What happened on May 21? There are more than 281 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 May 21
May 21 is the 142nd day of the year 2024. There are 224 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Tuesday. This day falls under the 21st week of the year 2024.
On this day in Morgan City, Mississippi 38946 sunrise will occur at 05:55 AM and sunset will occur at 08:00 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Taurus. The modern birthstone for this month is Emerald while the mystical birthstone is Sapphire.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 253 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
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Historical Events For May 21
- 293Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Galerius as Caesar to Diocletian, beginning the period of four rulers known as the Tetrarchy.
- 878Syracuse, Italy is captured by the Muslim sultan of Sicily.
- 879Pope John VIII gives blessings to duke Branimir and to Croatian people, considered to be international recognition of the Croatian state.
- 996Sixteen-year-old Otto III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1349Dušan’s Code, the constitution of the Serbian Empire, is enacted by Dušan the Mighty.
- 1502The island of Saint Helena is discovered by the Portuguese explorer João da Nova.
- 1554A royal Charter is granted to Derby School as a grammar school for boys in Derby, England, by Queen Mary I.
- 1674The nobility elect John Sobieski King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.
- 1725The Order of St. Alexander Nevsky is instituted in Russia by Empress Catherine I. It would later be discontinued and then reinstated by the Soviet government in 1942 as the Order of Alexander Nevsky.
- 1758Mary Campbell is abducted from her home in Pennsylvania by Lenape during the French and Indian War.
- 1809The first day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling between the Austrian army led by Archduke Charles and the French army led by Napoleon I of France sees the French attack across the Danube held.
- 1851Slavery is abolished in Colombia, South America.
- 1856Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces.
- 1863American Civil War: The Union Army succeeds in closing off the last escape route from Port Hudson, Louisiana, in preparation for the coming siege.
- 1863Organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan.
- 1864Russia declares an end to the Russian-Circassian War and many Circassians are forced into exile. The day is designated the Circassian Day of Mourning.
- 1871French troops invade the Paris Commune and engage its residents in street fighting. By the close of “Bloody Week” some 20,000 communards have been killed and 38,000 arrested.
- 1871Opening of the first rack railway in Europe, the Rigi-Bahnen on Mount Rigi.
- 1879War of the Pacific: Two Chilean ships blocking the harbor of Iquique (then belonging to Peru) battle two Peruvian vessels in the Battle of Iquique.
- 1881The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton in Washington, D.C.
- 1894The Manchester Ship Canal in England is officially opened by Queen Victoria, who later knights its designer Sir Edward Leader Williams.
- 1904The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is founded in Paris.
- 1911Mexican President Porfirio Díaz and the revolutionary Francisco Madero sign the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez to put an end to the fighting between the forces of both men, and thus concluding the initial phase of the Mexican Revolution.
- 1917The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is established through Royal Charter to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations military forces.
- 1917The Great Atlanta fire of 1917.
- 1924University of Chicago students Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr. murder 14-year-old Bobby Franks in a “thrill killing”.
- 1927Charles Lindbergh touches down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world’s first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
- 1932Bad weather forces Amelia Earhart to land in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland, and she thereby becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
- 1934Oskaloosa, Iowa, becomes the first municipality in the United States to fingerprint all of its citizens.
- 1936Sada Abe is arrested after wandering the streets of Tokyo for days with her dead lover’s severed genitals in her hand. Her story soon becomes one of Japan’s most notorious scandals.
- 1937A Soviet station becomes the first scientific research settlement to operate on the drift ice of the Arctic Ocean.
- 1939The Canadian National War Memorial is unveiled by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Ottawa.
- 1946Physicist Louis Slotin is fatally irradiated in a criticality incident during an experiment with the Demon core at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
- 1951The opening of the Ninth Street Show, otherwise known as the 9th Street Art Exhibition – a gathering of a number of notable artists, and the stepping-out of the post war New York avant-garde, collectively known as the New York School.
