What happened on 24 February?

14 events from the Ever-When timeline, ranked by how much they mattered.

1. 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Russia's full-scale invasion, escalating the war it began in 2014, becomes the largest conventional war in Europe since 1945; reshapes European defence and energy policy.
2. 1500 Born: Charles V (Holy Roman Emperor) Ruler of an empire 'on which the sun never set' before Spain split from Austria.
3. 1848 Second French Republic Short-lived republic that elects Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte president and ends in his coup.
4. 1607 Monteverdi's L'Orfeo Court opera premiered at Mantua; one of the earliest works of the Baroque opera tradition; reshapes Western music.
5. 1871 Darwin's The Descent of Man Darwin applies evolution to humanity: our descent from earlier primates, and sexual selection as a force shaping differences between the sexes and peoples.
6. 1525 Battle of Pavia Francis I is captured by Charles V's forces, a crushing blow to France's Italian ambitions.
7. 1991 The 100-hour ground war After 38 days of bombing, the coalition's left hook sweeps through the desert around the Iraqi army while Marines drive into Kuwait — and the fourth-largest army in the world colla
8. 1955 Born: Steve Jobs Apple co-founder who shaped the personal computer, the iPod and the iPhone.
9. 1739 Battle of Karnal Nadir Shah's Persian forces destroy a Mughal army.
10. 1876 Grieg's Peer Gynt Incidental music written for Ibsen's play; includes the universally recognised Morning Mood and In the Hall of the Mountain King.
11. 2022 Siege of Mariupol A devastating siege ending with the fall of the Azovstal steelworks; the city is largely destroyed.
12. 1966 Nkrumah overthrown While Nkrumah is on a peace mission to Hanoi, the army and police seize power in Accra; he never returns to Ghana.
13. 1711 Handel's Rinaldo The first Italian opera written for the London stage, with real sparrows released in the garden scene — a sensation that makes Handel's English career.
14. 1389 Battle of Åsle Near Falköping, Margaret's army routs and captures the German-born King Albert of Sweden, delivering Sweden to her and clearing the way for the Kalmar Union.