June 24

Events

• 1522: The Turkish army invades the island of Rhodes.
• 1640: Former Patriarch of Constantinople, Cyril II, is executed in Tunisia.
• 1912: Four people die during a heatwave in Athens.
• 1920: The Greeks defeat Turkish forces at Alashehir during the first Greek offensive of the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)
• 1925: Officers loyal to Theodoros Pangalos stage a coup. For the next two years, Pangalos will rule Greece by decree.
• 1949: Prime Minister Themistoklis Sofoulis dies in office. He is succeeded by Alexandros Diomedes.
• 1991: A bomb explodes near the Archaeological Museum in Athens injuring six policemen.
• 2010: A bomb blast at the offices of Greece's public order ministry in Athens kills Giorgos Vassilakis, a 50-year-old father of two and a close aide to the minister responsible for counter-terrorism, Michalis Chryssohoidis.
• 2019: The trial of confessed serial killer Nicos Metaxas takes place in Cyprus. Metaxas pleads guilty to all the charges against him and is handed seven life sentences - the toughest punishment ever imposed by the Cypriot justice system.

Sports

• 1928: Aris defeat Ethnikos Piraeus 3-1 to clinch the first football championship in Greek history.
• 2009: Panathinaikos acquire striker Djibril Cisse from Olympique Marseille for 8 million euros.
• 2010: A nine-year era comes to a close as Otto Rehhagel announces his retirement from the position of head coach of the Greek National Football Team.
• 2011: Olympiakos owner and Super League president, Vangelis Marinakis, Greece international defender Avraam Papadopoulos and ex-Olympiakos footballer Kostas Mendrinos are among 70 suspects named in connection to match-fixing allegations by an Athens prosecutor.
• 2014: Greece defeat the Ivory Coast 2-1 and qualify for the World Cup round of 16.

Births

• 1869: Prince George of Greece, High Commissioner of Crete
• 1945: Nora Valsami, actress
• 1968: Alexandros Terzian, athlete (100m).
• 1977: Dimos Dikoudis, basketball player
• 1978: Pantelis Kafes, footballer

Deaths

• 1640: Cyril II, Patriarch of Constantinople
• 1835: Andreas Miaoulis, Greek revolutionary.
• 1920: Georgios Christakis-Zografos, head of the provisional government of Northern Epirus.
• 1949: Themistoklis Sofoulis, archaeologist, politician and Prime Minister