- 1961American civil rights movement: Alabama Governor John Malcolm Patterson declares martial law in an attempt to restore order after race riots break out.
- 1966The Ulster Volunteer Force declares war on the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland.
- 1969Civil unrest in Rosario, Argentina, known as Rosariazo, following the death of a 15-year-old student.
- 1972Michelangelo’s Pietà in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome is damaged by a vandal, the mentally disturbed Hungarian geologist Laszlo Toth.
- 1979White Night riots in San Francisco following the manslaughter conviction of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk.
- 1981Irish Republican hunger strikers Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O’Hara die on hunger strike in Maze prison.
- 1981The Italian government releases the membership list of Propaganda Due, an illegal pseudo-Masonic lodge that was implicated in numerous Italian crimes and mysteries.
- 1982Falklands War: British amphibious assault during Operation Sutton lead to the Battle of San Carlos.
- 1990Democratic Republic of Yemen and North Yemen agree to merge into the Republic of Yemen.
- 1991Former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a female suicide bomber near Madras.
- 1991Mengistu Haile Mariam, president of the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, flees Ethiopia, effectively bringing the Ethiopian Civil War to an end.
- 1994The Democratic Republic of Yemen unsuccessful attempts to secede from Republic of Yemen; a war breaks out.
- 1996The MV Bukoba sinks in Tanzanian waters on Lake Victoria, killing nearly 1,000.
- 1996The Trappist Martyrs of Atlas are executed.
- 1998In Miami, Florida, five abortion clinics are hit by a butyric acid attacker.
- 2001French Taubira law officially recognizes the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity.
- 2003An earthquake hits northern Algeria killing more than 2,000 people.
- 2005The tallest roller coaster in the world, Kingda Ka opens at Six Flags Great Adventure.
- 2006The Republic of Montenegro holds a referendum proposing independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. The Montenegrin people choose independence with a majority of 55%.
Who Were Born On May 21?
- 1471Albrecht Dürer, German painter (d. 1528)
- 1527King Philip II of Spain (d. 1598)
- 1653Eleonora Maria Josefa of Austria (d. 1697)
- 1664Giulio Alberoni, Italian cardinal (d. 1754)
- 1688Alexander Pope, English poet (d. 1744)
- 1755Alfred Moore, American judge (d. 1810)
- 1763Joseph Fouché, French statesman (d. 1820)
- 1775Lucien Bonaparte, French politician, soldier and academic (d. 1840)
- 1780Elizabeth Fry, British social reformer (d. 1845)
- 1792Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis, French scientist (d. 1843)
- 1799Mary Anning, British fossil collector and paleontologist (d. 9 March 1847).
- 1827William P. Sprague, American politician (d. 1899)
- 1832Elizabeth Storrs Mead, American educator (d. 1917)
- 1835František Chvostek, Moravian physician (d. 1884)
- 1843Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss politician (d. 1914)
- 1844Henri Rousseau, French artist (d. 1910)
- 1850Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian vulcanologist (d. 1914)
- 1851Léon Bourgeois, French statesman, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 1925)
- 1853Jacques Marie Eugène Godefroy Cavaignac, French politician (d. 1905)
- 1856José Batlle y Ordóñez, Uruguayan politician (d. 1929)
- 1860Willem Einthoven, Dutch physiologist; Nobel laureate (d. 1927)
