet, essayist, and translator (d. 2014)
- 1936 – Guillermo O’Donnell, Argentine political scientist (d. 2011)
- 1938 – James Farentino, American actor (d. 2012)
- 1938 – Phil Knight, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Nike, Inc.
- 1939 – Jamal Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi physicist and cosmologist (d. 2013)
- 1940 – Pete Duel, American actor (d. 1971)
- 1940 – Jimmy Ellis, American boxer (d. 2014)
- 1940 – Denis Law, Scottish footballer and sportscaster
- 1941 – Joanie Sommers, American singer and actress
- 1942 – Colin Bond, Australian race car driver
- 1942 – Paul Jones, English singer, harmonica player, and actor
- 1942 – Joe Lieberman, American lawyer and politician
- 1942 – Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Indian philosopher, theorist, and academic
- 1943 – Kent Haruf, American novelist (d. 2014)
- 1943 – Gigi Meroni, Italian footballer (d. 1967)
- 1943 – Pablo Milanés, Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1943 – Terry Semel, American businessman
- 1944 – Nicky Hopkins, English keyboard player (d. 1994)
- 1944 – Ivica Račan, Croatian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Croatia (d. 2007)
- 1945 – Barry Bostwick, American actor and singer
- 1946 – Grigory Margulis, Russian mathematician and academic
- 1947 – Mike Fratello, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1947 – Rupert Holmes, English-American singer-songwriter and playwright
- 1947 – Edward James Olmos, American actor and director
- 1948 – Jayalalithaa, Indian actress and politician, 16th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (d. 2016)
- 1948 – Walter Smith, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1948 – Tim Staffell, English singer and guitarist
- 1948 – Dennis Waterman, English actor
- 1950 – Steve McCurry, American photographer and journalist
- 1951 – David Ford, Northern Irish social worker and politician
- 1951 – Derek Randall, English cricketer
- 1951 – Debra Jo Rupp, American actress
- 1951 – Helen Shaver, Canadian actress and director
- 1951 – Laimdota Straujuma, Latvian economist and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Latvia
- 1953 – Anatoli Kozhemyakin, Soviet footballer (d. 1974)
- 1954 – Plastic Bertrand, Belgian singer-songwriter and producer
- 1954 – Judith Ortiz Cofer, Puerto Rican American award-winning author (d. 2016)
- 1954 – Aurora Levins Morales, Puerto Rican Jewish writer and activist
- 1954 – Sid Meier, Canadian-American game designer and programmer, created the Civilization series
- 1954 – Mike Pickering, English DJ and saxophonist
- 1955 – Steve Jobs, American businessman, co-founded Apple Inc. and Pixar (d. 2011)
- 1955 – Eddie Johnson, American basketball player
- 1955 – Alain Prost, French race car driver
- 1956 – Judith Butler, American philosopher, theorist, and author
- 1956 – Eddie Murray, American baseball player and coach
- 1956 – Paula Zahn, American journalist and producer
- 1958 – Sammy Kershaw, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1958 – Mark Moses, American actor
- 1959 – Beth Broderick, American actress and director
- 1959 – Mike Whitney, Australian cricketer and television host
- 1963 – Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro
- 1963 – Mike Vernon, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1963 – Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Gujarati family, most versatile filmmaker of Hindi cinema.
