March 24: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

Five hundred and sixty people dressed as ghosts, to get a world record for the largest gathering of people dressed as ghosts.

This was achieved by Mercy School Mounthawk in Tralee, Ireland, to highlight the invisibility of arthritis.

Craig David was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador against tuberculosis (TB) by the World Health Organization.

The choice came after the singer sold more than 13 million albums worldwide to help fund the fight against TB.

The Office, created by Ricky Gervais in the UK, aired its first US season on NBC.

A truck carrying margarine and flour caught fire inside the Mont Blanc Tunnel.

Fire crews were unable to reach the transport truck as vehicles traveling through the tunnel became trapped. Thirty-nine people were killed. Significant changes were made to the tunnel to improve its safety after this.

Carolyn & Eugene Shoemaker and David Levy discovered the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet.

The trio discovered the comet using a rather run-of-the-mill Schmidt telescope while searching the skies for near-earth objects in California. The comet was particularly interesting because it was the first active comet seen orbiting a planet. Even more spectacular was the comet's collision with Jupiter the following year, as it was the first time in history we could directly observe two objects from the Solar System colliding.

The first Soul Train Music Awards took place in Santa Monica, California, US.

Winners included Janet Jackson, Run-DMC, Cameo, and Gregory Abbott.

Elvis Presley enlisted in the US army.

The world’s first international women’s sporting event began in Monaco.

The Women's Olympiad was a five-day multi-sport event in Monte Carlo at the International Sporting Club of Monaco. One hundred sportswomen from five nations participated in ten different sporting events.

The Rapid Transit Railroad broke ground on a new underground subway to link Manhattan and Brooklyn.

New York City Mayor Robert Anderson Van Wyck led the groundbreaking ceremony.

The first telephone call was made between New York and Chicago.

Dr. Robert Koch discovered Mycobacterium Tuberculosis which is bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB).

At this time in history, TB killed one in every seven people in the US & Europe, and Koch's find went on to help control the disease.

The Provincial Freeman Anti-slavery newspaper was first published in Ontario, Canada.

The publisher, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, became the first black female publisher in North America.

Black citizens were given the right to vote in Canada.

King James VI of Scotland was crowned King James I of England and Ireland.

James' mother was Mary, Queen of Scots, who gave up the Scottish throne to allow him to rule from the young age of thirteen months. James was also the great-great-grandson of King Henry VII, so when Elizabeth I died in 1603 with no rightful heirs, the throne of England and Ireland was left to James. When he became King James of England and Ireland, he remained as King of Scotland, uniting the three nations.