2024 facts for kids

2024 (MMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2024th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 24th year of the 3rd millennium, the 24th year of the 21st century, and the 5th year of the 2020s decade. So far, this year has witnessed the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war, and the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel. The continuation of the Israel–Hamas war has further caused spillover into many countries, including a crisis in the Red Sea impacting global shipping.

Approximately 79 countries, representing around four billion people, are expected to conduct national elections throughout the course of the year, including eight out of ten of the world's most populous countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, Pakistan, Russia, India, Mexico, Indonesia, the United States) and the United Kingdom. The European Parliament also held elections.

Events

January

• January 1
  • Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates become BRICS members.
  • The Republic of Artsakh is formally dissolved as Nagorno-Karabakh unifies with Azerbaijan.
  • A 7.5 Mww earthquake strikes the western coast of Japan, killing at least 244 people and injuring 1,297 others. A further five are killed the next day when a Coast Guard aircraft carrying humanitarian aid collides with a Japan Airlines passenger jet, destroying both aircraft. All 379 people aboard the passenger jet are evacuated safely.
  • Ethiopia announces an agreement with Somaliland to use the port of Berbera. Ethiopia also says that it will eventually recognize Somaliland's independence, becoming the first country to do so.
• January 2 – 2023 Marshallese general election: The Legislature of the Marshall Islands elects Hilda Heine as President for a second non-consecutive term during its first session following the general election.
• January 3 – 2024 Kerman bombings: An Islamic State double bombing kills 94 people during a memorial event commemorating the assassination of Qasem Soleimani in Kerman, Iran. The bombing was carried out using two briefcase bombs placed at the entrance that were detonated remotely.
• January 7 – 2024 Bangladeshi general election: The Awami League, led by incumbent Sheikh Hasina, wins a fourth consecutive term amid protests by opposition parties and a large drop in voter turnout.
• January 8 – 2024 conflict in Ecuador: Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declares a state of emergency following the escape of José Adolfo Macías Villamar from prison. The military was deployed onto the streets and into prisons, while setting a national nighttime curfew.
• January 11 – Riots break out throughout Papua New Guinea after an alleged rounding error causes pay cuts in police officers and soldiers.
• January 12 – Operation Prosperity Guardian: A U.S.-led coalition launches air strikes at Houthi militant locations in Yemen, marking a retaliation to the Houthis' attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
• January 13 – 2024 Taiwanese presidential election: Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party wins with 40% of the vote.
• January 14
  • Margrethe II formally abdicates as Queen of Denmark on the 52nd anniversary of her accession, with her eldest son Frederik succeeding her as King Frederik X.
  • 2024 Comorian presidential election: Amid an opposition boycott, incumbent president Azali Assoumani wins re-election with 62.9% of the vote and only 16.3% voter turnout.
• January 15 – Following a brief political crisis in the aftermath of the 2023 elections, Bernardo Arévalo is inaugurated as the 52nd President of Guatemala.
• January 16 – Iran carries out a series of missile and drone strikes within Pakistan's Balochistan province, claiming that it had targeted the Iranian Baloch militant group Jaish ul-Adl.
• January 18 – Pakistan conducts retaliatory airstrikes on Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province.
• January 19 – Japan becomes the fifth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, with its SLIM mission.
• January 24 – 2024 Korochansky Ilyushin Il-76 crash: A Russian Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane carrying (according to Russia) 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war, six crew members and three guards crashes in Russia's Korochansky District, near the Ukrainian border, killing everyone on board.
• January 26
  • Israel–Hamas war: The UN's International Court of Justice rules that Israel must take all measures to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza, but stops short of ordering an immediate halt to operations.
  • 2024 Tuvaluan general election: Kausea Natano, the incumbent Prime Minister of Tuvalu, loses reelection to Parliament. A month later, Feleti Teo was elected prime minister.
• January 31 – Sultan of Johor Ibrahim Iskandar ascends to the throne as the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.

February

• February 2 – The US launches airstrikes on 85 targets in Iraq and Syria in response to a deadly drone attack on a US military base.
• February 4
  • President of Namibia Hage Geingob dies at the age of 82, and is succeeded by his vice-president Nangolo Mbumba.
  • 2024 Salvadoran general election: Incumbent President Nayib Bukele wins the election with over 80% of the vote, becoming the first president to be reelected in El Salvador since 1944.
• February 6 – Former President of Chile Sebastián Piñera dies in a helicopter crash at the age of 74.
• February 7 – 2024 Azerbaijani presidential election: Amid an opposition boycott, President Ilham Aliyev is reelected to a fifth term.
• February 8 – 2024 Pakistani general election: Independent politicians, most of whom are members of the banned political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, win a plurality of seats in the National Assembly.
• February 11 – 2024 Finnish presidential election: In the closest presidential election in Finnish history, Alexander Stubb is elected president in the second round.
• February 14 – 2024 Indonesian general election: Prabowo Subianto wins the presidential election, and the Democratic Party of Struggle wins the most votes in the legislative election.
• February 22 – American company Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lander becomes the first commercial vehicle to land on the Moon.
• February 28 – 2024 Haitian jailbreak: A state of emergency is declared by the Haitian government after gangs storm two prisons and demand the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
• February 29 – Israel–Hamas war: Soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces open fire on a crowd of civilians in Gaza City, killing more than a hundred people, as the Palestinian casualties of the war exceed 30,000.

