Here’s our next instalment of things that happened in ..24 years of yore.

Notable Events in 1624

2 March. The English House of Commons passes a resolution making it illegal for a Member of Parliament to quit or wilfully give up his seat. Afterward, MPs who wish quit are appointed to an “office of profit”, a legal fiction to allow a resignation. It is still in force today.

13 April. Death of William Bishop, first Roman Catholic bishop after the English Reformation (b.1553)

May. The first Dutch settlers arrive in New Netherland.

July. Birth of George Fox (below), English founder of the Quakers (d.1691)

13 August. Cardinal Richelieu is appointed by Louis XIII of France to be his chief minister, having intrigued against Charles de la Vieuville, Superintendent of Finances who was arrested for corruption the previous day.

24 August. Jasper Vinall becomes the first known person to die while playing the sport of cricket, after being struck on the head with a bat during a game at Horsted Keynes in England.

21 September. The Roman Catholic church’s Dicastery for the Clergy issues a decree that no monk may be expelled from his order “unless he be truly incorrigible”.

24 December. Denmark’s first postal service is launched by order of King Christian IV.

Unknown Date. Frans Hals produces the painting now known as The Laughing Cavalier.

Unknown Date. The German-language Luther Bible is publicly burned, by order of the Pope.

Unknown Date. Birth of a Female Greenland shark (which is still alive in 21st century).