May 21
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
May 21 is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 224 days remaining until the end of the year.
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Births [change]
- 427 BC – Plato, Influential Greek philosopher (d. 347 BC)
- 120 BC - Aurelia Cotta, mother of Julius Caesar (d. 54 BC)
- 1471 – Albrecht Dürer, German painter and graphic artist (d. 1528)
- 1527 – King Philip II of Spain (d. 1598)
- 1653 – Eleonora Maria Josefa of Austria (d. 1697)
- 1688 – Alexander Pope, English poet (d. 1744)
- 1780 – Elizabeth Fry, British social reformer and philanthropist (d. 1845)
- 1785 - August Immanuel Bekker, German classical philologist (d. 1871)
- 1792 – Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis, French scientist (d. 1843)
- 1827 - William P. Sprague, American politician (d. 1899)
- 1843 - Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss politician (d. 1914)
- 1843 - Louis Renault, French jurist (d. 1918)
- 1844 – Henri Rousseau, French artist (d. 1910)
- 1850 – Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian volcanologist (d. 1914)
- 1851 – Leon Bourgeois, French statesman (d. 1925)
- 1855 - Emile Verhaeren, Belgian poet (d. 1916)
- 1856 – Jose Batlle y Ordonez, Uruguayan politician (d. 1929)
- 1857 - Francisco Aguilar Barquero, President of Costa Rica (d. 1924)
- 1860 – Willem Einthoven, Dutch doctor, won the 1924 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, inventor of the electrocardiogram (d. 1927)
- 1863 – Archduke Eugen of Austria (d. 1954)
- 1864 – Princess Stephanie of Belgium (d. 1945)
- 1873 - Hans Berger, German neuroscientist (d. 1941)
- 1878 - Glenn Curtiss, American aviation pioneer (d. 1930)
- 1880 - Tudor Arghezi, Romanian poet and writer (d. 1967)
- 1898 – Armand Hammer, physician, entrepreneur, oil magnate, and art collector (d. 1990)
- 1901 – Horace Heidt, band leader (d. 1986)
- 1901 – Sam Jaffe, American producer (d. 2000)
- 1902 – Earl Averill, American Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1983)
- 1902 – Marcel Lajos Breuer, architect (d. 1981)
- 1903 – Manly Wade Wellman, writer (d. 1986)
- 1904 – Fats Waller, African-American pianist (d. 1943)
- 1904 – Robert Montgomery, American actor (d. 1981)
- 1912 – Monty Stratton, American Major League Baseball pitcher (d. 1982)
- 1916 – Harold Robbins, American novelist (d. 1997)
- 1916 – Tinus Osendarp, Dutch sprinter (d. 2002)
- 1917 – Raymond Burr, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1921 – Andrei Sakharov, Russian physicist and human rights activist, recipient of the Nobel Prize (d. 1989)
- 1922 - Pio Laghi, Italian cardinal (d. 2009)
- 1923 – Armand Borel, Swiss mathematician (d. 2003)
- 1923 – Ara Parseghian, American football coach
- 1929 – Heinz Holliger, Swiss oboe player
- 1930 – Malcolm Fraser, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia
- 1932 – Gabriele Wohmann, writer
- 1933 – Maurice André, French trumpet player (d. 2012)
- 1934 – Bengt I. Samuelsson, Swedish biochemist
- 1934 - Jack Twyman, American basketball player (d. 2012)
- 1935 - Terry Lightfoot, English clarinettist and bandleader
- 1936 - Guenter Blobel, German biologist
- 1939 - Heinz Holliger, Swiss musician, composer and conductor
- 1940 - Tony Sheridan, British musician (d. 2013)
- 1941 – Martin Carthy, singer and guitarist
- 1943 - Hilton Valentine, English musician
- 1944 – Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland
- 1945 – Ernst Messerschmid, German physicist and astronaut
- 1948 – Leo Sayer, British musician
- 1951 – Al Franken, American comedian and United States Senator
- 1952 – Mr. T (Laurence Tureaud), American actor
- 1954 - Janice Karman, American voice actress
- 1956 – Judge Reinhold, American actor
