May 21
is the 141st day of the year in the
Gregorian calendar (142nd in leap years). There are 224 days remaining.
*
996 - Sixteen-year-old
Otto III is crowned
Holy Roman Emperor.
*
1502 - The island of
Saint Helena is discovered by the
Portuguese navigator João da Nova.
*
1674 -
John Sobieski is elected by the
szlachta to be the King of
Poland.
*
1725 - The
Order of Alexander Nevsky was instituted in
Russia by an
empress Catherine I.
*
1758 -
Mary Campbell is abducted from her home in
Pennsylvania by
Lenape during the
French and Indian War.
*
1851 - Abolition of
slavery in
Colombia,
South America.
*
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.
*
1871 -
French Government 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.
*
1879 -
War of the Pacific: Two
Chilean ships blocking the harbor of
Iquique (then belonging to Peru), battle two
Peruvian vessels in the
Battle of Iquique.
*
1881 - The
American Red Cross is established by
Clara Barton.
*
1894 - The
Manchester Ship Canal in
England is officially opened by
Queen Victoria, who knights its designer
Sir Edward Leader Williams.
*1894 - 22-year-old
French Anarchist Emile Henry is executed by
guillotine.
*
1904 -
Fédération Internationale de Football Association (
FIFA) founded in
Paris.
*
1917 -
Great Atlanta fire of 1917.
*
1924 -
University of Chicago students
Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr. murder 14-year-old
Bobby Franks in a "
thrill killing."
*
1927 -
Charles Lindbergh touchs down at
Le Bourget Field in
Paris, completing the world's first solo nonstop flight across the
Atlantic Ocean.
*
1932 -
Amelia Earhart, because of bad weather, lands in a pasture in
Derry,
Northern Ireland, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the
Atlantic Ocean.
*
1934 -
Oskaloosa, Iowa, becomes the first municipality in the
United States to fingerprint each of its citizens.
*
1936 -
Sada Abe is arrested after wandering the streets of
Tokyo for days with her dead lover's severed
genitals in her hand. Her story soon became one of
Japan's most notorious
scandals.
*
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.
*
1945 -
United States screen legend
Humphrey Bogart marries actress
Lauren Bacall.
*
1956 -
Nuclear testing: In the
Pacific Ocean,
Bikini Atoll is nearly obliterated by the first airborne explosion of a
hydrogen bomb.
*
1958 -
United Kingdom Postmaster General Ernest Marples announces that from
December,
Subscriber Trunk Dialling will be introduced in the
Bristol area.
*
1961 -
American civil rights movement:
Alabama Governor John Malcolm Patterson declares
martial law in an attempt to restore order after
race riots break out.
*
1972 -
Michelangelo's
Pietà, in
St. Peter's Basilica in
Rome, is damaged by a
vandal.
*
1979 -
White Night riots in
San Francisco following the
manslaughter conviction of
Dan White for the assassinations of
George Moscone and
Harvey Milk.
*
1980 -
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back opens in theaters.
*
1981 -
Pierre Mauroy becomes
Prime Minister of
France.
*
1991 - Former
Indian
prime minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a
female suicide bomber near
Madras.
*
1996 - The
MV Bukoba sinks in
Tanzanian waters on
Lake Victoria, killing nearly 1000.
*
1998 - At
Thurston High School in
Springfield, Oregon,
Kipland Kinkel, 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.
*
2001 -
French Taubira law which officially recognize the
Atlantic slave trade and
slavery as
crimes against humanity.
*
2003 - An
earthquake hits northern
Algeria, killing more than 2,000 people.
*
2004 -
Sherpa Pemba Dorje climbs
Mount Everest in 8 hours 10 minutes, breaking his rival
Sherpa Lakpa Gelu's record from the previous year.
*2004 -
Stanislav Petrov is awarded the
World Citizen Award for averting a potential
World War III in
1983.
*
2005 - In
Kiev,
Ukraine,
Greece wins the fiftieth
Eurovision Song Contest with "
My Number One" performed by
Elena Paparizou.
*
2006 - The
Republic of Montenegro holds a
referendum proposing independence from the
State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
*
2006 - The Swedish
ice hockey team
Tre Kronor takes gold in the World Championship and becomes the first nation to take gold in both the World Championship and
Olympic games in ice hockey.
*
1471 -
Albrecht Dürer, German painter (d.
1528)
*
1527 - King
Philip II of Spain (d.
