July 21 facts for kids

2023 Calendar

July 21 is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 163 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events
Births
Deaths
Observances
See also

Events

Up to 1900

356 BC – The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus (present-day Turkey), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is destroyed in an arson attack.
230 – Pope Pontian succeeds Pope Urban I.
285 – Diocletian appoints Maximian as Roman Caesar and co-ruler.
365 – After a magnitude 8 earthquake, and a tsunami, around 50,000 people are killed in and around Alexandria, Egypt.
1342 – The St. Mary Magdalene's flood leads to several rivers in central Europe bursting their banks. It is Europe's worst flood of the second millennium.
1403 – Battle of Shrewsbury: King Henry IV of England defeats rebels in the north of the county of Shropshire.
1545 – The first landing of French troops on the coast of the Isle of Wight, during the island's French invasion.
1645 – Qing Dynasty regent Dorgon issues an edict ordering all Han Chinese men to shave their forehead and braid the rest of their hair into a queue identical to those of the Manchus.
1656 – The Raid on Malaga takes place during the Anglo-Spanish War.
1718 – The Treaty of Passarowitz between the Ottoman Empire, Austria and the Republic of Venice is signed.
1774 – The First Russo-Turkish War ends.
1795 – Mungo Park becomes the first European to reach the River Niger.
1798 – Battle of the Pyramids: Napoleon Bonaparte's army defeats the army of the Mamluks under the leadership of Mourad Bey.
1822 – Agustin de Iturbide becomes Emperor of Mexico.
1831 – The British Guyana colony is created.
1831 – Leopold I, King of the Belgians becomes Belgium's first king.
1843 – Antwerp Zoo is founded, becoming the first zoo in Belgium.
1847 – Spain recognizes Bolivia's independence.
1861 – American Civil War: The First Battle of Bull Run at Manassas ends in Confederate victory.
1865 – Wild Bill Hickok shoots Davis Tutt in one of the first Western showdowns.
1873 – At Adair, Iowa Jesse James and the James Younger Gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the Old American West.
1897 – London's Tate Gallery opens.

1901 – 2000

1902 – The steamer Primus sinks in the Elbe River near Hamburg, killing 101 people.
1904 – Louis Rigolly, a Frenchman, becomes the first man to break the 100 miles per hour (160 kilometres per hour) barrier on land. He drove a 15-litre Gobron-Brille in Ostend, Belgium.
1907 – The passenger steamer SS Columbia collides with the steam schooner San Pedro off Shelter Cove, California. The Columbia sinks, killing 88 people.
1914 – Romania, it is decided, is neutral in World War I, after a decision by the country's crown council.
1925 – Tennessee high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching the theory of evolution. He is fined 100 dollars.
1925 – Malcolm Campbell becomes the first man to break the 150 miles per hour (240 kilometres per hour) land barrier at Pendine Sands, Wales. He drove a Sunbeam at a two-way average speed of 150.33 miles per hour (241.93 kilometres per hour).
1938 – In a peace deal at the end of the Chaco War, Bolivia loses part of its territory to Paraguay. That makes Paraguay twice as big.
1944 – Leaders of the July 20 plot to kill Adolf Hitler are executed.
1944 – World War II: The Battle of Guam begins.
1949 – The United States Senate ratifies the North Atlantic Treaty.
1951 – The Dalai Lama returns to Tibet from exile.
1954 – Publication of the first part of the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.
1954 – The Geneva Conference decides to split Vietnam into North and South.
1959 – Pumpsie Green becomes the first African American to play for the Boston Red Sox baseball team.
1961 – Gus Grissom becomes the second American in space.
1962 – British band the Rolling Stones play their first show, at the Marquee Club in London.
1969 – At 2:56 am on this day (July 20 in the US), Apollo 11 lands, leading to Neil Armstrong becoming the first person to walk on the Moon.
1970 – In Egypt, the Aswan Dam is completed.
1972 – The Troubles: Bloody Friday - Provisional IRA members detonate 22 bombs in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the space of 80 minutes.
1973 – Lillehammer affair: The Mossad kills waiter Ahmed Bouchiki in Norway, mistakenly thinking he was terrorist leader Ali Hassan Salameh.
1974 – Eddy Merckx wins his 5th Tour de France.
1977 – Start of the four-day Libyan-Egyptian War.
1983 – The lowest-measured temperature is recorded as −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) at the Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica.
1992 – Russia and Moldova enter into a peace agreement.
1994 – Tony Blair becomes leader of the British Labour Party.
1994 – Jacques Santer is elected President of the European Commission.
1996 – Bjarne Riis becomes the first Scandinavian to win the Tour de France.