- 1957 – Nadine Dorries, British politician
- 1957 – Renée Soutendijk, Dutch actress
- 1959 - Nick Cassavetes, American actor and director
- 1960 – Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (d. 1994)
- 1963 - Kevin Shields, American-Irish singer-songwriter
- 1964 – Nancy Benoit, American professional wrestler (d. 2007)
- 1967 – Chris Benoit, American professional wrestler (d. 2007)
- 1967 – Lisa Edelstein, American actress
- 1969 – Georgiy Gongadze, Georgian-Ukrainian journalist (d. 2000)
- 1972 – The Notorious B.I.G., American musician (d. 1997)
- 1973 – Stewart Cink, American golfer
- 1975 - Lee Gaze, Welsh guitarist (Lostprophets)
- 1975 - Juuso Pykalisto, Finnish rally driver
- 1977 - Quinton Fortune, South African footballer
- 1978 – Briana Banks, American actress
- 1980 – Gotye, Belgian-born Australian singer and musician
- 1980 - Chris Raab, American actor and stuntman
- 1980 - Anna Rogowska, Polish athlete
- 1981 - Edson Buddle, American soccer player
- 1981 – Max, German singer
- 1985 – Mutya Buena, English singer (Sugababes)
- 1985 – Mark Cavendish, Manx cyclist
- 1985 – Alexander Dale Oen, Norwegian swimmer (d. 2012)
- 1986 – Mario Mandzukic, Croatian footballer
- 1987 – Ashlie Brillault, actress
- 1989 - Hal Robson-Kanu, Welsh footballer
- 1991 - Sarah Ramos, American actress
- 1994 – Tom Daley, British diver
Deaths [change]
- 987 – King Louis V of France (b. 967)
- 1237 - Olaf the Black, King of Mann and the Isles
- 1254 - Conrad IV of Germany (b. 1228)
- 1471 – King Henry VI of England (b. 1421)
- 1481 – King Christian I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (b. 1426)
- 1512 - Pandolfo Petrucci, Italian ruler (b. 1452)
- 1542 – Hernando de Soto, Spanish explorer and conquistador (b. c. 1496)
- 1639 - Tommaso Campanella, Italian theologian (b. 1568)
- 1686 – Otto von Guericke, German scientist (b. 1602)
- 1844 - Giuseppe Baini, Italian composer (b. 1775)
- 1879 – Arturo Prat, Chilean naval officer (b. 1848)
- 1891 - Alphonso Taft, American politician (b. 1810)
- 1895 - Franz von Suppe, Austrian composer (b. 1819)
- 1911 - Williamina Fleming, Scottish astronomer (b. 1857)
- 1915 - Leonid Gobyato, Russian general (b. 1875)
- 1919 - Yevgraf Fyodorov, Russian mathematician (b. 1853)
- 1920 – Venustiano Carranza, President of Mexico (b. 1859)
- 1925 - Hidesaburo Ueno, Japanese scientist (b. 1872)
- 1929 – Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1847)
- 1935 – Jane Addams, American social reformer (b. 1860)
- 1949 – Klaus Mann, German writer (b. 1906)
- 1952 - John Garfield, American actor (b. 1913)
- 1957 - Alexander Vertinsky, Russian actor, singer, composer and poet (b. 1889)
- 1964 – James Franck, German-born physicist (b. 1882)
- 1965 – Geoffrey de Havilland, British aircraft designer (b. 1882)
- 1988 - Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer (b. 1900)
- 1991 – Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (b. 1944)
- 1994 - Giovanni Goria, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1943)
- 2000 – Dame Barbara Cartland, English writer (b. 1901)
- 2000 – John Gielgud, British actor (b. 1904)
- 2000 - Erich Mielke, East German politician (b. 1907)
- 2003 - Alejandro de Tomaso, Argentine racing driver (b. 1928)
- 2003 - Frank D. White, Governor of Arkansas (b. 1933)
- 2006 - Katherine Dunham, American dancer, director, educator and writer (b. 1909)
- 2011 – Bill Hunter, Australian actor (b. 1940)
- 2013 - Trevor Bolder, English rock musician, songwriter and record producer (b. 1950)
- 2013 - Mohammad Khaled Hossain, Bangladeshi mountaineer (b. 1979)
- 2013 - Dominique Venner, French historian and writer (b. 1935)
Events [change]
- 293 - Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Galerius as Caesar to Diocletian.
