March 24th is the 365th and last day of the year in many European implementations of the Julian calendar.
March 24 in History
- 1199 – King Richard I of England is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting in France, leading to his death on April 6.
- 1387 – English victory over a Franco-Castilian-Flemish fleet in the Battle of Margate off the coast of Margate.
- 1401 – Turco-Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus.
- 1603 – James VI of Scotland is proclaimed King James I of England and Ireland, upon the death of Elizabeth I.
- 1603 – Tokugawa Ieyasu is granted the title of shōgun from Emperor Go-Yōzei, and establishes the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo, Japan.
- 1663 – The Province of Carolina is granted by charter to eight Lords Proprietor in reward for their assistance in restoring Charles II of England to the throne.
- 1720 – Count Frederick of Hesse-Kassel is elected King of Sweden by the Riksdag of the Estates, after his consort Ulrika Eleonora abdicated the throne on 29 February
- 1721 – Johann Sebastian Bach dedicated six concertos to Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt, now commonly called the Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046–1051.
- 1731 – Naturalization of Hieronimus de Salis Parliamentary Act is passed.
- 1765 – Great Britain passes the Quartering Act, which requires the Thirteen Colonies to house British troops.
- 1794 – In Kraków, Tadeusz Kościuszko announces a general uprising against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia, and assumes the powers of the Commander in Chief of all of the Polish forces.
- 1829 – The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, allowing Catholics to serve in Parliament.
- 1832 – In Hiram, Ohio, a group of men beat and tar and feather Mormon leader Joseph Smith.
- 1854 – President José Gregorio Monagas abolishes slavery in Venezuela.
- 1860 – Sakuradamon Incident: Assassination of Japanese Chief Minister (Tairō) Ii Naosuke.
- 1869 – The last of Titokowaru’s forces surrendered to the New Zealand government, ending his uprising.
- 1878 – The British frigate HMS Eurydice sinks, killing more than 300.
- 1882 – Robert Koch announces the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis.
- 1885 – Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Bang Bo on the Tonkin–Guangxi border.
- 1900 – Mayor of New York City Robert Anderson Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground “Rapid Transit Railroad” that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.
- 1907 – The first issue of the Georgian Bolshevik newspaper Dro is published.
- 1921 – The 1921 Women’s Olympiad begins in Monte Carlo, first international women’s sports event.
- 1927 – Nanking Incident: Foreign warships bombard Nanjing, China, in defense of the foreign citizens within the city.
- 1934 – United States Congress passes the Tydings–McDuffie Act, allowing the Philippines to become a self-governing commonwealth.
- 1944 – Ardeatine massacre: German troops murder 335 Italian civilians in Rome.
- 1944 – World War II: In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 Allied prisoners of war begin breaking out of the German camp Stalag Luft III.
- 1946 – A British Cabinet Mission arrives in India to discuss and plan for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership.
- 1958 – Rock ‘n’ roll teen idol Elvis Presley is drafted in the U.S. Army.
- 1961 – Quebec Board of the French Language is established.
- 1965 – Images from the Ranger 9 lunar probe are broadcast live on network television.
- 1973 – Kenyan athlete Kip Keino defeats Jim Ryun at the first-ever professional track meet in Los Angeles.
- 1976 – In Argentina, the armed forces overthrow the constitutional government of President Isabel Perón and start a 7-year dictatorial period self-styled the National Reorganization Process.
- 1977 – Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister of India, the first Prime Minister not to belong to Indian National Congress.
- 1980 – El Salvadorian Archbishop Óscar Romero is assassinated while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.
- 1986 – The Loscoe gas explosion leads to new UK laws on landfill gas migration and gas protection on landfill sites.
- 1989 – In Prince William Sound in Alaska, the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (38,000 m3) of crude oil after running aground.
- 1993 – Discovery of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9.
- 1998 – Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden, aged 11 and 13 respectively, fire upon teachers and students at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas; five people are killed and ten are wounded.
- 1998 – A tornado sweeps through Dantan in India, killing 250 people and injuring 3,000 others.
