What happened on February 21? There are more than 274 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About February 21
February 21 is the 52nd day of the year 2024. There are 314 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday. This day falls under the 8th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Geneva, Florida 32732 sunrise occured at 06:56 AM and sunset occured at 06:19 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Pisces. The modern birthstone for this month is Amethyst while the mystical birthstone is Bloodstone.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 343 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 21 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
February 21: A Day In History
In addition, it’s the first day of the astronomical winter.
Historical Events For February 21
- 362Athanasius returns to Alexandria.
- 1245Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery.
- 1440The Prussian Confederation is formed.
- 1543Battle of Wayna Daga – A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeats a Muslim army led by Ahmed Gragn.
- 1613Mikhail I is elected unanimously as Tsar by a national assembly, beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia.
- 1804The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Wales.
- 1842John Greenough is granted the first U.S. patent for the sewing machine.
- 1848Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto.
- 1862American Civil War: Battle of Valverde is fought near Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory.
- 1874The Oakland Daily Tribune publishes its first edition.
- 1878The first telephone book is issued in New Haven, Connecticut.
- 1885The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated.
- 1913Ioannina is incorporated into the Greek state after the Balkan Wars.
- 1916World War I: In France, the Battle of Verdun begins.
- 1918The last Carolina Parakeet dies in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo.
- 1919Kurt Eisner, German socialist, is assassinated. His death results in the establishment of the Bavarian Soviet Republic and parliament and government fleeing Munich, Germany.
- 1921Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia adopts the country’s first constitution.
- 1925The New Yorker publishes its first issue.
- 1937Initial flight of the first successful flying car, Waldo Waterman’s Arrowbile.
- 1937The League of Nations bans foreign national “volunteers” in the Spanish Civil War.
- 1945World War II: Japanese Kamikaze planes sink the escort carrier Bismarck Sea and damage the Saratoga.
- 1947In New York City, Edwin Land demonstrates the first “instant camera”, the Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.
- 1948NASCAR is incorporated.
- 1952“ভাষা আন্দোলন”, “Bengali Language Movement” occurred in East Pakistan(now Bangladesh).
- 1952The British government, under Winston Churchill, abolishes identity cards in the UK to “set the people free”.
- 1958The Peace symbol, commissioned by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom.
- 1965Malcolm X is assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City by members of the Nation of Islam.
- 1970Swissair Flight 330: A mid-air bomb explosion and subsequent crash kills 38 passengers and nine crew members near Zürich, Switzerland.
- 1971The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
- 1972President Richard Nixon visits the People’s Republic of China to normalize Sino-American relations.
- 1972The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.
- 1973Over the Sinai Desert, Israeli fighter aircraft shoot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 jet killing 108.
- 1974The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal pursuant to a truce with Egypt.
- 1975Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison.
- 1995Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.
- 2004The first European political party organization, the European Greens, is established in Rome.
Who Were Born On February 21?
- 1484Elector Joachim I of Brandenburg (d. 1535)