- 1863Archduke Eugen of Austria, Austrian field marshal (d. 1954)
- 1864Princess Stephanie of Belgium (d. 1945)
- 1873Hans Berger, German neuroscientist (d. 1941)
- 1878Glenn Curtiss, American aviation engineer (d. 1930)
- 1880Tudor Arghezi, Romanian writer (d. 1967)
- 1884Manuel Pérez y Curis, Uruguayan poet (d. 1920)
- 1885Sophie of Schönburg-Waldenburg, wife of William, Prince of Albania (d. 1936)
- 1898Armand Hammer, American businessman and physician (d. 1990)
- 1898Charles Léon Hammes, Luxembourgian lawyer and jurist (d. 1967)
- 1901Horace Heidt, American band leader (d. 1986)
- 1901Manfred Aschner, German-born Israeli microbiologist (d. 1989)
- 1901Sam Jaffe, American film producer (d. 2000)
- 1901Suzanne Lilar, Belgian essayist and playwright (d. 1992)
- 1902Earl Averill, American baseball player (d. 1983)
- 1902Marcel Lajos Breuer, Hungarian-born architect (d. 1981)
- 1903Manly Wade Wellman, American writer (d. 1986)
- 1904Fats Waller, American pianist (d. 1943)
- 1904Robert Montgomery, American actor (d. 1981)
- 1907John C. Allen, American roller coaster designer (d. 1979)
- 1909François-Albert Angers, Quebec economist (d. 2003)
- 1912Akiva Vroman, Dutch-born Israeli geologist (d. 1989)
- 1912John Curtis Gowan, American psychologist (d. 1986)
- 1912Monty Stratton, American baseball player (d. 1982)
- 1913Gina Bachauer, Greek pianist (d. 1976)
- 1916Harold Robbins, American novelist (d. 1997)
- 1916Tinus Osendarp, Dutch runner (d. 2002)
- 1917Raymond Burr, Canadian actor (d. 1993)
- 1918Dennis Day, American singer and comedian (d. 1988)
- 1920Anthony Steel, British actor (d. 2001)
- 1920Forrest White, American musical instruments industry executive (d. 1994)
- 1921A.S. Douglas, British computer scientist (d. 2010)
- 1921Andrei Sakharov, Russian physicist (d. 1989)
- 1923Ara Parseghian, American football coach
- 1923Armand Borel, Swiss mathematician (d. 2003)
- 1923Evelyn Ward, American actress
- 1923Vernon Biever, American photographer (d. 2010)
- 1924Peggy Cass, American actress (d. 1999)
- 1926Robert Creeley, American poet (d. 2005)
- 1928Tom Donahue, American disc jockey (d. 1975)
- 1929Alice Drummond, American actress
- 1930Malcolm Fraser, Australian politician
- 1933Maurice André, French trumpeter
- 1933Yevgeni Minaev, Soviet weightlifter (d. 1993)
- 1934Bengt I. Samuelsson, Swedish biochemist, Nobel laureate
- 1936Günter Blobel, German biologist, Nobel laureate
- 1939Heinz Holliger, Swiss oboist, composer and conductor
- 1941Bobby Cox, American baseball manager and former player
- 1941Martin Carthy, English folk singer and guitarist
- 1941Ronald Isley, American singer (The Isley Brothers)
- 1942Danny Ongais, American race car driver
- 1943Hilton Valentine, British guitarist (The Animals)
- 1944Marcie Blane, American singer
- 1944Mary Robinson, President of Ireland
- 1945Ernst Messerschmid, German astronaut
- 1947Bill Champlin, American singer
- 1947Jonathan Hyde, Australian-born actor
- 1948Elizabeth Buchan, née Oakleigh-Walker, English writer
- 1948Leo Sayer, English singer and songwriter
- 1951Al Franken, American comedian and politician, junior senator of Minnesota
- 1952Mr. T, American actor
- 1954Marc Ribot, American guitarist and composer
- 1955Paul Barber, British field hockey player
- 1955Stan Lynch, American drummer (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
- 1957Bruce Buffer, American Mixed Martial Arts announcer
- 1957James Bailey, American basketball player
- 1957Judge Reinhold, American actor
- 1957Nadine Dorries, British Conservative politician
- 1957Renée Soutendijk, Dutch actress