- 1998 – First computer-assisted Bone Segment Navigation, performed at the University of Regensburg, Germany
- 1999 – Kosovo war: NATO began attacks on Yugoslavia without United Nations Security Council (UNSC) approval, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.
- 1999 – A lorry carrying margarine and flour catches fire inside the Mont Blanc Tunnel. The resulting inferno kills 38 people.
- 2003 – The Arab League votes 21–1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of U.S. and British soldiers from Iraq.
- 2008 – Bhutan officially becomes a democracy, with its first ever general election.
- 2015 – Germanwings Flight 9525 crashes in the French Alps in an apparent pilot mass murder-suicide, killing all 150 people on board.
Births on March 24
- 1103 – Yue Fei, Chinese military general (d. 1142)
- 1441 – Ernest, Elector of Saxony, German ruler of Saxony (d. 1486)
- 1494 – Georgius Agricola, German mineralogist and scholar (d. 1555)
- 1577 – Francis, Duke of Pomerania-Stettin, Bishop of Cammin (d. 1620)
- 1607 – Michiel de Ruyter, Dutch admiral (d. 1667)
- 1628 – Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1685)
- 1657 – Arai Hakuseki, Japanese academic and politician (d. 1725)
- 1693 – John Harrison, English carpenter and clock-maker, invented the Marine chronometer (d. 1776)
- 1725 – Samuel Ashe, American lawyer and politician, 9th Governor of North Carolina (d. 1813)
- 1725 – Thomas Cushing, American lawyer and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1788)
- 1755 – Rufus King, American lawyer and politician, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (d. 1827)
- 1762 – Marcos Portugal, Portuguese organist and composer (d. 1830)
- 1775 – Muthuswami Dikshitar, Indian poet and composer (d. 1835)
- 1782 – Orest Kiprensky, Russian-Italian painter (d. 1836)
- 1796 – Zulma Carraud, French author (d. 1889)
- 1796 – John Corry Wilson Daly, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1878)
- 1803 – Egerton Ryerson, Canadian minister, educator, and politician (d. 1882)
- 1808 – Maria Malibran, Spanish-French soprano (d. 1836)
- 1809 – Mariano José de Larra, Spanish journalist and author (d. 1837)
- 1809 – Joseph Liouville, French mathematician and academic (d. 1882)
- 1816 – Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos, Roman Catholic archbishop and Mexican politician who served as regent during the Second Mexican Empire (1863-1864) (d. 1891)
- 1820 – Edmond Becquerel, French physicist and academic (d. 1891)
- 1820 – Fanny Crosby, American poet and composer (d. 1915)
- 1823 – Thomas Spencer Baynes, English philosopher and critic (d. 1887)
- 1826 – Matilda Joslyn Gage, American activist and author (d. 1898)
- 1828 – Horace Gray, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1902)
- 1829 – George Francis Train, American businessman (d. 1904)
- 1829 – Ignacio Zaragoza, Mexican general (d. 1862)
- 1830 – Robert Hamerling, Austrian poet and playwright (d. 1889)
- 1834 – William Morris, English textile designer, poet, and author (d. 1896)
- 1834 – John Wesley Powell, American soldier, geologist, and explorer (d. 1902)
- 1835 – Joseph Stefan, Austrian physicist, mathematician, and poet (d. 1893)
- 1848 – Honoré Beaugrand, Canadian journalist and politician, 18th Mayor of Montreal (d. 1906)
- 1850 – Silas Hocking, English minister and author (d. 1935)
- 1854 – Henry Lefroy, Australian politician, 11th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1930)
- 1855 – Andrew W. Mellon, American banker, financier, and diplomat, 49th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1937)
- 1855 – Olive Schreiner, South African author and activist (d. 1920)
- 1862 – Frank Weston Benson, American painter and educator (d. 1951)
- 1869 – Émile Fabre, French author and playwright (d. 1955)
- 1871 – Alec Hurley, English music hall singer (d. 1913)
