May 21 facts for kids

May 21 is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 224 days remain until the end of the year.

May 21 is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 224 days left until the end of the year. This day is filled with many interesting historical events, important births, and notable deaths. It's also a day for special holidays and celebrations around the world!

Events

Early History (Before 1600)

• 293 – The Roman Empire gets a new system of four rulers called the Tetrarchy. Diocletian and Maximian appoint Galerius as a junior emperor.
• 878 – The city of Syracuse, Sicily, is captured by Muslim forces called the Aghlabids after a long nine-month siege.
• 879 – Pope John VIII officially recognizes Croatia as a state by blessing Branimir of Croatia and the Croatian people.
• 996 – Just sixteen years old, Otto III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor, a very powerful title.
• 1349 – Dušan's Code, which was like the constitution for the Serbian Empire, is put into law by Dušan the Mighty.
• 1403 – Henry III of Castile sends an ambassador, Ruy González de Clavijo, to meet Timur to discuss a possible alliance against the Ottoman Empire.
• 1554 – Queen Mary I gives a special permission, a royal charter, to Derby School in England. It becomes a grammar school for boys.

Later History (1601–1900)

• 1659 – In the Concert of The Hague, the Dutch Republic, England, and France discuss how to end the Second Northern War.
• 1660 – The Battle of Long Sault ends. French colonial soldiers and their Huron and Algonquin allies are defeated by the Iroquois Confederacy.
• 1674 – The nobility of Poland and Lithuania choose John Sobieski to be their King and Grand Duke.
• 1703 – Writer Daniel Defoe is sent to prison because of his writings, which were seen as criticizing the government.
• 1725 – Empress Catherine I creates the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky in Russia, a special award.
• 1758 – During the French and Indian War, ten-year-old Mary Campbell is taken by Lenape people in Pennsylvania. She returns home six and a half years later.
• 1792 – A lava dome on Mount Unzen in Japan collapses, causing a huge tsunami that kills nearly 15,000 people.
• 1799 – Napoleon Bonaparte gives up his Siege of Acre (1799) after two months. This was a major turning point and one of his first big defeats.
• 1809 – The first day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling takes place. The Austrian army stops Napoleon's French army from crossing the Danube River.
• 1851 – Slavery in Colombia is officially ended.
• 1856 – During a time of conflict over slavery in the United States, Lawrence, Kansas, is attacked and burned by forces who supported slavery.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The Union Army successfully blocks the last escape route from Port Hudson, Louisiana, preparing for a long siege.
• 1864 – Russia announces the end of the Russo-Circassian War. Many Circassians are forced to leave their homes. This day is now known as the Circassian Day of Mourning.
• 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House comes to an end.
• 1864 – The Ionian Islands officially become part of Greece again.
• 1871 – French troops enter the Paris Commune and fight its residents in the streets. During this "Bloody Week," many people lost their lives and thousands were arrested.
• 1871 – Europe's first rack railway, the Rigi Bahnen, opens on Mount Rigi in Switzerland.
• 1879 – War of the Pacific: Two Chilean ships fight two Peruvian ships in the Battle of Iquique, near the harbor of Iquique.
• 1881 – The American Red Cross is started by Clara Barton in Washington, D.C. This organization helps people in need.
• 1894 – The Manchester Ship Canal in the United Kingdom is officially opened by Queen Victoria. She later honors its designer, Sir Edward Leader Williams, by making him a knight.

Modern History (1901–present)

