What happened on February 24 in world history? Here are 4 events worth remembering: See them above in our 57-second video, and below for more details!
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The bounty on Salman Rushdie’s head
A major controversy surrounding Salman Rushdie’s novel “The Satanic Verses” led to an infamous bounty being placed on his life.
• In 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a fatwa calling for the death of Rushdie over his book, which was deemed blasphemous by many Muslims.
• The fatwa included a bounty of million, inciting widespread violence and protests across the world.
• The fatwa led to Rushdie spending years in hiding under police protection while the Iranian government supported the call for his assassination.
The announcement of the Gregorian calendar
Pope Gregory XIII’s decision to reform the Julian calendar changed the way the world measured time.
• The Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582 to correct inaccuracies in the Julian calendar, which had caused misalignment with the solar year.
• The change resulted in the skipping of 10 days in October 1582, with October 4 being directly followed by October 15.
• The Gregorian calendar became widely adopted across the world, replacing the Julian calendar and remains in use today.
The founding of the Nazi party
The Nazi Party’s formation was a key step in the rise of Adolf Hitler and the events that led to World War II.
• The National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or Nazi Party, was founded in Munich, Germany, in 1920 under the leadership of Anton Drexler.
• Adolf Hitler soon joined the party and became its most prominent leader, promoting extreme nationalist, racist, and anti-Semitic ideologies.
• The party’s rise to power in the 1930s led to the establishment of a totalitarian regime under Hitler, eventually causing the outbreak of World War II and the Holocaust.
Raul Castro becomes president of Cuba
Raul Castro’s rise to the presidency of Cuba marked the end of nearly half a century of leadership by his brother, Fidel.
• Following Fidel Castro’s illness and resignation, Raul Castro assumed the presidency of Cuba in 2008, after a long period of serving as his brother’s deputy.
• Raul continued many of Fidel’s policies but also introduced economic reforms, including the expansion of private businesses and the relaxation of some restrictions on Cubans.
• His leadership was seen as a shift toward a more pragmatic approach to governance, although Cuba maintained its socialist political system.