- 1874 – Luigi Einaudi, Italian economist and politician, 2nd President of the Italian Republic (d. 1961)
- 1874 – Harry Houdini, Hungarian-Jewish American magician and actor (d. 1926)
- 1875 – William Burns, Canadian lacrosse player (d. 1953)
- 1879 – Neyzen Tevfik, Turkish philosopher, poet, and composer (d. 1953)
- 1882 – Marcel Lalu, French gymnast (d. 1951)
- 1882 – George Monckton-Arundell, 8th Viscount Galway, English politician, 5th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1943)
- 1883 – Dorothy Campbell, Scottish-American golfer (d. 1945)
- 1884 – Peter Debye, Dutch-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1966)
- 1884 – Chika Kuroda, Japanese chemist (d. 1968)
- 1884 – Eugène Tisserant, French cardinal (d. 1972)
- 1885 – Charles Daniels, American swimmer (d. 1973)
- 1885 – Dimitrie Cuclin, Romanian violinist and composer (d. 1978)
- 1886 – Edward Weston, American photographer (d. 1958)
- 1886 – Robert Mallet-Stevens, French architect and designer (d. 1945)
- 1887 – Roscoe Arbuckle, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1933)
- 1888 – Viktor Kingissepp, Estonian politician (d. 1922)
- 1889 – Albert Hill, English-Canadian runner (d. 1969)
- 1890 – Agnes Macphail, Canadian educator and politician (d. 1954)
- 1891 – Sergey Ivanovich Vavilov, Russian physicist and academic (d. 1951)
- 1892 – Marston Morse, American mathematician and academic (d. 1977)
- 1893 – Walter Baade, German astronomer and author (d. 1960)
- 1893 – George Sisler, American baseball player and scout (d. 1973)
- 1897 – Wilhelm Reich, Austrian-American psychotherapist and academic (d. 1957)
- 1901 – Ub Iwerks, American animator, director, and producer, co-created Mickey Mouse (d. 1971)
- 1902 – Thomas E. Dewey, American lawyer and politician, 47th Governor of New York (d. 1971)
- 1903 – Adolf Butenandt, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
- 1903 – Malcolm Muggeridge, English journalist, author, and scholar (d. 1990)
- 1905 – Pura Santillan-Castrence, Filipino author and diplomat (d. 2007)
- 1907 – Paul Sauvé, Canadian lawyer and politician, 17th Premier of Quebec (d. 1960)
- 1909 – Clyde Barrow, American criminal (d. 1934)
- 1909 – Richard Wurmbrand, Romanian Pastor and Evangelist (d. 2001)
- 1910 – Richard Conte, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1975)
- 1911 – Joseph Barbera, American animator, director, and producer, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (d. 2006)
- 1912 – Dorothy Height, African-American educator and activist (d. 2010)
- 1915 – Eugène Martin, French racing driver (d. 2006)
- 1916 – Donald Hamilton, Swedish-American soldier and author (d. 2006)
- 1916 – Harry B. Whittington, English palaeontologist and academic (d. 2010)
- 1917 – John Kendrew, English biochemist and crystallographer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997)
- 1919 – Lawrence Ferlinghetti, American poet and publisher, co-founded City Lights Bookstore
- 1919 – Robert Heilbroner, American economist and historian (d. 2005)
- 1920 – Gene Nelson, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1996)
- 1920 – Mary Stolz, American author (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Vasily Smyslov, Russian chess player (d. 2010)
- 1922 – Onna White, Canadian dancer and choreographer (d. 2005)
- 1923 – Murray Hamilton, American actor (d. 1986)
- 1923 – Michael Legat, English author and publisher (d. 2011)
- 1924 – Norman Fell, American actor (d. 1998)
- 1925 – Puig Aubert, German-French rugby league player and coach (d. 1994)
- 1926 – Desmond Connell, Irish cardinal (d. 2017)
- 1926 – Dario Fo, Italian playwright, actor, director, and composer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
- 1926 – William Porter, American hurdler (d. 2000)
- 1927 – John Woodland Hastings, American biochemist and academic (d. 2014)