• 1904 – The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the organization that runs international football (soccer), is founded in Paris.
• 1911 – Mexican President Porfirio Díaz and revolutionary leader Francisco Madero sign the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez. This agreement helps end the first part of the Mexican Revolution.
• 1917 – The Imperial War Graves Commission is created. Its job is to mark and care for the graves of military forces from the British Empire.
• 1917 – The Great Atlanta fire of 1917 causes a lot of damage, destroying many homes and businesses. About 10,000 people lose their homes.
• 1927 – Charles Lindbergh lands at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1932 – Bad weather forces Amelia Earhart to land in Northern Ireland. She becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1934 – Oskaloosa, Iowa, becomes the first city in the United States to take fingerprints of all its citizens.
• 1937 – North Pole-1, a Soviet station, becomes the first scientific research base to operate on the floating ice of the Arctic Ocean.
• 1939 – The Canadian National War Memorial is revealed by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Ottawa, Canada.
• 1946 – Physicist Louis Slotin is accidentally exposed to a deadly amount of radiation during an experiment at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
• 1951 – The Ninth Street Show opens in New York. It brings together many important artists and marks the rise of the New York School of art.
• 1961 – American civil rights movement: Alabama Governor John Malcolm Patterson declares martial law to try and stop race riots.
• 1966 – The Ulster Volunteer Force announces it is at war with the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland.
• 1969 – Civil unrest, known as Rosariazo, breaks out in Rosario, Argentina, after a 15-year-old student dies.
• 1972 – Michelangelo's famous sculpture Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is damaged by a vandal.
• 1979 – White Night riots happen in San Francisco after Dan White is convicted of a lesser charge for the deaths of George Moscone and Harvey Milk.
• 1981 – Transamerica Corporation agrees to sell United Artists to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for $380 million after the movie Heaven's Gate loses a lot of money.
• 1982 – Falklands War: A British attack during Operation Sutton leads to the Battle of San Carlos.
• 1988 – Margaret Thatcher gives her well-known Sermon on the Mound speech to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
• 1991 – Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is killed near Madras.
• 1991 – Mengistu Haile Mariam, the president of Ethiopia, leaves the country, which helps bring the Ethiopian Civil War to an end.
• 1992 – After 30 seasons, Johnny Carson hosts his second-to-last episode of The Tonight Show, featuring guests Robin Williams and Bette Midler.
• 1994 – The Democratic Republic of Yemen tries to separate from the Republic of Yemen, leading to a war.
• 1996 – The ferry MV Bukoba sinks in Lake Victoria in Tanzania, causing nearly 1,000 deaths.
• 2001 – The French Taubira law is passed. It officially recognizes the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity.
• 2003 – The 6.8 magnitude Boumerdès earthquake hits northern Algeria. More than 2,200 people die, and a small tsunami sinks boats in the Balearic Islands.
• 2005 – The world's tallest roller coaster, Kingda Ka, opens at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey.
• 2006 – The Republic of Montenegro holds a vote on becoming independent from Serbia and Montenegro. 55% of Montenegrins vote for independence.
• 2010 – JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, launches the solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS. It would fly past Venus later that year.
• 2011 – Radio broadcaster Harold Camping predicted that the world would end on this date.
• 2012 – A bus accident near Himara, Albania kills 13 people and injures 21 others.
• 2017 – The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performs its very last show at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Births

Famous People Born Before 1900

• 1471 – Albrecht Dürer, a famous German painter and artist. (d. 1528)
• 1527 – Philip II of Spain, a powerful king of Spain. (d. 1598)
• 1688 – Alexander Pope, a well-known English poet and writer. (d. 1744)
• 1780 – Elizabeth Fry, an English reformer who worked to improve prisons. (d. 1845)
• 1792 – Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis, a French mathematician and engineer. (d. 1843)
• 1799 – Mary Anning, an English paleontologist who discovered many fossils. (d. 1847)
• 1843 – Charles Albert Gobat, a Swiss lawyer and politician who won the Nobel Peace Prize. (d. 1914)
• 1844 – Henri Rousseau, a famous French painter. (d. 1910)
• 1850 – Giuseppe Mercalli, an Italian priest and volcanologist, known for the Mercalli intensity scale for earthquakes. (d. 1914)
• 1851 – Léon Bourgeois, a French politician who served as Prime Minister and won the Nobel Peace Prize. (d. 1925)
• 1860 – Willem Einthoven, a Dutch physician who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the electrocardiogram (ECG). (d. 1927)
• 1878 – Glenn Curtiss, an American engineer and aviation pioneer. (d. 1930)
• 1895 – Lázaro Cárdenas, a Mexican general and president. (d. 1970)
• 1898 – Armand Hammer, an American businessman who founded Occidental Petroleum. (d. 1990)

Famous People Born After 1900

• 1904 – Fats Waller, an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. (d. 1943)
• 1917 – Raymond Burr, a Canadian-American actor. (d. 1993)
• 1921 – Andrei Sakharov, a Russian physicist and activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize. (d. 1989)
• 1924 – Peggy Cass, an American actress and comedian. (d. 1999)
• 1930 – Malcolm Fraser, the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. (d. 2015)
• 1934 – Bengt I. Samuelsson, a Swedish biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• 1936 – Günter Blobel, a Polish-American biologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. (d. 2018)
• 1941 – Ronald Isley, an American singer-songwriter, known from The Isley Brothers.
• 1944 – Mary Robinson, an Irish lawyer and the first female President of Ireland.
• 1948 – Leo Sayer, an English-Australian singer-songwriter.
• 1951 – Al Franken, an American actor, writer, and politician.
• 1952 – Mr. T, an American actor and wrestler.
• 1957 – Judge Reinhold, an American actor.
• 1959 – Nick Cassavetes, an American actor, director, and screenwriter.
• 1960 – Mohanlal, a famous Indian actor.
• 1966 – Lisa Edelstein, an American actress.
• 1972 – The Notorious B.I.G., an influential American rapper. (d. 1997)
• 1973 – Noel Fielding, an English comedian and television presenter.
• 1974 – Fairuza Balk, an American actress.
• 1975 – Anthony Mundine, an Australian rugby league player and boxer.
• 1976 – Stuart Bingham, an English snooker player.
• 1977 – Ricky Williams, an American football player.
• 1980 – Gotye, a Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter.
• 1981 – Josh Hamilton, an American baseball player.
• 1985 – Mark Cavendish, a famous cyclist from the Isle of Man.
• 1985 – Kano, an English rapper and actor.
• 1986 – Mario Mandžukić, a Croatian footballer.
• 1994 – Tom Daley, an English diver who has won Olympic medals.
• 1996 – Josh Allen, an American football player.