1598)
*
1664 -
Giulio Alberoni, Italian cardinal (d.
1754)
*
1688 -
Alexander Pope, English poet (d.
1744)
*
1755 -
Alfred Moore, American judge (d.
1810)
*
1763 -
Joseph Fouché, French statesman (d.
1820)
*
1780 -
Elizabeth Fry, British social reformer (d.
1845)
*
1792 -
Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis, French scientist (d.
1843)
*
1843 -
Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss politician,
Nobel laureate (d.
1914)
*
1844 -
Henri Rousseau, French artist (d.
1910)
*
1850 -
Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian volcanologist (d.
1914)
*
1851 -
Léon Bourgeois, French statesman,
Nobel laureate (d.
1925)
*
1853 -
Jacques Marie Eugène Godefroy Cavaignac, French politician (d.
1905)
*
1860 -
Willem Einthoven, Dutch inventor,
Nobel laureate (d.
1927)
*
1863 -
Archduke Eugen of Austria, Austrian field marshal (d.
1954)
*
1873 -
Hans Berger, German neuroscientist (d.
1941)
*
1880 -
Tudor Arghezi, Romanian writer (d.
1967)
*
1898 -
Armand Hammer, American physician (d.
1990)
*
1901 -
Horace Heidt, American band leader (d.
1986)
* 1901 -
Sam Jaffe, American film producer (d.
2000)
*
1902 -
Earl Averill, baseball player (d.
1983)
* 1902 -
Marcel Lajos Breuer, Hungarian-born architect (d.
1981)
*
1903 -
Manly Wade Wellman, American author (d.
1986)
*
1904 -
Robert Montgomery, American actor (d.
1981)
* 1904 -
Fats Waller, American pianist (d.
1943)
*
1912 -
Monty Stratton, baseball player (d.
1982)
*
1916 -
Tinus Osendarp, Dutch runner (d.
2002)
* 1916 -
Harold Robbins, American novelist (d.
1997)
*
1917 -
Raymond Burr, American actor (d.
1993)
*
1920 -
Anthony Steel, British actor (d.
2001)
*
1921 -
Andrei Sakharov, Russian physicist (d.
1989)
*
1923 -
Armand Borel, Swiss mathematician (d.
2003)
* 1923 -
Ara Parseghian, American football coach
*
1924 -
Peggy Cass, American actress (d.
1999)
*
1926 -
Robert Creeley, American poet (d.
2005)
*
1930 -
Malcolm Fraser, 22nd
Prime Minister of Australia*
1933 -
Maurice André, French trumpeter
*
1934 -
Bengt I. Samuelsson, Swedish biochemist,
Nobel laureate*
1936 -
Günter Blobel, German biologist,
Nobel laureate*
1939 -
Heinz Holliger, Swiss musician
*
1941 -
Martin Carthy, English musician
* 1941 -
Ronald Isley, American singer (
The Isley Brothers)
*
1943 -
Hilton Valentine, British guitarist (
The Animals)
*
1944 -
Mary Robinson,
President of Ireland* 1944 -
Marcie Blane, American singer
*
1945 -
Ernst Messerschmid, German astronaut
*
1948 -
Leo Sayer, English musician
*
1951 -
Al Franken, American comedian
*
1952 -
Mr. T, (Birth Name Laurence Tureaud) American actor
*
1955 -
Paul Barber, British field hockey player
* 1955 -
Stan Lynch, American drummer
*
1957 -
Judge Reinhold, American actor
* 1957 -
Renée Soutendijk, Dutch actress
*
1959 -
Nick Cassavetes, American actor
*
1960 -
Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (d.
1994)
*
1963 -
Richard Appel, American writer
*
1964 -
Danny Bailey, English footballer
* 1964 -
Danny Lee Clark, American football player
*
1967 -
Chris Benoit, Canadian professional wrestler
* 1967 -
Lisa Edelstein, American actress
*
1968 -
Matthias Ungemach, German rower
*
1969 -
Masayo Kurata, Japanese voice actress
*
1970 -
Carl Veart, Australian Soccer player
*
1972 -
The Notorious B.I.G., American musician (d.