- 878 - Syracuse, Italy is captured by the Muslim Sultan of Sicily.
- 879 - Pope John VIII gives blessings to Branimir of Croatia and to the Croatian people.
- 996 - Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor is crowned.
- 1085 - The city of Helsingborg is founded in what is now southern Sweden.
- 1502 – The island of Saint Helena is discovered by Portuguese explorer Joao da Nova.
- 1674 – The nobility elect John Sobieski to become King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.
- 1809 - Napoleonic Wars: First day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling - Austria, under Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen and France, under Napoleon Bonaparte, meet in battle, with Napoleon's side winning the next day.
- 1851 – Colombia abolishes slavery.
- 1856 – The town of Lawrence, Kansas, is captured and burned by pro-Slavery forces.
- 1871 - French troops invade the Paris Commune and engage its residents in street fighting.
- 1879 – War of the Pacific: The Naval battle of Iquique takes place between Chile and Peru.
- 1881 – The American Red Cross is founded by Clara Barton.
- 1894 - The Manchester Ship Canal is opened in England by Queen Victoria.
- 1904 - FIFA, the world governing body of football, is founded in Paris.
- 1911 - President of Mexico Porfirio Diaz and revolutionary Francisco I. Madero sign the Treaty of Ciudad Juarez.
- 1917 - A significant part of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, is destroyed by fire.
- 1925 - In Tokyo, Japan, scientist Hidesaburo Ueno dies. His dog, Hachiko, keeps waiting for him, and becomes well known for his loyalty.
- 1927 – Charles Lindbergh flies across the Atlantic Ocean.
- 1932 - Amelia Earhart is forced by bad weather to land near Derry, Northern Ireland, after becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
- 1966 - The Ulster Volunteer Force declares war of the IRA.
- 1976 - The Yuba City bus disaster in Martinez, California kills 29 people.
- 1990 – The Democratic Republic of Yemen and North Yemen agree to merge to become the Republic of Yemen.
- 1991 – Ethiopian President Mengistu Haile Mariam flees Ethiopia.
- 1991 – Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is murdered in Sriperumbudur in southern India.
- 1994 – The Democratic Republic of Yemen tries to secede, leading to the break-out of war.
- 1996 – The ship MV Bukoba sinks in Tanzanian waters on Lake Victoria, killing around 1,000 people.
- 2003 – An earthquake in northern Algeria kills more than 2,000 people.
- 2005 – Elena Paparizou wins the Eurovision Song Contest for Greece, in Kiev, Ukraine.
- 2006 – The majority of voters in Montenegro vote to split from Serbia and Montenegro. Montenegro becomes independent on June 3.
- 2007 – The clipper Cutty Sark is damaged by fire in London, UK.
- 2011 - American pastor Harold Camping predicted the end of the world to begin on this date, with the rapture, supposedly leading to the end itself on October 21. Despite his prediction, life continued as normal.
- 2012 - A bombing in Sana'a, Yemen kills 120 people.
- 2013 - Far-right French historian Dominique Venner commits suicide by gunshot in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris.
Observances [change]
- Navy Day (Chile)
- Independence Day (Montenegro)
- Saint Helena Day
- Day of Patriots and the Military (Hungary)