Deaths

Notable People Who Died Before 1900

• 252 – Sun Quan, an emperor of China. (b. 182)
• 987 – Louis V, the King of West Francia. (b. c. 966)
• 1086 – Wang Anshi, a Chinese statesman and poet. (b. 1021)
• 1471 – Henry VI, a King of England. (b. 1421)
• 1481 – Christian I, a King of Denmark. (b. 1426)
• 1542 – Hernando de Soto, a Spanish explorer who traveled through North America. (b. 1496)
• 1650 – James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, a Scottish general and politician. (b. 1612)
• 1686 – Otto von Guericke, a German physicist who invented the Magdeburg Hemispheres. (b. 1602)
• 1786 – Carl Wilhelm Scheele, a German-Swedish chemist. (b. 1742)
• 1894 – Émile Henry, a French anarchist. (b. 1872)
• 1895 – Franz von Suppé, an Austrian composer. (b. 1819)

Notable People Who Died After 1900

• 1911 – Williamina Fleming, a Scottish-American astronomer. (b. 1857)
• 1920 – Venustiano Carranza, a Mexican politician and president. (b. 1859)
• 1925 – Hidesaburō Ueno, a Japanese agriculturalist and the owner of the famous dog Hachikō. (b. 1871)
• 1935 – Jane Addams, an American activist who co-founded Hull House and won the Nobel Peace Prize. (b. 1860)
• 1935 – Hugo de Vries, a Dutch botanist and geneticist. (b. 1848)
• 1952 – John Garfield, an American actor. (b. 1913)
• 1964 – James Franck, a German physicist who won a Nobel Prize in Physics. (b. 1882)
• 1965 – Geoffrey de Havilland, an English pilot and engineer who designed famous aircraft. (b. 1882)
• 1983 – Kenneth Clark, an English art historian. (b. 1903)
• 1988 – Sammy Davis Sr., an American actor and dancer. (b. 1900)
• 1991 – Rajiv Gandhi, a former Prime Minister of India. (b. 1944)
• 2000 – Barbara Cartland, a very famous English author. (b. 1901)
• 2000 – John Gielgud, a celebrated English actor. (b. 1904)
• 2002 – Niki de Saint Phalle, a French-American sculptor and painter. (b. 1930)
• 2003 – Alejandro de Tomaso, an Argentinian-Italian race car driver and car manufacturer. (b. 1928)
• 2005 – Howard Morris, an American actor and director. (b. 1919)
• 2006 – Katherine Dunham, an American dancer and choreographer. (b. 1909)
• 2012 – Otis Clark, an American butler and preacher who survived the Tulsa race riot. (b. 1903)
• 2013 – Count Christian of Rosenborg, a member of the Danish royal family. (b. 1942)
• 2014 – Jaime Lusinchi, a former President of Venezuela. (b. 1924)
• 2015 – Louis Johnson, an American bass player and music producer. (b. 1955)
• 2016 – Nick Menza, an American drummer. (b. 1964)
• 2019 – Binyavanga Wainaina, a Kenyan writer. (b. 1971)

Holidays and Observances

• Afro-Colombian Day (Colombia)
• Christian feast day:
  • Arcangelo Tadini
  • Blessed Adílio Daronch and Manuel Gómez González
  • Blessed Franz Jägerstätter
  • Earliest day for Corpus Christi (a Catholic holiday).
  • Emperor Constantine I
  • Eugène de Mazenod
  • Helena of Constantinople (also known as "Feast of the Holy Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen").
  • John Elliot (Episcopal Church)
  • Saints of the Cristero War, including Christopher Magallanes
  • May 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Circassian Day of Mourning (Circassians)
• Day of Patriots and Military (Hungary)
• Independence Day, celebrating the Montenegrin independence referendum in 2006. (Montenegro)
• International Tea Day (International)
• Navy Day (Chile)
• Saint Helena Day, celebrating the discovery of Saint Helena in 1502. (Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha)
• World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (International)

Images for kids

• Louis Slotin.jpg

  Physicist Louis Slotin

• Rajiv Gandhi (cropped).jpg

  Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India

• Pietà by Michelangelo.jpg

  Michelangelo's Pietà

See also

In Spanish: 21 de mayo para niños