Sun · 27 SepMoon 99%Field Kp 4 · active Quote · Marcus Aurelius Riddle of the day Card of the dayHow today feels →

This day in history

This day in history: 21 March

Events, births and deaths on this date, ordered by how many people look them up.

Share

← Previous day20 Mar

Events54

Born on this day · Died on this day293 · 124

Next day →22 Mar

Key facts

471 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 21 March.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2022: China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 crashes in Guangxi, China, killing 132 people.

Holidays and observances

Arbor Day (Lesotho)

Arbor Day (Portugal)

Christian feast day: Augustine Zhao Rong

Christian feast day: Benedetta Cambiagio Frassinello

Christian feast day: Birillus

Christian feast day: Enda of Aran

Christian feast day: March 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Nicholas of Flüe

Christian feast day: Passing of Saint Benedict (Order of Saint Benedict, pre-1970 Calendar)

Christian feast day: Serapion of Thmuis

Christian feast day: Thomas Cranmer (Anglicanism)

Events

2022China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 crashes in Guangxi, China, killing 132 people.

2019The 2019 Xiangshui chemical plant explosion occurs, killing at least 47 people and injuring 640 others.

2006The social media site Twitter (now officially named X) is founded.

2000Pope John Paul II makes his first ever pontifical visit to Israel.

1999Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.

1994The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change enters into force.

1990Namibia becomes independent after 75 years of South African rule.

1989Transbrasil Flight 801 crashes into a slum near São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport, killing 25 people.

1986Debi Thomas becomes the first African American to win the World Figure Skating Championships.

1985Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation of the globe in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research.

1983The first cases of the 1983 West Bank fainting epidemic begin; Israelis and Palestinians accuse each other of poison gas, but the cause is later determined mostly to be psychosomatic.

1980Cold War: American President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet–Afghan War.

1970San Diego Comic-Con, the largest pop and culture festival in the world, hosts its inaugural event.

1970The first Earth Day proclamation is issued by Joseph Alioto, Mayor of San Francisco.

1968Battle of Karameh in Jordan between the Israel Defense Forces and the combined forces of the Jordanian Armed Forces and PLO.

1965Martin Luther King Jr. leads 3,200 people on the start of the third and finally successful civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

1965Ranger program: NASA launches Ranger 9, the last in a series of uncrewed lunar space probes.

1963Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary closes.

1960Apartheid: Sharpeville massacre, South Africa: Police open fire on a group of black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180.

1952Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio.

1946The Los Angeles Rams sign Kenny Washington, making him the first African American player in professional American football since 1933.

1945World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma.

1945World War II: Bulgaria and the Soviet Union successfully complete their defense of the north bank of the Drava River as the Battle of the Transdanubian Hills concludes.

1945World War II: Operation Carthage: Royal Air Force planes bomb Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. They also accidentally hit a school, killing 125 civilians.

1943Wehrmacht officer Rudolf von Gersdorff plots to assassinate Adolf Hitler by using a suicide bomb, but the plan falls through; von Gersdorff is able to defuse the bomb in time and avoid suspicion.

1937Ponce massacre: Nineteen unarmed civilians in Ponce, Puerto Rico are gunned down by police in a terrorist attack ordered by the US-appointed Governor, Blanton Winship.

1935Shah of Iran Reza Shah Pahlavi formally asks the international community to call Persia by its native name, Iran.

1934The landmark Australian Eastern Mission led by John Latham departs on its three-month tour of East and South-East Asia.

1928Charles Lindbergh is presented with the Medal of Honor for the first solo trans-Atlantic flight.

1925Ravel's opera L'enfant et les sortilèges, to a libretto by Colette, is premiered at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.

1925Syngman Rhee is removed from office after being impeached as the President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.

1925The Butler Act prohibits the teaching of human evolution in Tennessee.

1921The New Economic Policy is implemented by the Bolshevik Party in response to the economic failure as a result of war communism.

1919The Hungarian Soviet Republic is established becoming the first Communist government to be formed in Europe after the October Revolution in Russia.

1918World War I: The first phase of the German spring offensive, Operation Michael, begins.

1871Journalist Henry Morton Stanley begins his trek to find the missionary and explorer David Livingstone.

1871Otto von Bismarck is appointed as the first Chancellor of the German Empire.

1861Alexander H. Stephens gives the Cornerstone Speech.

1844The Baháʼí calendar begins. This is the first day of the first year of the Baháʼí calendar. It is annually celebrated by members of the Baháʼí Faith as the Baháʼí New Year or Náw-Rúz.

