On This Day for June 24 - Russia invaded by Napoleon and his Grand Army, Jack Dempsey is featured, and more

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, click here to view. June 24 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Jack Dempsey READ MORE   FEATURED EVENT 1812 Russia invaded by Napoleon and his Grand Army READ MORE   Advertisement Advertisement   MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2010: Australian politician Julia Gillard was sworn in as Australia's first female prime minister. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Australia.] 1987: Football (soccer) player Lionel Messi, one of the game's premier players, was born in Argentina. [Take our quiz about all things football.] 1948: The Berlin blockade intensified when the Soviet Union announced that the Western Allied powers no longer had any rights in Berlin. [ Watch an overview of the Soviet Union's blockade of West Berlin.] 1932: The Promoters Revolution, a bloodless coup, overthrew Prajadhipok, the king of Thailand, ending the absolute monarchy in that country and initiating the so-called Constitutional Era. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Thailand.] 1859: The Battle of Solferino, the last engagement of the second War of Italian Independence, was fought in Lombardy. [ Match the battle with the war in our quiz.] 1821: South American patriots under Simón Bolívar defeated Spanish royalists on the plains near Caracas, Venezuela, in the Battle of Carabobo. [ Test your knowledge of Latin American history.] SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1987 Lionel Messi Argentine-born football player 1979 Mindy Kaling American actress, comedian, and author 1895 Jack Dempsey American boxer 1842 Ambrose Bierce American author 1532 Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester English noble 1542 St. John of the Cross Spanish mystic SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY   Advertisement   FOLLOW: To unsubscribe from Britannica e-mails, click here. Encyclopædia Britannica 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 United States © 2021 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Privacy Policy • Help