Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/September 24

September 24: Independence Day in Guinea-Bissau (1973), Republic Day in Trinidad and Tobago (1976), Heritage Day in South Africa.

Johnson, Christie (left) and Lewis (right) at the finish line

• 622 – Muhammad and his followers completed their Hijra from Mecca to Medina to escape religious persecution.

• 1789 – The First United States Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789, establishing the U.S. federal judiciary and setting the number of Supreme Court Justices.

• 1841 – The Sultan of Brunei granted Sarawak to British adventurer James Brooke.

• 1903 – Alfred Deakin became the second Prime Minister of Australia, succeeding Edmund Barton who left office to become a founding justice of the High Court of Australia.

• 1988 – Canadian Ben Johnson finished the 100 m sprint at the Seoul Olympics in a world record time of 9.79 seconds (pictured), ahead of rivals Carl Lewis and Linford Christie, but was later disqualified for doping.

More events on this day... Recent days: September 23 – September 22 – September 21

More anniversaries:

• August 31
• September 1
• September 2