March

• March 7 – As the final Nordic country to join the alliance, Sweden officially joins NATO, becoming its 32nd member after Finland a year earlier.
• March 10 – 2024 Portuguese legislative election: The Democratic Alliance wins a plurality of seats and forms a minority government amid losses by the incumbent Socialist Party and major gains by the right-wing Chega party.
• March 11 – Haitian acting Prime Minister and President Ariel Henry announces his pending resignation from both offices amid an ongoing crisis marked by gang warfare in the country.
• March 13 – The Artificial Intelligence Act, the world's first comprehensive legal and regulatory framework for artificial intelligence, is passed by the European Union.
• March 15–17 – 2024 Russian presidential election: Incumbent Vladimir Putin is re-elected for a fifth term.
• March 22 – Islamic State-affiliated gunmen attack concertgoers at Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Russia, killing at least 145 people and injuring 551.
• March 24 – 2024 Senegalese presidential election: Bassirou Diomaye Faye is elected president after his party and its former candidate Ousmane Sonko were disqualified.
• March 25 – The UN Security Council passes a resolution calling for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza and demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
• March 26 – A container ship collides with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, causing a total collapse of the bridge and the deaths of six people.
• March 31 – Bulgaria and Romania become members of the Schengen Area through sea and air routes.

April

• April 1 – Israel attacks the Iranian embassy in Damascus, killing 16 people.
• April 3 – A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 strikes off the eastern coast of Taiwan, with small tsunamis reaching heights of 20–30 cm (7.9–11.8 in) hitting Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.
• April 4 – The 2024 Kuwaiti general election is held.
• April 5 – Ecuadorian police raid the Mexican embassy in Quito in order to arrest former vice-president Jorge Glas, who had been granted political asylum by Mexico. This action violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and Mexico and Nicaragua break off diplomatic relations with Ecuador.
• April 6 – Peter Pellegrini is elected President of Slovakia in the second round of the 2024 Slovak presidential election.
• April 8 – A total solar eclipse is visible across North America.
• April 9 – After Leo Varadkar handed in his resignation, Fine Gael leader Simon Harris becomes Ireland's youngest Taoiseach after a Dáil vote of 88–69 and being appointed by President Michael D. Higgins.
• April 10 – 2024 South Korean legislative election: The Democratic Party and Democratic Alliance wins 176 seats, while the People Power and People Future, to which President Yoon Suk Yeol belongs, wins only 108 seats.
• April 13 – Iran launches retaliatory strikes against Israel after an Israeli bombing of the Iranian embassy in Damascus earlier in the month.
• April 16 – 2024 Persian Gulf floods: At least 32 people are killed when heavy rainfall strikes the Middle East, causing flash flooding. This caused many disruptions for Emirates airline at Dubai International Airport.
• April 17
  • 2024 Solomon Islands general election: Incumbent Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's OUR Party wins a plurality of seats.
  • 2024 Croatian parliamentary election: Incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's Croatian Democratic Union coalition wins a plurality of seats.
• April 19 – Israel conducts airstrikes against Iran, in response to Iran's missile and drone attack on Israel earlier on April 13.
• April 25 – Following the resignation of Haiti's acting President and Prime Minister Ariel Henry, a Transitional Presidential Council takes power as the new head of state of Haiti.
• April 29
  • Floods in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul cause dozens of deaths and leave thousands homeless.
  • 50 people are killed, and 84 reported missing, when a railway embankment fails near Mai Mahiu, Kenya, adding to the devastation caused by wider floods in Kenya and Tanzania which have caused the deaths of 488 people and the displacement of 503,000.
• April 30 – The G7 countries agree to phase out unabated coal power by 2030–2035.

