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This day in history

This day in history: 21 April

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

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Key facts

303 historical events, births and deaths are listed for 21 April.
Entries come from Wikipedia’s day pages and are ordered by page views.
2021: Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Nanggala (402) sinks in the Bali Sea during a military drill, killing all 53 on board.

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day: Abdecalas

Christian feast day: Anastasius Sinaita

Christian feast day: Anselm of Canterbury

Christian feast day: April 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Christian feast day: Conrad of Parzham

Christian feast day: Holy Infant of Good Health

Christian feast day: Máel Ruba

Christian feast day: Shemon Bar Sabbae

Christian feast day: Wolbodo

Civil Service Day (India)

Grounation Day (Rastafari)

Natale di Roma (Rome)

Events

2021Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Nanggala (402) sinks in the Bali Sea during a military drill, killing all 53 on board.

2019Eight bombs explode at churches, hotels, and other locations in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing at least 269.

2012Two trains are involved in a head-on collision near Sloterdijk, Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, killing one person and injuring 116 others.

2010The controversial Kharkiv Pact (Russian Ukrainian Naval Base for Gas Treaty) is signed in Kharkiv, Ukraine, by Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev; it was unilaterally terminated by Russia on March 31

2004Five suicide car bombers target police stations in and around Basra, killing 74 people and wounding 160.

1996Four people are killed and 75 are injured in a train accident in Jokela, Finland.

1993The Supreme Court in La Paz, Bolivia, sentences former dictator Luis García Meza to 30 years in jail without parole for murder, theft, fraud and violating the constitution.

1989Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.

1987The Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that detonates in the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo, killing 106 people.

1985The compound of the militant group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord surrenders to federal authorities in Arkansas after a two-day government siege.

1982Baseball: Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers becomes the first pitcher to record 300 saves.

1977Annie opens on Broadway.

1975Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Thiệu flees Saigon, as Xuân Lộc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.

1972Astronauts John Young and Charles Duke fly Apollo 16's Apollo Lunar Module to the Moon's surface, the fifth NASA Apollo Program crewed lunar landing.

1967A few days before the general election in Greece, Colonel George Papadopoulos leads a coup d'état, establishing a military regime that lasts for seven years.

1967A tornado outbreak in Illinois, United States, kills over 50 and injures over 1,000. Belvidere sustains over 500 casualties as a violent tornado strikes the high school. Another tornado near Chicago causes another 500 casualties, devastatin

1966Rastafari movement: Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Jamaica, an event now celebrated as Grounation Day.

1965The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair opens for its second and final season.

1964A Transit-5bn satellite fails to reach orbit after launch; as it re-enters the atmosphere, 2.1 pounds (0.95 kg) of radioactive plutonium in its SNAP RTG power source is widely dispersed.

1963The first election of the Universal House of Justice is held, marking its establishment as the supreme governing institution of the Baháʼí Faith.

1962The Seattle World's Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opens. It is the first World's Fair in the United States since World War II.

1960Brasília, Brazil's capital, is officially inaugurated. At 09:30, the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.

1958United Air Lines Flight 736 collides with a United States Air Force fighter jet near Arden, Nevada in what is now Enterprise, Nevada.

1952Secretary's Day (now Administrative Professionals' Day) is first celebrated.

1950The Nainital wedding massacre occurs, killing 22 members of the Harijan caste.

1948United Nations Security Council Resolution 47 relating to Kashmir conflict is adopted.

1946The U.S. Weather Bureau records that a tornado which struck Timber Lake, South Dakota was 4 miles (6.4 km), among the widest tornadoes on record.

1945World War II: Soviet forces south of Berlin at Zossen attack the German High Command headquarters.

1934The "Surgeon's Photograph", the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail (in 1994, it is revealed to be a hoax).

1926Al-Baqi cemetery, former site of the mausoleum of four Shi'a Imams, is leveled to the ground by Wahhabis.

1918World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, better known as "The Red Baron", is shot down and killed over Vaux-sur-Somme in France.

1914Ypiranga incident: A German arms shipment to Mexico is intercepted by the U.S. Navy near Veracruz.

1898Spanish–American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports. When the U.S. Congress issued a declaration of war on April 25, it declared that a state of war had existed from this date.

1894Norway formally adopts the Krag–Jørgensen bolt-action rifle as the main arm of its armed forces, a weapon that would remain in service for almost 50 years.

1856Australian labour movement: Stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne march from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight-hour day.

1836Texas Revolution: The Battle of San Jacinto: Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.

1821Benderli Ali Pasha arrives in Constantinople as the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire; he remains in power for only nine days before being sent into exile.