- 1927 – Martin Walser, German author and playwright
- 1928 – Byron Janis, American pianist and composer
- 1929 – Pat Renella, Italian-American actor (d. 2012)
- 1930 – David Dacko, Central African politician, 1st President of the Central African Republic (d. 2003)
- 1930 – Steve McQueen, American actor and producer (d. 1980)
- 1931 – Hanno Drechsler, German educator and politician, Mayor of Marburg (d. 2003)
- 1933 – Stephen De Staebler, American sculptor and educator (d. 2011)
- 1933 – Lee Mendelson, American television producer (d. 2019)
- 1936 – Don Covay, American singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
- 1936 – Alex Olmedo, Peruvian-American tennis player
- 1937 – Billy Stewart, American singer and pianist (d. 1970)
- 1938 – David Irving, English historian and author
- 1940 – Bob Mackie, American fashion designer
- 1941 – Michael Masser, American songwriter, composer and producer (d. 2015)
- 1944 – R. Lee Ermey, American sergeant and actor (d. 2018)
- 1944 – Vojislav Koštunica, Serbian academic and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Serbia
- 1945 – Robert T. Bakker, American paleontologist and academic
- 1945 – Curtis Hanson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
- 1945 – Patrick Malahide, English actor and screenwriter
- 1946 – Klaus Dinger, German guitarist and songwriter (d. 2008)
- 1946 – Kitty O’Neil, American stuntwoman (d. 2018)
- 1947 – Dennis Erickson, American football player and coach
- 1947 – Christine Gregoire, American lawyer and politician, 22nd Governor of Washington
- 1947 – Mick Jones, English footballer and coach
- 1947 – Alan Sugar, English businessman
- 1948 – Javier Diez Canseco, Peruvian sociologist and politician (d. 2013)
- 1948 – Jerzy Kukuczka, Polish mountaineer (d. 1989)
- 1948 – Lee Oskar, Jewish-Danish musician
- 1949 – Tabitha King, American author and poet
- 1949 – Ruud Krol, Dutch footballer and coach
- 1949 – Steve Lang, Canadian bass player (April Wine) (d. 2017)
- 1949 – Nick Lowe, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
- 1949 – Ali Akbar Salehi, Iranian academic and politician, 36th Foreign Affairs Minister of Iran
- 1949 – Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
- 1950 – Gary Wichard, American football player and agent (d. 2011)
- 1951 – Peter Boyle, Scottish-Australian footballer and manager (d. 2013)
- 1951 – Pat Bradley, American golfer
- 1951 – Tommy Hilfiger, American fashion designer, founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation
- 1951 – Dougie Thomson, Scottish bass player
- 1951 – Anna Włodarczyk, Polish long jumper and coach
- 1952 – Greg McCrary, American football player (d. 2013)
- 1953 – Anita L. Allen, African-American lawyer, philosopher, and academic
- 1953 – Louie Anderson, American actor and comedian
- 1955 – Doug Jarvis, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1955 – Pat Price, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1956 – Steve Ballmer, American businessman
- 1956 – Bill Wray, American cartoonist and painter
- 1957 – Pierre Harvey, Canadian cyclist and skier
- 1957 – Pat Jarvis, Australian rugby league player
- 1958 – Mike Woodson, American basketball player and coach
- 1959 – Emmit King, American sprinter
- 1959 – Renaldo Nehemiah, American hurdler and football player
- 1959 – Derek Statham, English footballer
- 1960 – Jan Berglin, Swedish cartoonist
- 1960 – Barry Horowitz, American wrestler
- 1960 – Kelly Le Brock, English-American actress and model
- 1960 – Nena, German singer-songwriter and actress
- 1960 – Scott Pruett, American race car driver
- 1960 – Annabella Sciorra, American actress
- 1961 – Dean Jones, Australian cricketer and coach
- 1961 – Yanis Varoufakis, Greek economist and politician, Greek Minister of Finance
- 1962 – Angèle Dubeau, Canadian violinist