- 1964 – Russell Ingall, British-Australian race car driver and sportscaster
- 1965 – Paul Gruber, American football player
- 1965 – Jane Swift, American businesswoman and politician, Governor of Massachusetts
- 1966 – Billy Zane, American actor and producer
- 1967 – Brian Schmidt, Australian astrophysicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1968 – Mitch Hedberg, American comedian and actor (d. 2005)
- 1969 – Kim Seung-woo, South Korean actor
- 1970 – Jeff Garcia, American football player and coach
- 1970 – Neil Sullivan, English born Scottish international footballer, goalkeeper and coach
- 1970 – Jonathan Ward, American actor
- 1971 – Josh Bernstein, American anthropologist, explorer, and author
- 1971 – Pedro de la Rosa, Spanish race car driver
- 1971 – Brian Savage, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1972 – Teodor Currentzis, Greek conductor and composer
- 1972 – Manon Rhéaume, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1973 – Stubby Clapp, Canadian baseball player and coach
- 1973 – Chris Fehn, American drummer
- 1973 – Alexei Kovalev, Russian ice hockey player and pilot
- 1974 – Chad Hugo, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer
- 1974 – Mike Lowell, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1974 – Bonnie Somerville, American actress
- 1975 – Ashley MacIsaac, Canadian singer-songwriter and fiddler
- 1976 – Crista Flanagan, American actress and screenwriter
- 1976 – Zach Johnson, American golfer
- 1976 – Bradley McGee, Australian cyclist and coach
- 1976 – Matt Skiba, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1976 – Marco Campos, Brazilian Formula 3000 race car driver (d. 1995)
- 1977 – Jason Akermanis, Australian footballer and coach
- 1977 – Bronson Arroyo, American baseball player and singer
- 1977 – Floyd Mayweather, Jr., American boxer
- 1978 – Gary, South Korean rapper and producer
- 1978 – Shinya, Japanese drummer and songwriter
- 1978 – John Nolan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1978 – DeWayne Wise, American baseball player
- 1978 – Leon Constantine, English footballer
- 1980 – Shinsuke Nakamura, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
- 1981 – Felipe Baloy, Panamanian footballer
- 1981 – Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player
- 1981 – Mauro Rosales, Argentinian footballer
- 1981 – Mohammad Sami, Pakistani cricketer
- 1982 – Nick Blackburn, American baseball player
- 1982 – Emanuel Villa, Argentinian footballer
- 1982 – Klára Koukalová, Czech tennis player
- 1982 – Fala Chen, Chinese actress and singer
- 1984 – Corey Graves, American wrestler and sportscaster
- 1985 – Nakash Aziz, Indian playback singer and music composer
- 1987 – Kim Kyu-jong, South Korean singer, dancer, and actor
- 1988 – Mathieu Baudry, French footballer
- 1989 – Trace Cyrus, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1991 – Madison Hubbell, American ice dancer
- 1991 – Semih Kaya, Turkish footballer
- 1996 – Royce Freeman, American football player
Deaths on February 24
- 616 – Æthelberht of Kent (b. 560)
- 951 – Liu Yun, Chinese governor (jiedushi)
- 1018 – Borrell, bishop of Vic
- 1114 – Thomas, archbishop of York
- 1386 – Charles III of Naples (b. 1345)
- 1496 – Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1445)
- 1525 – Jacques de La Palice, French nobleman and military officer (b. 1470)
- 1525 – Guillaume Gouffier, seigneur de Bonnivet, French soldier (b. c. 1488)
- 1525 – Richard de la Pole, last Yorkist claimant to the English throne (b. 1480)
- 1563 – Francis, Duke of Guise (b. 1519)
- 1580 – Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel, English nobleman (b. 1511)
- 1588 – Johann Weyer, Dutch physician and occultist (b. 1515)
- 1666 – Nicholas Lanier, English composer and painter (b. 1588)
- 1685 – Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland (b. 1629)
- 1704 – Marc-Antoine Charpentier, French composer (b. 1643)
- 1714 – Edmund Andros, English courtier and politician, 4th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1637)
- 1721 – John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, English poet and politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1648)
- 1732 – Francis Charteris, Scottish soldier (b. 1675)
- 1777 – Joseph I of Portugal (b. 1714)
- 1785 – Carlo Buonaparte, Corsican lawyer and politician (b. 1746)
- 1799 – Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, German physicist and academic (b. 1742)
- 1810 – Henry Cavendish, French-English physicist and chemist (b. 1731)
- 1812 – Étienne-Louis Malus, French physicist and mathematician (b. 1775)
- 1815 – Robert Fulton, American engineer (b. 1765)
- 1825 – Thomas Bowdler, English physician and philanthropist (b. 1754)
- 1856 – Nikolai Lobachevsky, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1792)
- 1876 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts, American-Liberian politician, 1st President of Liberia (b. 1809)
- 1879 – Shiranui Kōemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 11th Yokozuna (b. 1825)