- 1556Sethus Calvisius, German calendar reformer (d. 1615)
- 1621Rebecca Nurse, English colonist executed during Salem witch trials (d. 1692)
- 1675Franz Xaver Josef von Unertl, Bavarian politician (d. 1750)
- 1703Shah Waliullah, Islamic Scholar and Reformer (d. 1762)
- 1705Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, British naval officer (d. 1781)
- 1721John McKinly, American physician (d. 1796)
- 1723Louis-Pierre Anquetil, French historian (d. 1808)
- 1728Tsar Peter III of Russia, husband of Catherine the Great (d. 1762)
- 1783Princess Catharina of Württemberg, Queen consort of Westphalia (d. 1835)
- 1791Carl Czerny, Austrian composer (d. 1857)
- 1794Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mexican president (d. 1876)
- 1801John Henry Newman, English Catholic cardinal (d. 1890)
- 1817Jose Zorrilla y Moral, Spanish dramatist (d. 1893)
- 1821Charles Scribner I, American publisher (d. 1871)
- 1836Léo Delibes, French composer (d. 1891)
- 1844Charles-Marie Widor, French composer (d. 1937)
- 1860Goscombe John, Welsh sculptor (d. 1952)
- 1860Karel Matěj Čapek-Chod, Czech journalist (d. 1927)
- 1865John Haden Badley, English school founder (d. 1967)
- 1867Otto Hermann Kahn, German millionaire (d. 1934)
- 1875Jeanne Calment, French supercentenarian and longest-lived human on record (d. 1997)
- 1876Pyotr Konchalovsky, Russian painter (d. 1956)
- 1878Mirra Alfassa, Indian spiritual leader (d. 1973)
- 1880Waldemar Bonsels, German writer (d. 1952)
- 1885Sacha Guitry, Russian dramatist (d. 1957)
- 1888Clemence Dane, British novelist and playwright (d. 1965)
- 1893Andrés Segovia, Spanish guitarist (d. 1987)
- 1893Celia Lovsky, Russian-born actress (d. 1979)
- 1895Henrik Dam Danish biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1976)
- 1900Madeleine Renaud, French theater actress (d. 1994)
- 1903Anaïs Nin, French diarist (d. 1977)
- 1903Fairfax M. Cone, American advertising executive (d. 1977)
- 1903Raymond Queneau, French poet and novelist (d. 1976)
- 1907W. H. Auden, English poet (d. 1973)
- 1909Hans Erni, Swiss painter
- 1910Carmine Galante, American gangster (d. 1979)
- 1910Douglas Bader, British pilot (d. 1982)
- 1910Eddie Waring, British sports commentator (d. 1986)
- 1913Roger Laurent, Belgian racing driver (d. 1997)
- 1914Ilmari Juutilainen, Finnish fighter pilot (d. 1999)
- 1915Ann Sheridan, American actress (d. 1967)
- 1917Lucille Bremer, American actress (d. 1996)
- 1921John Rawls, American philosopher (d. 2002)
- 1924Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe 1980-1987; President of Zimbabwe 1987-present
- 1925Sam Peckinpah, American director (d. 1984)
- 1927Erma Bombeck, American humorist (d. 1996)
- 1927Hubert de Givenchy, French fashion designer
- 1927Pierre Mercure, French-Canadian musician and composer (d. 1966)
- 1929James Beck, English actor (d. 1973)
- 1929Roberto “Chespirito” Gómez Bolaños, Mexican actor
- 1933Nina Simone, American singer (d. 2003)
- 1934Rue McClanahan, American actress (d. 2010)
- 1935Jean Pelletier, French Canadian political operative
- 1935Mark McManus, Scottish actor (d. 1994)
- 1936Barbara Jordan, American politician (d. 1996)
- 1937Gary Lockwood, American actor
- 1937King Harald V of Norway
- 1940John Lewis, American politician and civil rights activist
- 1940Peter Gethin, British racing driver
- 1940Wong Jim, Hong Kong composer (d. 2004)
- 1942Margarethe von Trotta, German actress and film director
- 1943David Geffen, American record producer
- 1945D'Anna Fortunato, American mezzo-soprano
- 1945Paul Newton, British musician
- 1945Walter Momper, German politician
- 1946Alan Rickman, English actor
- 1946Anthony Daniels, British actor
- 1946Bob Ryan, Boston sports columnist
- 1946Tyne Daly, American actress
- 1946Vito Rizzuto, Sicilian-born alleged Mafia boss
- 1947Johnny Echols, American musician
- 1947Olympia Snowe, American politician
- 1947Victor Sokolov, Russian journalist (d. 2006)
- 1949Jerry Harrison, American musician
- 1949Ronnie Hellström, Swedish footballer
- 1951Vince Welnick, American musician (The Grateful Dead) (d. 2006)
- 1951Wolfgang Frank, German footballer