- 1962 – Star Jones, African-American lawyer, journalist, and talk show host
- 1962 – Irina Meszynski, German discus thrower
- 1963 – Raimond van der Gouw, Dutch footballer and coach
- 1963 – Vadym Tyshchenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 2015)
- 1963 – Torsten Voss, German decathlete and bobsledder
- 1965 – The Undertaker, American wrestler and actor
- 1966 – Floyd Heard, American sprinter and coach
- 1967 – Diann Roffe, American skier
- 1968 – Minarti Timur, Indonesian badminton player
- 1969 – Stephan Eberharter, Austrian skier
- 1970 – Lara Flynn Boyle, American actress
- 1970 – Sharon Corr, Irish singer-songwriter and violinist
- 1970 – Judith Draxler, Austrian swimmer
- 1970 – Erica Kennedy, African-American journalist and author (d. 2012)
- 1970 – Mike Vanderjagt, Canadian-American football player
- 1971 – Tig Notaro, American comedian and actor
- 1972 – Christophe Dugarry, French footballer
- 1972 – Steve Karsay, American baseball player and coach
- 1973 – Jacek Bąk, Polish footballer
- 1973 – Philippe Boucher, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1973 – Steve Corica, Australian footballer and coach
- 1973 – Jure Ivanušič, Slovenian actor, concert pianist and chansonnier
- 1973 – Mette Jacobsen, Danish swimmer
- 1973 – Glen Jakovich, Australian footballer
- 1973 – Jim Parsons, American actor
- 1974 – Alyson Hannigan, American actress
- 1974 – Sergey Klyugin, Russian high jumper
- 1974 – Tado, Filipino comedian and activist (d. 2014)
- 1975 – Thomas Johansson, Swedish-Monacan tennis player
- 1976 – Aaron Brooks, American football player
- 1976 – Aliou Cissé, Senegalese footballer and coach
- 1976 – Athanasios Kostoulas, Greek footballer
- 1976 – Peyton Manning, American football player and entrepreneur
- 1977 – Jessica Chastain, American actress
- 1977 – Maxim Kuznetsov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1977 – Darren Lockyer, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
- 1978 – Michael Braun, Australian footballer and coach
- 1978 – Tomáš Ujfaluši, Czech footballer and manager
- 1978 – José Valverde, Dominican baseball player
- 1979 – Lake Bell, Jewish-American actress, director, and screenwriter
- 1979 – Norris Hopper, American baseball player
- 1979 – Periklis Iakovakis, Greek hurdler
- 1979 – Graeme Swann, English cricketer
- 1980 – Tassos Venetis, Greek footballer
- 1981 – Mike Adams, American football player
- 1981 – Ron Hainsey, American ice hockey player
- 1981 – Dirk Hayhurst, American baseball player
- 1981 – Mark Looms, Dutch footballer
- 1981 – Gary Paffett, English racing driver
- 1982 – Corey Hart, American baseball player
- 1982 – Jack Swagger, American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler
- 1982 – Epico Colon, Puerto Rican professional wrestler
- 1982 – Jimmy Hempte, Belgian footballer
- 1982 – Dustin McGowan, American baseball player
- 1983 – Luca Ceccarelli, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Riccardo Musetti, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1983 – T.J. Ford, American basketball player
- 1984 – Benoît Assou-Ekotto, French born Cameroonian international footballer, left-back
- 1984 – Chris Bosh, American basketball player
- 1984 – Adrian D’Souza, Indian field hockey player
- 1984 – Lucy Wangui Kabuu, Kenyan runner
- 1984 – Park Bom, South Korean singer
- 1984 – Philipp Petzschner, German tennis player
- 1985 – Lana, American wrestler and manager
- 1985 – Haruka Ayase, Japanese actress and singer
- 1987 – Ramires, Brazilian footballer
- 1987 – Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladeshi cricketer
- 1987 – Billy Jones, English footballer
- 1987 – Yuma Asami, Japanese actress and singer
- 1988 – Aiga Grabuste, Latvian heptathlete
- 1988 – Ryan Higgins, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1988 – Matías Martínez, Argentinian footballer
