Happy Birthday March 24

English Separatist theologian, natural philosopher, and chemist Joseph Priestley was born on March 24, 1733, to an established English Dissenting family in Fieldhead, Birstall, Yorkshire. After his mother died when Joseph went to live with his aunt. Because Joseph was precocious—at the age of four he could flawlessly recite all 107 questions and answers of the Westminster Shorter Catechism—his Calvinist aunt sought the best education for the boy, intending him for the ministry.

The blind American hymn writer Fanny Crosby was born on March 24, 1820 in the village of Brewster, about 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City. She was incredibly prolific, penning over 8,000 hymns, more than any other person. Fanny was once asked if she wished that she hadn't been born without sight. She replied the good thing about being born blind is she knew the first face she would see would be the face of Jesus.

Birthplace of Fanny Crosby Wikipedia

English textile designer William Morris was born at Elm House in Walthamstow, Essex, on March 24, 1834. He was named after his father, a financier who worked as a partner in the Sanderson & Co. firm, bill brokers in the City of London. Educated at Marlborough College, William studied for holy orders at Oxford University, but renounced the Church, and changed to architecture.After his marriage in 1859, Morris began his career as a decorator.

Harry Houdini was born Erik Weisz in Budapest, Hungary on March 24, 1874. His parents were Rabbi Mayer Sámuel Weisz, and Cecília Weisz (née Steiner;).  Erik arrived in the United States in 1878, on the SS Fresia with his family. At the age of fifteen, Ehrich discovered the autobiography of the greatest conjurer of the nineteenth century, French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. Ehrich was fascinated by the book and stayed up all night reading it. He later stated that the work sparked his enthusiasm for magic.

For more March 24 anniversaries, including Johann Sebastian Bach's dedication of The Brandenburg Concertos to the Count Brandenburg, the discovery of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, and the assassination of Oscar Romero, the Bishop of El Salvador, check out OnThatDay.