1829The Wellington–Winchilsea duel takes place in London involving the Prime Minister the Duke of Wellington.

Born on this day

2007Ethan Nwaneri, English footballer

2003Abbi Pulling, English racing driver

2000Jace Norman, American actor

2000Yoon San-ha, South Korean singer and actor

1998Miles Bridges, American basketball player

1997Martina Stoessel, Argentine singer and actress

1997Nat Phillips, English footballer

1996Aurora Mikalsen, Norwegian footballer

1995Mirco Müller, Swiss ice hockey player

1995Nick Mullens, American football player

1995RJ Cyler, American actor

1994Jasmin Savoy Brown, American actress

1993Frankie Montas, Dominican baseball player

1993Jake Bidwell, English footballer

1993Jesse Joronen, Finnish footballer

1993Sven Andrighetto, Swiss ice hockey player

1992Chiney Ogwumike, American basketball player

1992Karolína Plíšková, Czech tennis player

1992Kristýna Plíšková, Czech tennis player

1992Lehlogonolo Masalesa, South African footballer

1991Antoine Griezmann, French footballer

1991Luke Chapman, English footballer

1990Alex Nimo, Liberian-American soccer player

1990Darius Miller, American basketball player

1990Mandy Capristo, German singer-songwriter and dancer

1990Ryann Krais, American runner and heptathlete

1989Jordi Alba, Spanish footballer

1989Nicolás Lodeiro, Uruguayan footballer

1989Takeru Satoh, Japanese actor

1988Eric Krüger, German sprinter

1988Erik Johnson, American ice hockey player

1988Kateřina Čechová, Czech sprinter

1988Michael Madl, Austrian footballer

1988Solomon Alabi, Nigerian basketball player

1987Carlos Carrasco, Venezuelan baseball pitcher

1986Michu, Spanish footballer

1986Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou, Greek pole vaulter

1986Romanos Alyfantis, Greek swimmer

1986Scott Eastwood, American actor

1985Adrian Peterson, American football player

Died on this day

2026Michael Lyster, Irish radio and television broadcaster (born 1954)

2026Rhoda Roberts, Australian arts executive (born 1959)

2025George Foreman, American boxer, actor, and businessman (born 1949)

2025Kitty Dukakis, American author, First Lady of Massachusetts (born 1936)

2023Willis Reed, American basketball player (born 1942)

2021Nawal El Saadawi, Egyptian secularist, feminist (born 1931)

2019Gonzalo Portocarrero, Peruvian sociologist (born 1949)

2019Victor Hochhauser CBE, British music promoter (born 1923)

2017Chuck Barris, American game show host and producer (born 1929)

2017Colin Dexter, English author (born 1930)

2017Martin McGuinness, Irish republican and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland (born 1950)

2017Mike Hall, British cyclist (born 1981)

2015Alberta Watson, Canadian actress (born 1955)

2015Chuck Bednarik, American lieutenant and football player (born 1925)

2015Hans Erni, Swiss painter, sculptor, and illustrator (born 1909)

2015Ishaya Bakut, Nigerian general and politician, Governor of Benue State (born 1947)

2015James C. Binnicker, American sergeant (born 1938)

2015Jørgen Ingmann, Danish singer and guitarist (born 1925)

2014Bill Boedeker, American football player and soldier (born 1924)

2014Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Iraqi patriarch (born 1933)

2014Jack Fleck, American golfer (born 1921)

2014James Rebhorn, American actor (born 1948)

2014Qoriniasi Bale, Fijian lawyer and politician, 25th Attorney-General of Fiji (born 1929)

2014Simeon Oduoye, Nigerian police officer and politician (born 1945)

2013Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic (born 1930)

2013Giancarlo Zagni, Italian director and screenwriter (born 1926)

2013Harlon Hill, American football player and coach (born 1932)

2013Pietro Mennea, Italian sprinter and politician (born 1952)

2013Rick Hautala, American author and screenwriter (born 1949)

2012Albrecht Dietz, German economist and businessman (born 1926)

Quote of the day

“Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.”

Alan Watts

Questions people ask

Where do the entries come from?

From Wikipedia’s on-this-day pages for this language, updated once a day and ordered by how often each article is read.

This day in history

Every question has its own page

Journal

What you should know, before others do

Weekly insights. One article. One practice. No noise.

Cookies

We use essential cookies to run the platform. Analytics and marketing cookies are only turned on once you consent — you can change your choice at any time.