October 24, 1944

1944Viktor Prokopenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (died 2007)^[†]

Viktor Prokopenko was a Ukrainian football player and coach who played for the Soviet occupational forces in East Germany and the Ukrainian SSR including teams of the Soviet Top League and later worked as a coach in Russia and Ukraine.

1944Bettye Swann, American singer-songwriter^[†]

Bettye Swann, also known as Betty Barton, is an American soul singer. She is best known for her 1967 hit song "Make Me Yours".

1944World War II: Japan's center force is temporarily repulsed in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.^[†]

World War II or the Second World War was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

1944World War II: The USS Shark (SS-314) was lost with all 87 hands in the Bashi Straits after torpedoing the Japanese freighter Arisan Maru.^[†]

USS Shark (SS-314), a Balao-class submarine, was the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the shark, a large marine predator.