May 21st in History

Michael Dobson | May 21

Today in History

  • American Civil War: Lawrence, Kansas, is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces (1856)
  • American Civil War: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends (1864)
  • The American Red Cross is established (1881)
  • FIFA is founded (1904)
  • Leopold and Loeb murder 14-year old Bobby Franks in one of the most notorious crimes of 20th century America (1924)
  • Charles Lindberg arrives in Paris, concluding the first non-stop New York to Paris flight (1927)
  • Amelia Earhart lands in Ireland, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic (1932)
  • A vandal damages Michelangelo’s Pietà (1972)
  • Radio evangelist Harold Camping predicts the end of the world would occur on May 21, 2011. It does not.

Birthdays

  • Aurelia Cotta, mother of Gaius Julius Caesar the Dictator (120 BCE)
  • Albrecht Dürer, painter (1471 CE)
  • Philip II, Spanish monarch (1527 CE)
  • Alexander Pope, poet (1688 CE)
  • Henri Rousseau, painter (1844 CE)
  • Glenn Curtiss, aviation pioneer (1878 CE)
  • Armand Hammer, businessman (1898 CE)
  • Earl Averill, baseball player (1902 CE)
  • Manly Wade Wellman, science fiction writer 1903 CE)
  • Fats Waller, singer-songwriter (1904 CE)
  • Monty Stratton, baseball player (1912 CE)
  • Harold Robbins, author (1916 CE
  • Raymond Burr, actor (1917 CE)
  • Андре́й Са́харов (Andrei Sakharov), physicist and dissident (1921 CE)
  • Ara Parseghian, football coach (1923 CE)
  • Peggy Cass, actress and game show regular (1924 CE)
  • Leo Sayer, singer-songwriter (1948 CE)
  • Al Franken, comedian and senator (1951 CE)
  • Mr. T, actor (1952 CE)
  • Judge Reinhold, actor (1957 CE)
  • Nick Cassavetes, filmmaker and actor (1959 CE)
  • Jeffrey Dahmer, serial killer (1960 CE)
  • The Notorious B. I. G., rapper (1972 CE)
  • Fairuza Balk, actress (1974 CE)

Deaths

  • Henry VI, English monarch (1471)
  • Hernando de Soto, explorer (1542)
  • Jane Addams, activist (1935)
  • Geoffrey de Havilland, aircraft designer (1965)
  • Vaughn Monroe, bandleader (1973)
  • Kenneth Clark, historian (1983)
  • Rajiv Gandhi, Indian leader (1991)
  • Lash LaRue, actor (1996)
  • Barbara Cartland, author (2000)
  • John Gielgud, actor (2000)

Holidays

  • Afro-Columbian Day (Colombia)
  • Day of Mourning (Circassians)
  • Day of Patriots and Military (Hungary)
  • Navy Day (Chile)
  • Saint Helena Day (Saint Helena)
  • World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (international)
  • Vejovis (ancient Rome)
Informal and made-up holidays include End of the World Day, I Need a Patch For That Day, National Memo Day, National Wait Staff Day, Strawberries and Cream Day, and Turn Beauty Inside Out Day.