May

• May 5 – José Raúl Mulino is elected president in the 2024 Panamanian general election.
• May 6 – 2024 Chadian presidential election: Mahamat Déby wins election to a full term as president, succeeding his father Idriss Déby.
• May 7–11 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is held in Malmö, Sweden. Swiss contestant Nemo wins with the song "The Code".
• May 8 – In North Macedonian elections, the Eurosceptic party VMRO-DPMNE wins in a landslide in the parliamentary elections, while its presidential candidate Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova is elected as the first female president of the country in the second round of the presidential election.
• May 10
  • The United Nations General Assembly passes a resolution to grant the State of Palestine the right to be seated among member states in alphabetical order. This will go into effect at the next session of the UN General Assembly on 10 September 2024.
  • A series of solar storms and intense solar flares impact the Earth, creating aurorae at more southerly and northerly latitudes than usual.
• May 15
  • Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore since 2004, is succeeded by former Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong as prime minister, ahead of the next general election to be held by 2025.
  • Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico is shot and hospitalized while meeting with supporters at an event in Handlová.
• May 19
  • The 2024 Dominican Republic general election is held, with Luis Abinader winning re-election as president.
  • Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian are killed, along with seven other passengers and crew, in a helicopter crash near the Azerbaijan–Iran border.
  • A coup d'état attempt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reportedly led by Christian Malanga leads to unrest in Kinshasa. Government soldiers quickly intervene, arresting the coup leaders and reportedly restoring calm.
• May 20 – The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court seeks arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar over alleged war crimes.
• May 24
  • The UN's highest court, the ICJ, rules that Israel must halt its military offensive in Rafah, southern Gaza.
  • A major landslide in Papua New Guinea kills over 2,000 people, with many more buried.
• May 26 – 2024 Lithuanian presidential election: Incumbent president Gitanas Nausėda wins a landslide victory for a second term in office.
• May 29
  • 2024 South African general election: The ANC party fails to win a majority of the vote for the first time in South Africa's democratic history.
  • The 2024 Malagasy parliamentary election is held.
• May 30 – Former United States President Donald Trump is found guilty on 34 counts in his hush money trial, the first time any American president (sitting or former) has been found guilty of a crime.

June

• June 1
  • The 2024 Indian general election, which began on April 19, concludes. In the Lok Sabha, the BJP party loses its outright majority, but its electoral alliance, the National Democratic Alliance, retains its majority.
  • The 2024 Icelandic presidential election is held, with Halla Tómasdóttir elected president of Iceland.
• June 1–29 – The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup is co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States.
• June 2 – The 2024 Mexican general election is held, with Claudia Sheinbaum elected as the first female president of Mexico.
• June 5 – Starliner Crewed Flight Test launches atop an Atlas V rocket to the ISS.
• June 6–9 – The 2024 European Parliament election is held. The EPP, of incumbent Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, retains its status as the largest group in parliament amid gains by the ECR and ID groups.
• June 9
  • 2024 San Marino general election: The Democracy and Freedom alliance, headed by the PDCS, wins a plurality in the Grand and General Council.
  • 2024 Belgian federal election: The New Flemish Alliance remains the largest party in the Chamber of Representatives while Open Vld, the party of outgoing Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, loses seats.
• June 12 – The United Nations' first inquiry into the October 7 attacks and resulting conflict finds that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes.

Predicted and scheduled events

• June 28
  • 2024 Iranian presidential election.
  • 2024 Mongolian parliamentary election.
• June 29 – 2024 Mauritanian presidential election.
• June 30 – July 7 – 2024 French legislative election.
• July 4 – 2024 United Kingdom general election.
• July 15–16 – 2024 Rwandan general election.
• July 26 – August 11 – 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
• July 28 – 2024 Venezuelan presidential election.
• August 17 – Nusantara will become the new capital of Indonesia, replacing Jakarta.
• September 7 – 2024 Algerian presidential election.
• September 15 – 2024 Romanian presidential election.
• October 3–20 – 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup.
• October 9 – 2024 Mozambican general election.
• October 13 – 2024 Lithuanian parliamentary election.
• October 20
  • 2024 Moldovan presidential election.
  • 2024 Moldovan European Union membership referendum
• October 26 – 2024 Georgian parliamentary election.
• October 27 – 2024 Uruguayan general election.
• November 5 – 2024 United States presidential election.
• November 12 – 2024 Palauan general election.
• November 13 – 2024 Somaliland presidential election.
• November 27 – 2024 Namibian general election.
• December 7 – 2024 Ghanaian general election.
• December 8 – 2024 Romanian parliamentary election.
• December 24 – The 2025 Jubilee will take place on this date.

Date unknown

• September or October
  • 2024 Austrian legislative election.
  • 2024 Sri Lankan presidential election.
• October – 2024 Botswana general election.
• December – 2024 Croatian presidential election.

Deaths

See also

In Spanish: 2024 para niños