From 2001

2001 – At the end of a fireworks display in Okura Beach, Akashi, Hyogo, Japan, the footbridge connecting the beach to the JR Asagiri railway station becomes crowded, with the resulting crush killing 11 people and injuring 120.
2005 – Horst Koehler dissolves the Bundestag (German Parliament) ahead of an early election.
2007 – The last novel in the Harry Potter series goes on sale.
2008 – Former Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is arrested on war crimes charges in Belgrade, after several years in disguise.
2011 – The Space Shuttle program ends, as the Space Shuttle Atlantis returns safely to Earth on its last mission.
2013 – King Albert II of Belgium leaves the throne to his son, who becomes King Philippe of Belgium, and is therefore the 7th King of the Belgians.
2013 – British cyclist Chris Froome wins the 100th Tour de France.
2016 – Donald Trump accepts the Republican Party nomination for US President.

Births

Up to 1900

1414 – Pope Sixtus IV (d. 1484)
1515 – Philip Neri, Italian saint (d. 1595)
1620 – Jean Picard, French astronomer (d. 1682)
1664 – Matthew Prior, English poet and diplomat (d. 1721)
1693 – Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Prime Minister of Great Britain (d. 1768)
1766 – Thomas Charles Hope, Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1844)
1808 – Simion Barnutiu, Romanian philosopher, liberal politician, jurist and historian (d. 1864)
1810 – Henri Victor Regnault, French chemist and physicist (d. 1878)
1816 – Paul Reuter, German-British journalist (d. 1899)
1821 – Vasile Alecsandri, Romanian poet, dramatist and politician (d. 1890)
1843 – Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal (d. 1884)
1851 – Sam Bass, American train robber and outlaw (d. 1878)
1856 – Wilhelm Geiger, German indologist (d. 1943)
1858 – Maria Christina of Austria, Queen of Spain (d. 1929)
1858 – Lovis Corinth, German painter and graphic artist (d. 1925)
1864 – Frances Folsom Cleveland, First Lady of the United States (d. 1947)
1870 – Emil Orlik, Czech painter and graphic artist (d. 1932)
1873 – Charles Schlee, Danish-American cyclist (d. 1947)
1875 – Charles Gondouin, French rugby player (d. 1947)
1879 – Joseph A. A. Burnquist, Governor of Minnesota (d. 1961)
1880 – Milan Rastislav Stefanik, Slovakian politician and astronomer (d. 1919)
1882 – David Burliuk, Ukrainian illustrator, publicist and author (d. 1967)
1885 – Jacques Feyder, Belgian actor, screenwriter and movie director (d. 1948)
1891 – Julius Saaristo, Finnish javelin thrower (d. 1969)
1893 – Hans Fallada, German writer (d. 1947)
1893 – Margarete Sommer, German humanitarian (d. 1965)
1897 – Edmund Heines, German Nazi politician (d. 1934)
1899 – Hart Crane, American poet (d. 1932)
1899 – Ernest Hemingway, American writer (d. 1961)

