March 21

Events

• 1556 - In Oxford, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burned at the stake.
• 1788 - A fire destroys 856 buildings in New Orleans leaving most of the town in ruins.
• 1800 - Pius VII becomes Pope
• 1804 - Code Napoleon adopted as French civil law
• 1918 - World War I: Second Battle of the Somme begins
• 1928 - Charles Lindbergh is presented the Congressional Medal of Honor for his first trans-Atlantic flight.
• 1935 - Persia is renamed Iran
• 1940 - Paul Reynaud becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1945 - World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma
• 1952 - Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio
• 1960 - Apartheid: Massacre in Sharpeville, South Africa: Afrikaner police open fire on a group of unarmed black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180
• 1963 - Alcatraz, a federal penitentiary on an island in San Francisco Bay, closes.
• 1965 - Ranger program: NASA launches Ranger 9 which is the last in a series of unmanned lunar space probes.
• 1980 - President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow protesting the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan.
• 1980 - On the season finale of the soap opera Dallas, the infamous character J.R. Ewing is shot by an unseen assailant leading to the catchphrase "Who Shot JR?"
• 1989 - Sports Illustrated reports allegations that tie Pete Rose to baseball gambling.
• 1990 - After 75 years of South African rule Namibia becomes independent.
• 1999 - Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
• 2002 - In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh along with three other suspects are charged with murder for their part in the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
• 2003 - 2003 invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries begin military operations in Iraq.

Births

• 1685 - Johann Sebastian Bach, composer († 1750)
• 1763 - Jean Paul, poet and publicist († 1825)
• 1768 - Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier, French mathematician († 1830)
• 1806 - Benito Juarez, Mexican statesman and folk hero († 1872)
• 1839 - Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, Russian composer († 1881)
• 1869 - Florenz Ziegfeld, theatrical producer († 1932)
• 1882 - Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, actor († 1971)
• 1895 - Zlatko Baloković, Croatian violinist († 1955)
• 1901 - Karl Arnold, politician († 1958)
• 1902 - Son House, blues musician († 1988)
• 1922 - Russ Meyer, pornographic film director, producer
• 1927 - Hans-Dietrich Genscher, politician
• 1946 - Timothy Dalton, shakespherean actor, James Bond actor
• 1958 - Gary Oldman, actor
• 1960 - Ayrton Senna, automobile racer († 1994)
• 1962 - Rosie O'Donnell, comedian, actress, talk show host, publisher
• 1962 - Matthew Broderick, actor

Deaths

• 1556 - Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 1795 - Giovanni Arduino, geologist
• 1884 - Ezra Abbot, american bible scholar
• 1958 - Cyril M. Kornbluth, science fiction writer
• 1984 - Sir Michael Redgrave, actor
• 1987 - Robert Preston, actor
• 2001 - Norma Macmillan, cartoon voice actress
• 2003 - Wolfgang Kartte, politician

Holidays and observances

• South Africa: Human Rights Day
• Traditional date of vernal equinox, used for reckoning Easter. The real equinox usually occurs one day earlier.
• The third day of Quinquatria in ancient Rome, held in honor of Minerva.
• Bahá'í Faith: Naw Rúz - Bahá'í New Years
• Bahá'í Faith - Bahá (Splendor) - First day of the first month of the Bahá'í Calendar
• Bahá'í Faith - End of the fast (end of the 19 day sunrise to sunset fast
• Ostara - Neopagan festival of Ostara
• World Day Of Sleep- by World Health Organization

'See Also:'

March 20 - March 22 - February 21 - April 21 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By