1809Two Austrian army corps are driven from Landshut by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon as two French corps to the north hold off the main Austrian army on the first day of the Battle of Eckmühl.

1806Action of 21 April 1806: A French frigate escapes British forces off the coast of South Africa.

1802Twelve thousand Wahhabis sack Karbala, killing over three thousand inhabitants.

Born on this day

2008Hyein, South Korean singer

2007Princess Isabella of Denmark, daughter of King Frederik X and Queen Mary of Denmark

2003Xavi Simons, Dutch footballer

1999Choi Hyun-suk, South Korean rapper

1998Jarrett Allen, American basketball player

1997Mikel Oyarzabal, Spanish footballer

1996Arianne Hartono, Dutch tennis player

1995Ana Grozdanović, Serbian politician

1994Ludwig Augustinsson, Swedish footballer

1992Isco, Spanish footballer

1992Joc Pederson, American baseball player

1991Frank Dillane, British actor

1989Nikki Cross, Scottish wrestler

1988Christoph Sanders, American actor

1988Jencarlos Canela, American singer-songwriter and actor

1988Ricky Berens, American swimmer

1983Kim Wall, British sprinter

1983Tarvaris Jackson, American football player (died 2020)

1980Tony Romo, American football player and announcer

1979James McAvoy, Scottish actor

1979Virginie Basselot, French chef

1977Gyula Koi, Hungarian scholar and educator

1977Jamie Salé, Canadian figure skater

1976Petero Civoniceva, Fijian-Australian rugby league player

1975Danyon Loader, New Zealand swimmer

1974David Peachey, Australian rugby league player

1973Steve Backshall, English naturalist, writer, and television presenter

1971Michael Turner, American author and illustrator (died 2008)

1970Glen Hansard, Irish singer-songwriter (died 2026)

1970Nicole Sullivan, American actress and comedian

1970Rob Riggle, American actor and comedian

1969Toby Stephens, English actor

1966Michael Franti, American singer-songwriter and rapper

1965Fiona Kelleghan, American academic, critic and librarian

1963John Cameron Mitchell, American actor and director

1963Ken Caminiti, American baseball player (died 2004)

1961David Servan-Schreiber, French physician, neuroscientist, and author (died 2011)

1959Robert Smith, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

1959Tim Jacobus, American illustrator and painter

1958Andie MacDowell, American model, actress, and producer

Died on this day

2025Pope Francis (born 1936)

2024Terry A. Anderson, American journalist (born 1947)

2019Polly Higgins, Scottish barrister, author and environmental lobbyist (born 1968)

2018Nabi Tajima, Japanese supercentenarian (born 1900)

2017Ugo Ehiogu, English footballer (born 1972)

2016Prince, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (born 1958)

2014George H. Heilmeier, American engineer (born 1936)

2014Win Tin, Burmese journalist and politician, co-founded the National League for Democracy (born 1930)

2013Leopold Engleitner, Austrian Holocaust survivor, author, and educator (born 1905)

2013Shakuntala Devi, Indian mathematician and astrologer (born 1929)

2012Doris Betts, American author and academic (born 1932)

2011Catharina Halkes, Dutch theologian and academic (born 1920)

2010Gustav Lorentzen, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1947)

2010Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish businessman, seventh President of the International Olympic Committee (born 1920)

2010Kanagaratnam Sriskandan, Sri Lankan-English engineer and civil servant (born 1930)

2005Zhang Chunqiao, Chinese writer and politician, member of the Gang of Four (born 1917)

2003Nina Simone, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and activist (born 1933)

1999Buddy Rogers, American actor (born 1904)

1998Jean-François Lyotard, French sociologist and philosopher (born 1924)

1997Diosdado Macapagal, Filipino lawyer and politician, 9th President of the Philippines (born 1910)

1996Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Pakistani cricketer (born 1925)

1996Jimmy Snyder, American sportscaster (born 1919)

1992Väinö Linna, Finnish author (born 1920)

1991Willi Boskovsky, Austrian violinist and conductor (born 1909)

1990Erté, Russian-French illustrator (born 1892)

1987Gustav Bergmann, Austrian-American philosopher from the Vienna Circle (born 1906)

1986Marjorie Eaton, American painter and actress (born 1901)

1986Salah Jahin, Egyptian poet, playwright, and composer (born 1930)

1985Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-American fashion designer, created the monokini (born 1922)

1985Tancredo Neves, Brazilian banker and politician, Prime Minister of Brazil (born 1910)

Quote of the day

“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”

Marcus Aurelius

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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.

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