1997)
* 1972 -
Alesha Oreskovich, American model
*
1974 -
Fairuza Balk, American Actress
* 1974 -
Havoc, American rapper (
Mobb Deep)
*
1975 -
Todd White, Canadian ice hockey player
*
1977 -
Quinton Fortune, South African footballer
* 1977 -
Ricky Williams, American football player
*
1978 -
Briana Banks, German-American adult film star
*
1979 -
Damian Ariel Álvarez, Argentinian footballer
*
1980 -
Raab Himself, American actor
*
1981 -
Belladonna, American pornographic actress
* 1981 -
Max, German singer
*
1984 -
Bria Myles, American model
*
1985 -
Kano, British rapper
* 1985 -
Mutya Buena, British singer (ex-
Sugababes)
*
1987 -
Ashlie Brillault, American actress
*
1992 -
Olivia Olson, American singer
*
987 - King
Louis V of France*
1254 -
Conrad IV of Germany (b.
1228)
*
1481 - King
Christian I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (b.
1426)
*
1512 -
Pandolfo Petrucci, ruler of Siena
*
1524 -
Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, English soldier
*
1542 -
Hernando de Soto, Spanish explorer
*
1607 -
John Rainolds, English scholar (b.
1549)
*
1639 -
Tommaso Campanella, Italian theologian (b.
1568)
*
1647 -
Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch poet (b.
1581)
*
1650 -
James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, Scottish royalist (b.
1612)
*
1664 -
Elizabeth Poole, Puritan businesswoman
*
1670 -
Niccolo Zucchi, Italian astronomer (b.
1586)
*
1690 -
John Eliot, English Puritan missionary (b.
1604)
*
1724 -
Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, English statesman (b.
1661)
*
1742 -
Lars Roberg, Swedish physician (b.
1664)
*
1771 -
Christopher Smart, English poet (b.
1722)
*
1786 -
Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Swedish chemist (b.
1742)
*
1790 -
Thomas Warton, English poet (b.
1728)
*
1844 -
Giuseppe Baini, Italian composer (b.
1775)
*
1862 -
John Drew, Irish-born American actor (b.
1827)
*
1879 -
Arturo Prat, Chilean naval officer (b.
1848)
*
1894 -
Emile Henry, French anarchist (b.
1872)
* 1894 -
August Kundt, German physicist (b.
1839)
*
1895 -
Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer (b.
1819)
*
1911 -
Williamina Fleming, Scottish-born astronomer (b.
1857)
*
1915 -
Leonid Gobyato, Russian general (b.
1875)
*
1929 -
Archibald Primrose,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b.
1847)
*
1935 -
Jane Addams, American social worker,
Nobel laureate (b.
1860)
*
1949 -
Klaus Mann, German writer (b.
1906)
*
1952 -
John Garfield, American actor (b.
1913)
*
1957 -
Aleksandr Vertinsky, Russian singer (b.
1889)
*
1964 -
James Franck, German-born physicist,
Nobel laureate (b.
1882)
*
1965 -
Geoffrey de Havilland, British aircraft designer (b.
1882)
*
1970 -
E. L. Grant Watson, Australian biologist (b.
1885)
*
1973 -
Vaughn Monroe, American musician (b.
1911)
*
1988 -
Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer (b.
1900)
*
1991 -
Rajiv Gandhi,
Prime Minister of India (b.
1944)
*
1996 -
Lash LaRue, American actor (b.
1917)
*
1999 -
Karnai "Bugz" Pitts, American rapper (
D12) (b.
1979)
*
2000 -
Barbara Cartland, English author (b.
1901)
* 2000 - Sir
John Gielgud, British actor (b.
1904)
* 2000 -
Mark R. Hughes, American enterpreneur (b.
1956)
*
2002 -
Niki de Saint Phalle, French artist (b.
1930)
*
2003 -
Frank D. White, American politician (b.
1933)
*
2006 -
Katherine Dunham, American dancer (b.
1909)
*2006 -
Spencer Clark, American racecar driver, (b.
1987)
*2006 -
Billy Walker, American singer (b.
1929)
*
Navy Day (Día de las Glorias Navales) in
Chile.
*
Dia de la Afrocolombianidad marks the abolition of slavery in
Colombia.
Liturgical feasts
Catholic :
*
Saint Constantine the Great*
Saint Charles-Eugène de Mazenod*
Saint Goderik*
Saint MireilleEastern Orthodox*
Saints Constantine and
Helena*
Equals-to-the-Apostles*
BBC: On This Day*
The New York Times: On This Day*
On This Day in CanadaMay 20 -
May 22 -
April 21 -
June 21 –
listing of all days