1901 – 1950

1903 – Roy Neuberger, American financier and art collector (d. 2010)
1908 – Ljerko Spiller, Argentine conductor and violinist (d. 2008)
1908 – Harold "Jug" McSpaden, American golfer (d. 1996)
1911 – Marshall McLuhan, Canadian writer (d. 1980)
1914 – Suso Cecchi d'Amico, Italian screenwriter (d. 2010)
1919 – Nuto Revelli, Italian military, resistance activist, professor and writer (d. 2004)
1920 – John Horsley, English actor (d. 2014)
1920 – Isaac Stern, Ukrainian violinist (d. 2001)
1920 – Constant Nieuwenhuys, Dutch painter (d. 2005)
1920 – Mohammed Dib, Algerian journalist and writer (d. 2003)
1921 – James Cooke Brown, American sociologist (d. 2000)
1922 – Jay Hammond, Governor of Alaska (d. 2005)
1922 – Kay Starr, American entertainer (d. 2016)
1922 – Molly Sugden, British actress (d. 2009)
1923 – Rudolph A. Marcus, Canadian chemist
1924 – Rahimuddin Khan, Pakistani politician, 7th Governor of Balochistan
1924 – Don Knotts, American actor (d. 2006)
1925 – Anne Meacham, American actress (d. 2006)
1926 – Norman Jewison, Canadian movie director
1926 – Bill Pertwee, English actor (d. 2013)
1926 – Karel Reisz, Czech-English director (d. 2002)
1930 – Helen Merrill, American jazz singer
1933 – John Gardner, American writer (d. 1982)
1934 – Jonathan Miller, British director, actor and author
1935 – Norbert Blüm, German politician
1938 – Janet Reno, United States Attorney General (d. 2016)
1938 – Anton Kuerti, Austrian-Canadian pianist, composer and conductor
1939 – Helmut Haller, German footballer (d. 2012)
1939 – Kim Fowley, American record producer (d. 2015)
1941 – Martin Bandier, music publisher
1943 – Edward Herrmann, American actor (d. 2014)
1943 – Henry McCullough, Northern Irish guitarist, singer and songwriter (d. 2016)
1944 – Buchi Emecheta, Nigerian novelist (d. 2017)
1944 – John Atta Mills, President of Ghana (d. 2012)
1944 – Paul Wellstone, U.S. Senator from Minnesota (d. 2002)
1945 – Lydia Shum, Hong Kong actress and singer (d. 2008)
1945 – John Lowe, English darts player
1945 – Wendy Cope, English poet
1946 – Ken Starr, American lawyer and judge
1946 – Jüri Tarmak, Estonian high jumper
1947 – Chetan Chauan, Indian cricketer
1947 – Co Adriaanse, Dutch football manager
1948 – Beppe Grillo, Italian actor, comedian and political activist (Five Star Movement)
1948 – Ed Hinton, sportswriter
1948 – Yusuf Islam, English singer, formerly known as Cat Stevens
1948 – Garry Trudeau, American cartoonist
1948 – Litto Nebbia, Argentine tango and rock musician
1948 – Snooty, American manatee (d. 2017)
1950 – Susan Kramer, English politician

1951 – 1975

1951 – Robin Williams, American actor and comedian (d. 2014)
1953 – John Salazar, American politician
1955 – Marcelo Bielsa, Argentine footballer and manager
1955 – Taco, Indonesian-born Dutch singer
1955 – Howie Epstein, American bass player, songwriter and producer (d. 2003)
1955 – Béla Tarr, Hungarian actor, director and screenwriter
1955 – Dannel Malloy, American politician, 88th Governor of Connecticut
1957 – Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden
1957 – Jon Lovitz, American comedian
1958 – Dave Henderson, American baseball player (d. 2015)
1960 – Lance Guest, American actor
1962 – Mokgweetsi Masisi, 5th President of Botswana
1964 – Ross Kemp, British actor
1964 – Jens Weissflog, German ski jumper
1965 – Gudni Bergsson, Icelandic footballer
1968 – Brandi Chastain, American soccer player
1968 – Lyle Odelein, hockey player
1969 – Emerson Hart, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
1970 – Angus MacNeil, Scottish politician
1971 – Charlotte Gainsbourg, French actress
1972 – Catherine Ndereba, Kenyan long-distance runner
1972 – Simon Reeve, English television presenter and writer
1973 – Roberto Bisconti, Belgian footballer
1973 – Ali Landry, American model and actress
1973 – Caroline Néron, Canadian singer, actress and fashion designer

