Fourteen years after his father (Charles I) was executed, Charles II awarded a royal charter to eight noblemen who supported his ascension to the throne in the period known as the Stuart Restoration. This royal charter or Carolina Charter of 1663 was granted on March 24th of that year. The eight noblemen or Lords Proprietors received lands in the Province of Carolina which included lands in the present day states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Harry Houdini was born on March 24, 1874.
Image: Harry Houdini with his wife Beatrice and mother Cecilia Steiner Weiss in 1907 via Library of Congress
No known restrictions
Born March 24, 1944 in Emporia, Kansas, R. Lee Ermey’s 12 years of service in the US Marine Corps brought authenticity to many of his roles in films and on television. A Vietnam veteran, Gunny made numerous visits to American service men and women worldwide. He’s shown (right) in 2005 aboard the USS Belleau Wood.
Image from USN via Wikimedia Commons, public domain in the US.
On March 24, 1958 Elvis Presley was inducted into the U.S. Army.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
“Smithsonian rebuilding gigantic animal. Washington, D.C., March 24. One of the largest animals which ever walked the earth has been discovered and is being rebuilt by the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Charles Gilmor, Paleontologist, found in western Utah the bones of a Sauropod,-a species of the dinosaurs which ruled the earth 80,000,000 to 150,000,000 years ago. Dr. Gilmore is pictured fitting the 32-foot tail of the monster together, 3/24/1938”
Image via LOC, no known restrictions
Signer of The United States Constitution Rufus King was born on March 24, 1755 in Scarborough, Massachusetts (now Maine.)
During the American Revolution, Rufus in his early twenties, wrote letters to his brother-in-law and one included the following:
“But America spurns the production of the petty tyrant, and treating it with deserved contempt,
stands firm upon the pillars of liberty, immoveable as Heaven and determined as fate. One kindred spirit catches from man to man. . . . The Continental Congress are unanimous and determined. They have voted to raise 70,000 men and three millions of money.”
From: The life and correspondence of Rufus King; comprising his letters, private and official, his public documents, and his speeches
https://archive.org/details/lifecorrrufus01kingrich/page/8/mode/1up
Source says not in copyright
Image via NYPL Digital Collections, no known restrictions
The Hill Top
– 1914
Painted by American artist Frank Weston Benson who was born on March 24, 1862 in Salem, Massachusetts
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
New York City’s Mayor, Robert Anderson Van Wyck, broke ground on a new underground mass transit rail system on March 24, 1900.
Image of City Hall subway station, New York c. 1900-1904 from LOC via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
American Civil War Veteran John Wesley Powell was born on March 24, 1834 in Mount Morris, New York.
During the Battle of Shiloh he lost most of his right arm.
After the Civil War his fascination with science and geology grew and he led a number of expeditions in the American West including the Grand Canyon.
Image c. 1896 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
A publicity photo of Ben Gazzara, renowned actor and member of the original cast of Tennessee Williams’ Broadway masterpiece “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” which debuted on March 24, 1955. Gazzara later captivated audiences as the villain Brad Wesley in the 1989 cult classic film “Road House”.
Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
A President in Peril: Washington’s Shipwreck on the Severn
On March 24, 1791, President George Washington’s “Southern Tour” nearly ended in disaster before it truly began. While crossing the Chesapeake Bay from Rock Hall to Annapolis, Washington’s ferry was caught in a violent midnight storm.
As “tremendous thunder and lightning” battered the vessel, the crew lost their way and ran the boat aground twice. The President was forced to spend a perilous night on the water, later writing in his diary:
“I laid down in my Cloaths (Boots &all) in a birth too short for me, and otherwise extremely uncomfortable.”
He didn’t touch dry land until the following morning, much to the relief of the Governor and the citizens of Annapolis, who had spent the night in “great uneasiness” fearing for the President’s life.
That legendary opening of
The Godfather, which premiered nationwide on March 24, 1972, owes its most iconic image to a stroke of morning improvisation. The cat Marlon Brando cradles wasn’t in the script; Francis Ford Coppola found the stray wandering the Paramount lot and placed it in Brando’s arms moments before filming. The animal was so content that its deep, steady purring actually muffled Brando’s dialogue, sounding like a “lawnmower” to the sound engineers and forcing them to muffle the audio in post-production. This unplanned addition, combined with the custom dental plumpers Brando wore to create the Don’s sagging, bulldog-like jaw, transformed a simple scene into a masterclass of character-building that defined cinema history.
Alice Roosevelt was a national sensation when photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston captured this profile on March 24, 1902. Known in the press as “Princess Alice,” the President’s eldest daughter had already become a Washington fascination for her wit, style, and unguarded confidence. This early portrait, taken during her father’s first term, reflects the composed elegance and public magnetism that made her one of the most closely watched young women in American political life.
