24th of June

Today is the 175th day of the year, with only 190 days remaining until the end of the year.

109 - Roman Emperor Trajan inaugurates the Aqua Traiana, an aqueduct that channels water from Lake Bracciano, 25 miles north-west of Rome.

1314 - The Battle of Bannockburn concludes with a decisive victory by Scottish forces led by Robert the Bruce, though England did not recognize the Scottish independence until 14 years later, with the signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton.

1374 - A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion.

1497 - John Cabot lands in North America at Newfoundland, leading the first European exploration of the region since the Vikings.

1916 - Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to sign a million dollar contract.

1916 - The Battle of the Somme begins with a week-long artillery bombardment on the German Lines.

1938 - Pieces of a meteor, estimated to have weight 450 metric tons when it hit the Earth's atmosphere, land near Chicora, Pennsylvania.

1947 - Kenneth Arnold makes the first widely reported UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington.

1957 - In Roth VS. United States, the Supreme Court rules that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment.

1982 - Known as the Jakarta Incident, British Airways Flight 9 flies into a cloud of volcanic ash thrown up by the eruption of Mount Galunggung, resulting in the failure of all four engines.

1985 - STS-51-G Space Shuttle Discovery completes its mission, best remembered for having Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and Muslim in space, as Payload Specialist.