- 1988 – Kardo Ploomipuu, Estonian swimmer
- 1988 – Matt Todd, New Zealand rugby union player
- 1990 – Starlin Castro, American baseball player
- 1990 – Aljur Abrenica, Filipino actor
- 1990 – Keisha Castle-Hughes, Australian-New Zealand actress
- 1990 – Lacey Evans, American wrestler
- 1991 – Nick Browne, English cricketer
- 1991 – Dalila Jakupovic, Slovenian tennis player
- 1995 – Enzo Fernandez, French-Spanish footballer
Deaths on March 24
- 809 – Harun al-Rashid, Arab caliph (b. 763)
- 832 – Wulfred, archbishop of Canterbury
- 1284 – Hugh III of Cyprus (b. 1235)
- 1296 – Odon de Pins, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller
- 1381 – Catherine of Vadstena, Swedish saint (b. 1332)
- 1394 – Constance of Castile, claimant to the throne of Castile
- 1396 – Walter Hilton, English mystic and saint (b. 1340)
- 1399 – Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk (b.c. 1320)
- 1443 – James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas (b. 1371)
- 1455 – Pope Nicholas V (b. 1397)
- 1499 – Edward Stafford, 2nd Earl of Wiltshire, English nobleman (b. 1470)
- 1563 – Hosokawa Harumoto, Japanese daimyō (b. 1514)
- 1575 – Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, Spanish-Portuguese rabbi and author (b. 1488)
- 1603 – Elizabeth I of England (b. 1533)
- 1653 – Samuel Scheidt, German organist and composer (b. 1587)
- 1684 – Pieter de Hooch, Dutch painter (b. 1629)
- 1684 – Elizabeth Ridgeway, English woman convicted of poisoning her husband
- 1773 – Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, English politician, Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard (b. 1694)
- 1776 – John Harrison, English carpenter and clockmaker, invented the Marine chronometer (b. 1693)
- 1824 – Louis Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux, French lawyer (b. 1753)
- 1838 – Abraham Hume, English floriculturist and Tory politician (b. 1748/49)
- 1869 – Antoine-Henri Jomini, French-Russian general (b. 1779)
- 1881 – Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse, French geologist and mineralogist (b. 1817)
- 1882 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet and educator (b. 1807)
- 1887 – Ivan Kramskoi, Russian painter and critic (b. 1837)
- 1888 – Vsevolod Garshin, Russian author (b. 1855)
- 1905 – Jules Verne, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1828)
- 1909 – John Millington Synge, Irish playwright and poet (b. 1871)
- 1915 – Margaret Lindsay Huggins, Anglo-Irish astronomer (b. 1848)
- 1915 – Karol Olszewski, Polish chemist, mathematician, and physicist (b. 1846)
- 1916 – Enrique Granados, Spanish pianist and composer (b. 1867)
- 1926 – Phan Châu Trinh, Vietnamese activist (b. 1872)
- 1940 – Édouard Branly, French physicist and academic (b. 1844)
- 1944 – Orde Wingate, Indian-English general (b. 1903)
- 1946 – Alexander Alekhine, Russian chess player (b. 1892)
- 1946 – Carl Schuhmann, German gymnast, shot putter, and jumper (b. 1869)
- 1948 – Sigrid Hjertén, Swedish painter and illustrator (b. 1885)
- 1950 – James Rudolph Garfield, American lawyer and politician, 23rd United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1865)
- 1951 – Lorna Hodgkinson, Australian educator and educational psychologist (b. 1887)
- 1953 – Mary of Teck (b. 1867)
- 1962 – Jean Goldkette, French-American pianist and bandleader (b. 1899)
- 1962 – Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist and explorer (b. 1884)
- 1968 – Alice Guy-Blaché, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1873)
- 1971 – Arne Jacobsen, Danish architect, designed the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel and Aarhus City Hall (b. 1902)
- 1971 – Arthur Metcalfe, Australian public servant (b. 1895)
- 1976 – Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, English field marshal (b. 1887)
- 1978 – Park Mok-wol, influential Korean poet and academic (b. 1916)