- 1952Jean Jacques Burnel, British musician
- 1952Jeffrey Shaara, American novelist
- 1953Christine Ebersole, American actress
- 1953William Petersen, American actor
- 1954Ivo Van Damme, Belgian athlete (d. 1976)
- 1954Mike Pickering, English disc jockey and musician
- 1955Kelsey Grammer, American actor
- 1958Alan Trammell, baseball player and manager
- 1958Jack Coleman, American actor
- 1958Jake Burns, Irish singer
- 1958Mary Chapin Carpenter, American singer
- 1959Emmett McAuliffe, American radio show host and lawyer
- 1959José María Cano, Spanish musician
- 1960Laurent Petitguillaume, French radio and television host
- 1960Steve Wynn, American singer
- 1961Bertha Faye, American wrestler (d. 2001)
- 1961Christopher Atkins, American actor
- 1961Martha Hackett, American actress
- 1962Chuck Palahniuk, American writer
- 1962David Foster Wallace, American writer (d. 2008)
- 1962Vanessa Feltz, British television presenter
- 1963William Baldwin, American actor
- 1964Huw Higginson, British actor
- 1964Jane Tomlinson, British cancer campaigner (d. 2007)
- 1964Mark and Scott Kelly, American astronauts and identical twin brothers
- 1967Leroy Burrell, American runner
- 1969Aunjanue Ellis, American actress
- 1969Corey Harris, American musician
- 1969Eric Wilson, American musician
- 1969James Dean Bradfield, Welsh musician
- 1969Tony Meola, American footballer
- 1970Fat Pat, American rapper (Screwed Up Click) (d. 1998)
- 1970Michael Slater, Australian cricketer
- 1971Randy Blythe, American musician
- 1972Seo Taiji, Korean musician
- 1973Bowie Tsang, Taiwanese singer and TV host
- 1973Heri Joensen, Faroese musician
- 1973Jacob M. Appel, American bioethicist
- 1973Justin Sane, American punk musician
- 1974Iván Campo, Spanish footballer
- 1974Roberto Heras, Spanish cyclist
- 1975Troy Slaten, American actor
- 1975Wish Bone, American rapper (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)
- 1976Michael McIntyre English Comedian
- 1976Ryan Smyth, Canadian hockey player
- 1977Chad Hutchinson, baseball and football player
- 1977Kevin Rose, American television host and Internet entrepreneur
- 1977Owen King, American writer and journalist
- 1977Steve Francis, American basketball player
- 1978Kim Ha Neul, South Korean actress
- 1978Nicole Parker, American actress
- 1978Park Eun-hye, South Korean actress
- 1979Carly “Carlito” Colón, Puerto Rican professional wrestler
- 1979Jennifer Love Hewitt, American actress
- 1979Lonnie Ford, American football player
- 1979Pascal Chimbonda, French footballer
- 1980Brad Fast, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 5th king of Bhutan
- 1980Jim Vandermeer, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980Parthiva Sureshwaren, Indian racing driver
- 1980Tiziano Ferro, Italian singer
- 1981Jun Kaname, Japanese actor
- 1982Andre Barrett, American basketball player
- 1982Bernhard Auinger, Austrian racing driver
- 1982Chantal Claret, American musician
- 1983Braylon Edwards, American football player
- 1983Franklin Gutiérrez, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1983Mélanie Laurent, French actress and director
- 1984Andrew Ellis, New Zealand All Black rugby union player
- 1984David Odonkor, German footballer
- 1984Karina, Japanese model and actress
- 1984Marco Paoloni, Italian footballer
- 1985Bob Burton, American speedcuber
- 1985Georgios Samaras, Greek footballer
- 1985Jamaal Westerman, Canadian football player
- 1985Jarrod Atkinson, Australian rules footballer
- 1985Simon Cusden, English cricketer
- 1986Charlotte Church, Welsh singer
- 1986Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este
- 1987Ashley Greene, American model and actress
- 1987Ellen Page, Canadian actress
- 1987Enrique David Mateo, Brazilian footballer
- 1988Matthias de Zordo, German javelin thrower
- 1989Corbin Bleu, American actor and singer
- 1989Jem Karacan, English-born Turkish footballer
- 1989Josh Walker, English footballer
- 1989Kristin Herrera, American actress
- 1989Scout Taylor-Compton, American actress
- 1990Mattias Tedenby, Swedish ice hockey player
- 2001Isabella Acres, American actress
Who Died On February 21?