From 1976

1977 – Paul Casey, British golfer
1977 – Jaime Murray, British actress
1978 – Kyoko Iwasaki, Japanese swimmer
1978 – Gary Teale, Scottish footballer
1978 – Josh Hartnett, American actor
1978 – Damian Marley, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer
1979 – David Carr, American football player
1979 – Dorinel Gurbina, Romanian handball player
1979 – Andriy Voronin, Ukrainian footballer
1980 – CC Sabathia, American baseball player
1981 – Paloma Faith, English singer-songwriter and actress
1981 – Yushin Okami, Japanese mixed martial artist
1981 – Joaquín Sánchez, Spanish footballer
1982 – Mao Kobayashi, Japanese actress
1983 – Kellen Winslow Jr., American football player
1983 – Eivør Pálsdóttir, Faroese singer and composer
1984 – Liam Ridgewell, English footballer
1985 – Von Wafer, American basketball player
1986 – Anthony Annan, Ghanaian footballer
1986 – Livia Brito, Cuban-Mexican actress and model
1986 – Rebecca Ferguson, English singer
1988 – DeAndre Jordan, American basketball player
1989 – Rory Culkin, American actor
1989 – Ali Cobrin, American actress
1989 – Juno Temple, English actress
1989 – Marco Fabian, Mexican footballer
1989 – Chris Gunter, Welsh footballer
1990 – Chris Martin, English footballer
1992 – Rachael Flatt, American figure skater
1992 – Jessica Barden, English actress
1995 – Baekho, South Korean singer

Deaths

Up to 1950

1403 – Henry Percy, English nobleman and soldier (b. 1364)
1425 – Manuel II Palaeologus, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1350)
1552 – Antonio de Mendoza, 1st Viceroy of New Spain (b. 1495)
1793 – Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, French explorer (b. 1739)
1796 – Robert Burns, Scottish poet (b. 1759)
1796 – Philip Carteret, English explorer (b. 1733)
1859 – John Gayle, American politician (b. 1792)
1865 – Davis Tutt, American gambler and salloon drinker (b. 1836)
1878 – Sam Bass, American train robber and outlaw (b. 1851)
1880 – Hiram Walden, American politician (b. 1800)
1889 – Nelson Dewey, American politician (b. 1813)
1899 – Robert G. Ingersoll, American soldier and politician (b. 1833)
1907 – Nicolae Grigorescu, Romanian painter (b. 1838)
1938 – Owen Wister, American writer (b. 1860)
1941 – Bohdan Lepky, Ukrainian writer and poet (b. 1872)
1943 – Charley Paddock, American politician (b. 1900)
1944 – Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, leader of the July 20 plot to kill Hitler (b. 1907)
1944 – Ludwig Beck, German Chief of Staff (b. 1880)
1946 – Gualberto Villarroel, 45th President of Bolivia (b. 1908)
1948 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter and illustrator (b. 1904)

1951 – 2010

1967 – Albert Lutuli, South African political activist (b. 1898)
1967 – Basil Rathbone, British actor (b. 1892)
1968 – Ruth St. Denis, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1878)
1970 – Mikhail Gerasimov, Russian anthropologist and sculptor (b. 1907)
1972 – Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, King of Bhutan (b. 1928)
1972 – Ralph Craig, American sprinter (b. 1889)
1973 – Ahmed Bouchiki, Algerian-born victim of mistaken identity, killed by the Mossad in Norway (b. 1943)
1982 – Dave Garroway, American journalist (b. 1913)
1991 – Paul Warwick, English racing driver (b. 1969)
1998 – Robert Young, American actor (b. 1907)
1998 – Alan Shepard, the first American to travel into space (b. 1923)
2004 – Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist (b. 1918)
2010 – Anthony Rolfe Johnson, British operatic tenor (b. 1940)
2010 – Luis Corvalán, Chilean Communist politician (b. 1916)