From Historynet: Today in History February 24

786             Pepin the Short of Gaul  dies. His dominions are divided between his sons 

Charles (Charlemagne)   and 

Carloman .

1525          In the first of the Franco-Habsburg Wars, 

the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V  captures the French king Francis I   at the Battle of Pavia, Italy.

1538          Ferdinand of Hapsburg  and 

John Zapolyai , the two kings of Hungary, conclude the peace of Grosswardein.

1803          Chief Justice John Marshall , by refusing to rule on the case of Marbury vs. Madison, asserts the authority of the judicial branch.

1813          Off Guiana, the American sloop Hornet sinks the British sloop Peacock.

1821          Mexico gains independence from Spain.

1836          Some 3,000 Mexicans launch an assault on the Alamo with its 182 Texan defenders.

1895          The Cuban War of Independence begins.

1908          Japan officially agrees to restrict emigration to the U.S.

1912          The Jewish organization Hadassah is founded in New York City.

1912          Italy bombs Beirut in the first act of war against the Ottoman Empire.

1914          Civil War soldier 

Joshua Chamberlain  dies.

1916          A film version of Jules Verne's  20,000 Leagues Under the Sea opens in New York.

1921          Herbert Hoover  becomes Secretary of Commerce.

1928          The New Gallery of New York exhibits works of 

Archibald Motley , its first show to feature a black artist.

1944          Merrill's Marauders, a specially trained group of American soldiers, begin their ground campaign against Japan into Burma.

1945          U.S. forces liberate prisoners of war in the Los Baños Prison in the Philippines.

1947          Franz von Papen  is sentenced to eight years in a labor camp for war crimes.

1959          Khrushchev  rejects the Western plan for the Big Four meeting on Germany.

1968          North Vietnamese troops capture the imperial palace in Hue, South Vietnam.

1972          Hanoi negotiators walk out of the peace talks in Paris to protest U.S. air raids on North Vietnam.

1991          General Norman Schwarzkopf , commander of the coalition army, sends in ground forces during the Gulf War.