It happened today
On 24 March 1999, NATO launched Operation Allied Force, a campaign of air strikes against Serbia – still officially the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia – accused of carrying out an ethnic cleansing of the Kosovo Albanians. It was the second military action in the history of the Atlantic Alliance (after the 1995 operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina), as well as the first time that NATO attacked without the approval of the UN Security Council, which caused heated debates. The operation will end on June 10 of the same year, with the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops from the region. On 24 March 2016, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia sentenced the former Bosnian Serb leader to 40 years in prison Radovan Karadzic for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, committed during the Bosnian war. Among other things, he was found guilty of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which more than 8,000 Muslim civilians died. © REPRODUCTION RESERVED (of Luigi Gaetani)
Saint of the day
Catherine of Sweden, Swedish nun and daughter of Saint Bridget. Against her will, she was given in marriage at a young age and, in agreement with her husband, she took a vow of chastity. During a trip to Rome, she received the news of her husband’s death, following which she dedicated herself to the religious activity of Santa Brigida. She undertook long pilgrimages alongside her mother, during which, according to tradition, the two women overcame dangerous obstacles thanks to supernatural interventions. After her mother’s death in 1373, she entered the monastery of Vadstena, where she became abbess. Some stories attribute the miraculous rescue of Rome from a flood of the Tiber River to Catherine of Sweden. The episode is represented in a painting in the chapel dedicated to her in the house in Piazza Farnese.
Born of the day
Luigi Einaudi, 24 March 1874, politician, journalist and second President of the Italian Republic
Harry HoudiniMarch 24, 1874, Austro-Hungarian illusionist and actor
Joseph Barbera, March 24, 1911, American film and television director, producer
Dario Fo, March 24, 1926, playwright, actor and director
Steve McQueen, March 24, 1930, American actor and rally driver
Giulia Lazzarini, March 24, 1934, actress
Guglielmo Epifani, 24 March 1950, trade unionist and politician
Tommy Hilfiger, born March 24, 1951, American fashion designer
Vauro, 24 March 1955, cartoonist, writer and columnist
Enzo Decaro, March 24, 1958, actor, screenwriter and cabaret artist
Giorgio Gori, 24 March 1960, journalist, television producer and politician
Maria Luisa Busi, 24 March 1964, journalist and television presenter
Jessica Chastain, March 24, 1977, American actress and film producer, Academy Award for Best Actress 2022
Dead of the day
Elizabeth I, March 24, 1603, English queen
Jules Verne, March 24, 1905, French writer
Lilla BrignoneMarch 24, 1984, actress and voice actress
Johan Cruijff, 24 March 2016, Dutch footballer, coach and sports manager
Said Mariano, 24 March 2020, composer and lyricist