- 1437King James I of Scotland (b. 1394)
- 1471John of Rokycan, Czech Catholic archbishop
- 1513Pope Julius II (b. 1443)
- 1543Ahmed Gragn, Sultan of Adal
- 1554Hieronymus Bock, German botanist (b. 1498)
- 1595Robert Southwell, English Jesuit priest and poet
- 1668John Thurloe, English Puritan spy (b. 1616)
- 1677Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher (b. 1632)
- 1715Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, Governor of the Province of Maryland (b. 1637)
- 1730Pope Benedict XIII (b. 1649)
- 1788Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer (b. 1723)
- 1821Georg Friedrich von Martens, German diplomat (b. 1756)
- 1824Eugène de Beauharnais, son of Napoleon’s wife, Josephine (b. 1781)
- 1846Emperor Ninko of Japan (b. 1800)
- 1862Justinus Kerner, German poet (b. 1786)
- 1900Marthinus Nikolaas Ras, South African Gunmaker (b. 1853)
- 1901George Francis Fitzgerald, Irish mathematician (b. 1851)
- 1919Kurt Eisner, German socialist (assassinated), leader of socialist revolution of 1918 in Bavaria (b. 1867)
- 1920Jacinta Marto, witness of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima (b. 1910)
- 1926Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
- 1934Augusto Nicolás Calderón Sandino, Nicaraguan revolutionary (b. 1895)
- 1938George Ellery Hale, American astronomer (b. 1868)
- 1941Frederick Banting, Canadian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1891)
- 1944Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian-born race car driver (b. 1873)
- 1945Eric Liddell, Scottish runner (b. 1902)
- 1946José Streel, Belgian World War II collaborator (b. 1911)
- 1949Tan Malaka, Indonesian nationalist activist and communist leader (b. 1894)
- 1958Duncan Edwards, English footballer (b. 1936)
- 1960Jacques Becker, French film director and screenwriter (b. 1906)
- 1965Malcolm X, Black American civil rights leader (b. 1925)
- 1966Paul Comtois, French Canadian politician (b. 1895)
- 1967Charles Beaumont, American writer (b. 1929)
- 1968Howard Walter Florey, Australian-born pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1898)
- 1972Bronislava Nijinska, Polish-Russian ballet dancer (b. 1891)
- 1972Eugène Tisserant, French Catholic Cardinal (b. 1884)
- 1972Zhang Guohua, Chinese general and politician (b. 1914)
- 1974Tim Horton, Canadian hockey player (b. 1930)
- 1977Nolan Strong, a Detroit doo-wop singer with The Diablos (b. 1934)
- 1978Mieczysław Żywczyński, Polish historian and priest (b. 1901)
- 1980Alfred Andersch, German writer (b. 1914)
- 1981Erika Köth, German coloratura soprano (b. 1927)
- 1982Gershom Scholem, German-born Israeli Jewish philosopher and historian (b. 1897)
- 1982Murray the K, American impresario and disc jockey (b. 1922)
- 1984Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
- 1985Louis Hayward, British actor (b. 1909)
- 1986Helen Hooven Santmyer, American writer (b. 1895)
- 1987Noel Odell, English mountaineer, last person to see Mallory and Irvine alive (b. 1890)
- 1989Alex Thépot, French footballer (b. 1906)
- 1991Dame Margot Fonteyn, English ballet dancer (b. 1919)
- 1991Dorothy Auchterlonie, Australian academic, literary critic and poet (b. 1915)
- 1991Nutan Behl, Indian actress (b. 1936)
- 1994Johannes Steinhoff, German fighter pilot & NATO commander (b. 1913)
- 1995Jorge José Emiliano dos Santos, Brazilian Football Referee (b. 1954)
- 1996Morton Gould, American composer (b. 1913)
- 1999Gertrude B. Elion, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1918)
- 1999Ilmari Juutilainen, Finnish fighter pilot (b. 1914)
- 1999Wilmer David Mizell, baseball player (b. 1930)
- 2000Antonio Díaz-Miguel, Spanish basketball coach (b. 1933)
- 2002Harold Furth, Austrian-born physicist (b. 1939)
- 2002John Thaw, English actor (b. 1942)
- 2003Eddie Thomson, Scottish football player and coach (b. 1947)
- 2004Guido Molinari, Canadian artist (b. 1933)
- 2004John Charles, Welsh footballer (b. 1931)
- 2005Ara Berberian, American opera singer (b. 1930)
- 2005Eugene Scott, American religious broadcaster (b. 1929)
- 2005Gérard Bessette, French-Canadian novelist and poet (b. 1920)
- 2005Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Cuban novelist (b. 1929)
- 2008Ben Chapman, American actor (b. 1928)
- 2008Sunny Lowry, first British woman to swim the English Channel (b. 1911)
- 2011Bernard Nathanson, American abortionist turned pro-life activist (b. 1926)
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