- 1958Jefery Levy, American television director
- 1959Nick Cassavetes, American actor and director
- 1960Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (d. 1994)
- 1960Jeffrey Toobin, American writer and political analyst
- 1960Kent Hrbek, American baseball player
- 1960Mohanlal, Indian actor
- 1960Vladimir Salnikov, Russian swimmer
- 1962Richard Caputo, American Author
- 1963Kevin Shields, American-born Irish vocalist and guitarist (My Bloody Valentine)
- 1963Richard Appel, American writer
- 1964Carolyn Lawrence, American actress
- 1964Danny Bailey, English footballer
- 1964Danny Lee Clark, American football player
- 1964Nancy Benoit, American professional wrestler (d. 2007)
- 1967Blake Schwarzenbach, American musician (Jawbreaker, Jets to Brazil)
- 1967Chris Benoit, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 2007)
- 1967Lisa Edelstein, American actress
- 1968Julie Vega, Filipino child actress and singer (d. 1985)
- 1968Matthias Ungemach, German rower
- 1969George LeMieux, American politician
- 1969Georgiy R. Gongadze, Ukrainian/Georgian journalist
- 1969Masayo Kurata, Japanese voice actress
- 1969Pierluigi Brivio, Italian footballer
- 1970Carl Veart, Australian soccer player
- 1970Dorsey Levens, American football player
- 1972Adriano Cintra, Brazilian musician (CSS)
- 1972Alesha Oreskovich, American model
- 1972The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper (d. 1997)
- 1973Noel Fielding, British comedian
- 1973Stewart Cink, American golfer
- 1974Fairuza Balk, American actress
- 1974Havoc, American rapper (Mobb Deep)
- 1975Lee Gaze, Welsh guitarist (Lostprophets)
- 1976Aditi Gowitrikar, Indian model, actress and physician
- 1976Deron Miller, American singer, guitarist and songwriter (CKY)
- 1977Michael Fuß, German footballer
- 1977Quinton Fortune, South African footballer
- 1977Ricky Williams, American football player
- 1978Adam Gontier, Canadian singer (Three Days Grace)
- 1978Jamaal Magloire, Canadian basketball player
- 1979Briana Banks, German-American pornographic actress and model
- 1979Damián Ariel Álvarez, Argentinian footballer
- 1979Gaspard Augé, French DJ
- 1979James Clancy Phelan, Australian novelist
- 1979Jamie Hepburn, Scottish politician
- 1979Scott Smith, American mixed martial arts fighter
- 1980Chris Raab, American television personality
- 1980Gotye, Australian Musician
- 1981Craig Anderson, American ice hockey player
- 1981Edson Buddle, American footballer
- 1981Josh Hamilton, American baseball player
- 1981Maximilian Mutzke, German singer and drummer
- 1982Brian Klemm, American guitarist and vocalist (Suburban Legends)
- 1983Veloso, Brazilian footballer
- 1984Brandon Fields, American football player
- 1984Lorena Ayala, Dutch/Spanish model
- 1984Sara Goller, German beach volleyball player
- 1985Alexander Dale Oen, Norwegian swimmer
- 1985Andrew Miller, American baseball player
- 1985Isa Guha, English cricketer
- 1985Kano, British rapper
- 1985Marco Carta, Italian singer
- 1985Marie McCray, American adult actress
- 1985Mark Cavendish, Manx cyclist
- 1985Mutya Buena, English singer (Sugababes)
- 1986Alexander Noyes, American drummer (Honor Society)
- 1986Mario Mandžukić, Croatian footballer
- 1986Myra, American singer
- 1988Jonathan Howson, English footballer
- 1988Park Gyuri, Korean singer/actress/disc jockey
- 1989Hal Robson-Kanu, Welsh footballer
- 1989Katy B, English singer-songwriter
- 1991Sarah Ramos, American actress
- 1992Hutch Dano, American actor
- 1992Olivia Olson, American singer and actress
- 1994Tom Daley, English diver and Olympian
Who Died On May 21?
