May 21

Events

• 996 - Sixteen year old Otto III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1674 - John Sobieski is elected by the nobility to be the King of Poland.
• 1856 - Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson - Union forces begin to lay siege to the Confederate-controlled Port Hudson, Louisiana.
• 1879 - War of the Pacific: naval battle of Iquique and Punta Gruesa. Chilean ships Esmeralda and Covadonga, that were blocking the Iquique harbour fought against peruvian vessels Huascar and Independencia. The Huascar sank the Esmeralda and the Covadonga forced the Arturo_Prat_died./">Indepenciia to run aground. Chilean captain Arturo Prat died.
• 1881 - The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton.
• 1924 - University of Chicago students Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr. murder 14-year-old Bobby Franks in a "thrill killing."
• 1927 - Charles Lindbergh completes the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight.
• 1932 - Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1941 - World War II: 950 miles off the coast of Brazil, the freighter SS Robin Moor becomes the first United States ship sunk by a German U-boat.
• 1956 - Nuclear testing: In the Pacific Ocean, Bikini Atoll is nearly obliterated by the first airborne explosion of a hydrogen bomb.
• 1961 - American civil rights movement: Alabama Governor John Patterson declares martial law in an attempt to restore order after race riots break out.
• 1970 - E. L. Grant Watson dies
• 1981 - Pierre Mauroy becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1991 - In Madras, former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a terrorist bomb hidden in a bouquet of flowers.
• 1998 - School shooting: At Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, Kipland Kinkel (who was suspended for bringing a gun to school) shoots a semi-automatic rifle into a room filled with students killing 2 wounding 25 others after killing his parents at home.
• 1998 - Reproductive rights: In Miami, Florida, five abortion clinics are hit by a butyric acid attacker.
• 2000 - A chartered British Aerospace Jetstream 31 crashes near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania killing 19
• 2003 - An earthquake hits northern Algeria. More than 2,000 deaths.

Births

• 1471 - Albrecht Dürer, painter and graphic artist (+ 1528)
• 1527 - King Philip II of Spain (+ 1598)
• 1688 - Alexander Pope, poet (+ 1744)
• 1844 - Henri Rousseau, artist (+ 1910)
• 1898 - Armand Hammer, physician, entrepreneur, oil magnate, art collector
• 1901 - Horace Heidt, band leader (+ 1986)
• 1901 - Sam Jaffe, actor (+ 2000)
• 1902 - Marcel Lajos Breuer, architect (+ 1981)
• 1904 - Fats Waller, pianist (+ 1943)
• 1904 - Robert Montgomery, actor (+ 1981)
• 1916 - Harold Robbins, novelist (+ 1997)
• 1916 - Tinus Osendarp, Dutch sprinter
• 1917 - Raymond Burr, actor (+ 1993)
• 1921 - Andrei Sakharov, physicist, human rights activist, recipient of the Nobel Prize (+ 1989)
• 1923 - Ara Parseghian, American football coach
• 1932 - Gabriele Wohmann, author
• 1945 - Ernst Messerschmid, physicist and astronaut
• 1948 - Leo Sayer, musician
• 1952 - Mr. T, actor
• 1956 - Judge Reinhold, actor
• 1960 - Jeffrey Dahmer, serial killer (+ 1994)
• 1972 - The Notorious B.I.G., musician (+ 1997)

Deaths

• 1542 - Hernando de Soto, explorer
• 1647 - Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch poet and historian
• 1897 - Arturo Prat, chilean naval official
• 1895 - Franz von Suppé, Croatian - Austrian composer
• 1935 - Jane Addams, social worker
• 1952 - John Garfield, actor
• 2000 - Sir John Gielgud, British actor
• 2000 - Barbara Cartland, romance novel author
• 2002 - Niki de Saint Phalle, artist
• 2003 - Frank D. White, Former governor of Arkansas

Holidays and observances

May 20 - May 22 - April 21 - June 21 -- listing of all days

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

Referenced By