About the day » Friday May 24, 1940Calender converter

• Magdalena Apollonia de Bakker, Amsterdam († 2009)
• Jacobus Hendrikus van Hal, Angerlo († 2015)
• Jeannine Hoeben, Antwerpen († 1997)
• David Gene Nieuwenhuis, Hospers, Sioux County, Iowa († 2016)
• Margarita Mary "Rita" Lyons, Windsor, Essex, Ontario, Canada († 2010)
• Anna Elisabeth Maria Francisca van Laarhoven, Eindhoven († 2007)
• Gezinus Veld, Hoogeveen, Drenthe, Nederland († 1941)
• Jan Veneberg, Hardenberg, Overijssel, Nederland († 2014)
• DOODGEBOREN ZOON VAN DER WINDT, VLAARDINGEN († 1940)
• Pierweijer, Enschede, Overijssel, Nederland († 1940)

• Antje Harmens Brander (61)
• Adriana Maria van Wissen (59), Voorburg
• Albertus Anthony Oostenbrink (74), Heemse
• Adriaan Hoeven van der, 's Hertogenbosch
• Albert Dujardin (29), Deinze (O-VL) België
• ALBERTUS ANTHONIE OOSTENBRINK (74), HEEMSE
• Alexander Hubertus Heldens (58), Mierlo
• Ansje Kok (72), Alkmaar
• Alexander Willem Ernst Bernhard Vrijheer van Humboldt-Dachröden (53), Berlijn
• Anna Maria van der Stelt (50), Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Nederland

• 1937 » Archie Shepp, American saxophonist and composer
• 1937 » Maryvonne Dupureur, French runner and educator († 2008)
• 1938 » Prince Buster, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer († 2016)
• 1938 » Tommy Chong, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1940 » Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and essayist, Nobel Prize laureate († 1996)
• 1941 » Bob Dylan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, artist, writer, and producer; Nobel Prize laureate
• 1941 » Patricia Hollis, Baroness Hollis of Heigham, English academic and politician
• 1942 » Ali Bacher, South African cricketer and manager
• 1942 » Hannu Mikkola, Finnish race car driver
• 1942 » Ichirō Ozawa, Japanese lawyer and politician, Japanese Minister of Home Affairs

• 1929 » Nikolai von Meck, Russian engineer (b. 1863)
• 1941 » Lancelot Holland, English admiral (b. 1887)
• 1945 » Robert Ritter von Greim, German field marshal and pilot (b. 1892)
• 1948 » Jacques Feyder, Belgian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
• 1949 » Alexey Shchusev, Russian architect, designed Lenin's Mausoleum and Moscow Kazanskaya railway station (b. 1873)
• 1950 » Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, English field marshal and politician, 43rd Governor-General of India (b. 1883)
• 1951 » Thomas N. Heffron, American actor, director, screenwriter (b. 1872)
• 1956 » Martha Annie Whiteley, English chemist and mathematician (b. 1866)
• 1958 » Frank Rowe, Australian public servant (b. 1895)
• 1959 » John Foster Dulles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 52nd United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)

1. Jan
2. Johannes
3. Cornelis
4. Hendrik
5. Willem
6. Gerrit
7. Pieter
8. Jacob
9. Adrianus
10. Robert
11. Petrus
12. Jacobus
13. Wilhelmus
14. Gerardus
15. Dirk
16. Arie

1. Maria
2. Johanna
3. Anna
4. Cornelia
5. Elisabeth
6. Wilhelmina
7. Hendrika
8. Adriana
9. Catharina
10. Petronella
11. Geertruida
12. Jacoba
13. Annie
14. Margaretha
15. Marie
16. Helena

• Koningin Wilhelmina (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1890 till 1948 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from August 10, 1939 to September 3, 1940 the cabinet De Geer II, with Jonkheer mr. D.J. de Geer (CHU) as prime minister.
• In The Netherlands , there was from September 3, 1940 to July 27, 1941 the cabinet Gerbrandy I, with Prof. dr. P.S. Gerbrandy (ARP) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 8.8 million citizens.
• March 12 » Winter War: Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia.
• March 18 » World War II: Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
• September 27 » World War II: The Tripartite Pact is signed in Berlin by Germany, Japan and Italy.
• October 17 » The body of Communist propagandist Willi Münzenberg found in South France, starting a never-resolved mystery.
• November 7 » In Tacoma, Washington, the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapses in a windstorm, a mere four months after the bridge's completion.
• November 11 » World War II: The German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis captures top secret British mail from the Automedon, and sends it to Japan.

The temperature on May 24, 1940 was between 9.7 °C and 19.4 °C and averaged 14.6 °C. There was 0.4 mm of rain during 0.5 hours. There was 9.4 hours of sunshine (58%). The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the west.