- 1980 – Óscar Romero, Salvadoran archbishop (b. 1917)
- 1984 – Sam Jaffe, American actor (b. 1891)
- 1985 – Raoul Ubac, French painter, sculptor, photographer and engraver (b. 1910)
- 1988 – Turhan Feyzioğlu, Turkish academic and politician, 27th Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1922)
- 1990 – Ray Goulding, American comedian and radio host (b. 1922)
- 1991 – John Kerr, Australian lawyer and politician, 18th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1914)
- 1993 – Albert Arlen, Australian pianist, composer, actor, and playwright (b. 1905)
- 1993 – John Hersey, American journalist and author (b. 1914)
- 1995 – Joseph Needham, English historian and academic (b. 1900)
- 1999 – Gertrud Scholtz-Klink, German politician (b. 1902)
- 1999 – Birdie Tebbetts, American baseball player and manager (b. 1912)
- 2001 – Muriel Young, English television host and producer (b. 1928)
- 2002 – César Milstein, Argentinian-English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1927)
- 2002 – Bob Said, American race car driver and bobsledder (b. 1932)
- 2003 – Hans Hermann Groër, Austrian cardinal (b. 1919)
- 2006 – Rudra Rajasingham, Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat (b. 1926)
- 2007 – Shripad Narayan Pendse, Indian Marathi novelist (b. 1913)
- 2008 – Chalmers Alford, American guitarist (b. 1955)
- 2008 – Neil Aspinall, Welsh-English record producer and manager (b. 1941)
- 2008 – Rafael Azcona, Spanish author and screenwriter (b. 1926)
- 2008 – Richard Widmark, American actor (b. 1914)
- 2009 – George Kell, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1922)
- 2009 – Hans Klenk, German racing driver (b. 1919)
- 2009 – Gábor Ocskay, Hungarian ice hockey player (b. 1975)
- 2010 – Robert Culp, American actor (b. 1930)
- 2010 – Jim Marshall, American photographer (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Paul Callaghan, New Zealand physicist and academic (b. 1947)
- 2012 – Nick Noble, American singer-songwriter (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Barbara Anderson, New Zealand author (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Inge Lønning, Norwegian theologian, academic, and politician (b. 1938)
- 2013 – Gury Marchuk, Russian physicist, mathematician, and academic (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Paolo Ponzo, Italian footballer (b. 1972)
- 2013 – Mohamed Yousri Salama, Egyptian dentist and politician (b. 1974)
- 2013 – Francis Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, 8th Baron Thurlow, English diplomat (b. 1912)
- 2014 – Oleksandr Muzychko, Ukrainian activist (b. 1962)
- 2014 – John Rowe Townsend, English author and scholar (b. 1922)
- 2014 – David A. Trampier, American illustrator (b. 1954)
- 2015 – Yehuda Avner, English-Israeli diplomat (b. 1928)
- 2015 – notable deaths of the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash:
- Oleg Bryjak, Kazakhstani-German opera singer (b. 1960)
- Maria Radner, German opera singer (b. 1981)
- 2016 – Johan Cruyff, Dutch footballer (b. 1947)
- 2016 – Garry Shandling, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1949)
- 2018 – Lys Assia, Swiss singer and First Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest (b. 1924)
- 2019 – Joseph Pilato, American film and voice actor (b.1949)
- 2020 – Albert Uderzo, French comic book artist (b. 1927)
Holidays and observances on March 24
- Christian feast day:
- Catherine of Vadstena
- Hildelith of Barking
- Mac Cairthinn of Clogher
- Óscar Romero (Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Lutheranism)
- Paul Couturier (Church of England)
- Walter Hilton (Church of England)
- March 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice (Argentina)
- National Tree Planting Day (Uganda)
- Student Day (Scientology)
- World Tuberculosis Day (International)