- 1910 – Osman Hamdi Bey, Greek archaeologist and painter (b. 1842)
- 1914 – Joshua Chamberlain, American general and politician, 32nd Governor of Maine (b. 1828)
- 1925 – Hjalmar Branting, Swedish journalist and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Sweden, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1860)
- 1927 – Edward Marshall Hall, English lawyer and politician (b. 1858)
- 1929 – André Messager, French pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1853)
- 1930 – Hermann von Ihering, German-Brazilian zoologist (b. 1850)
- 1953 – Robert La Follette Jr., American politician, senator of Wisconsin (b. 1895)
- 1953 – Gerd von Rundstedt, German field marshal (b. 1875)
- 1967 – Mir Osman Ali Khan, Last Nizam of Hyderabad State (b. 1886)
- 1970 – Conrad Nagel, American actor (b. 1897)
- 1974 – Margaret Leech, American historian and author (b. 1895)
- 1975 – Hans Bellmer, German artist (b. 1902)
- 1975 – Nikolai Bulganin, Russian marshal and politician, 6th Premier of the Soviet Union (b. 1895)
- 1978 – Alma Thomas, American painter and educator (b.1891)
- 1982 – Virginia Bruce, American actress (b. 1910)
- 1986 – Rukmini Devi Arundale, Indian Bharatnatyam dancer (b. 1904)
- 1986 – Tommy Douglas, Scottish-Canadian minister and politician, 7th Premier of Saskatchewan (b. 1904)
- 1990 – Tony Conigliaro, American baseball player (b. 1945)
- 1990 – Malcolm Forbes, American sergeant and publisher (b. 1917)
- 1990 – Sandro Pertini, Italian journalist and politician, 7th President of Italy (b. 1896)
- 1990 – Johnnie Ray, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1927)
- 1991 – John Daly, American journalist and game show host (b. 1914)
- 1991 – George Gobel, American actor (b. 1919)
- 1991 – Webb Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1921)
- 1993 – Danny Gallivan, Canadian sportscaster (b. 1917)
- 1993 – Bobby Moore, English footballer and manager (b. 1941)
- 1994 – Jean Sablon, French singer and actor (b. 1906)
- 1994 – Dinah Shore, American actress and singer (b. 1916)
- 1998 – Antonio Prohías, Cuban-American cartoonist (b. 1921)
- 1998 – Henny Youngman, English-American comedian and violinist (b. 1906)
- 1999 – Andre Dubus, American short story writer, essayist, and memoirist (b. 1936)
- 2001 – Theodore Marier, American composer and educator, founded the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School (b. 1912)
- 2001 – Claude Shannon, American mathematician, cryptographer, and engineer (b. 1916)
- 2002 – Leo Ornstein, Ukrainian-American pianist and composer (b. 1893)
- 2004 – John Randolph, American actor (b. 1915)
- 2005 – Coşkun Kırca, Turkish diplomat, journalist and politician (b. 1927)
- 2006 – Octavia E. Butler, American author and educator (b. 1947)
- 2006 – Don Knotts, American actor and comedian (b. 1924)
- 2006 – John Martin, Canadian broadcaster, co-founded MuchMusic (b. 1947)
- 2006 – Dennis Weaver, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1924)
- 2007 – Bruce Bennett, American shot putter and actor (b. 1906)
- 2007 – Damien Nash, American football player (b. 1982)
- 2008 – Larry Norman, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1947)
- 2010 – Dawn Brancheau, senior animal trainer at SeaWorld (b. 1969)
- 2011 – Anant Pai, Indian author and illustrator (b. 1929)
- 2012 – Agnes Allen, American baseball player and therapist (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Oliver Wrong, English nephrologist and academic (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Virgil Johnson, American singer (b. 1935)
- 2013 – Con Martin, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Franny Beecher, American guitarist (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Alexis Hunter, New Zealand-English painter and photographer (b. 1948)
- 2014 – Carlos Páez Vilaró, Uruguayan painter and sculptor (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Harold Ramis, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1944)
- 2015 – Mefodiy, Ukrainian metropolitan (b. 1949)
- 2015 – Rakhat Aliyev, Kazakh politician and diplomat (b. 1962)
- 2016 – Peter Kenilorea, Solomon Islands politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands (b. 1943)
- 2016 – Nabil Maleh, Syrian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1936)
- 2016 – George C. Nichopoulos, American soldier and physician (b. 1927)
- 2018 – Sridevi, Indian actress (b. 1963)
- 2020 – Katherine Johnson, American physicist and mathematician (b. 1918)
Holidays and observances on February 24
- Christian feast day:
- Blessed Ascensión Nicol y Goñi
- Lindel Tsen and Paul Sasaki (Anglican Church of Canada)
- Modest (bishop of Trier)
- Sergius of Cappadocia
- February 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Dragobete (Romania)
- Engineer’s Day (Iran)
- Flag Day in Mexico
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Estonia from the Russian Empire in 1918; the Soviet period is considered to have been an illegal annexation.
- National Artist Day (Thailand)