- 987King Louis V of France (b. 967)
- 1237Olaf the Black, King of Mann and the Isles
- 1254King Conrad IV of Germany (b. 1228)
- 1481King Christian I of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (b. 1426)
- 1512Pandolfo Petrucci, ruler of Siena (b. 1452)
- 1524Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, English soldier (b. 1443)
- 1542Hernando de Soto, Spanish explorer (b. 1496 or 1497)
- 1607John Rainolds, English scholar (b. 1549)
- 1639Tommaso Campanella, Italian theologian (b. 1568)
- 1647Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch poet (b. 1581)
- 1650James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, Scottish royalist (b. 1612)
- 1664Elizabeth Poole, English-born Puritan settler and founder of Taunton, Massachusetts (b. 1588)
- 1670Niccolò Zucchi, Italian astronomer (b. 1586)
- 1686Otto von Guericke, German scientist (b. 1602)
- 1690John Eliot, English Puritan missionary (b. 1604)
- 1719Pierre Poiret, French mystic (b. 1646)
- 1724Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, English statesman (b. 1661)
- 1742Lars Roberg, Swedish physician (b. 1664)
- 1771Christopher Smart, English poet (b. 1722)
- 1786Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Swedish chemist (b. 1742)
- 1790Thomas Warton, English poet (b. 1728)
- 1844Giuseppe Baini, Italian composer (b. 1775)
- 1862John Drew, Irish-born American actor (b. 1827)
- 1879Arturo Prat, Chilean naval officer (b. 1848)
- 1894August Kundt, German physicist (b. 1839)
- 1894Emile Henry, French anarchist (b. 1872)
- 1895Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer (b. 1819)
- 1911Williamina Fleming, Scottish-born astronomer (b. 1857)
- 1915Leonid Gobyato, Russian general (b. 1875)
- 1919Yevgraf Fyodorov, Russian mathematician (b. 1853)
- 1920Venustiano Carranza, 54th President of Mexico (b. 1859)
- 1929Archibald Primrose, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1847)
- 1935Jane Addams, American social worker, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1860)
- 1949Klaus Mann, German writer (b. 1906)
- 1952John Garfield, American actor (b. 1913)
- 1956Harry Bensley, English rake and adventurer (b. 1877)
- 1957Alexander Vertinsky, Russian poet, singer, composer, cabaret artist and actor (b. 1889)
- 1964James Franck, German-born physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1882)
- 1965Geoffrey de Havilland, British aircraft designer (b. 1882)
- 1970E. L. Grant Watson, English biologist and writer (b. 1885)
- 1973Vaughn Monroe, American baritone singer, trumpeter and big band leader (b. 1911)
- 1981Patsy O'Hara, Irish hunger striker (b. 1957)
- 1981Raymond McCreesh, Irish hunger striker (b. 1957)
- 1983Kenneth Clark, English art historian (b. 1903)
- 1984Ann Little, American actress (b. 1891)
- 1988Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer (b. 1900)
- 1991Lino Brocka, Filipino movie Director (b. 1939)
- 1991Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (b. 1944)
- 1995Les Aspin, American politician (b. 1938)
- 1996Lash LaRue, American actor (b. 1917)
- 1996Paul Delph, American singer, songwriter and producer (b. 1957)
- 1999Karnail “Bugz” Pitts, American rapper (D12) (b. 1979)
- 2000Barbara Cartland, English author (b. 1901)
- 2000Mark R. Hughes, American entrepreneur (b. 1956)
- 2000Sir John Gielgud, British actor (b. 1904)
- 2002Niki de Saint Phalle, French sculptor, painter and filmmaker (b. 1930)
- 2003Alejandro de Tomaso, Argentine-Italian racing driver and car manufacturer (b. 1928)
- 2003Frank D. White, American politician (b. 1933)
- 2005Howard Morris, American comic actor and director (b. 1919)
- 2006Billy Walker, American singer (b. 1929)
- 2006Cherd Songsri, Thai film director (b. 1931)
- 2006Katherine Dunham, American dancer (b. 1909)
- 2006Spencer Clark, American racecar driver (b. 1987)
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