Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.

What Happened in July 1621

Historical Events

  • Jul 6 Dutch governor general John Pieterszoon Coen takes Banda islands, 15,000 die

Famous Birthdays

Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695)

Jul 8 French poet (Fables), born in Château-Thierry, Aisne, France

  • Jul 22 Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st earl of Shaftesbury, English statesman who tried to bar Catholic James II from throne (Lord Chancellor 1672-73), born in Wimborne St Giles, England (d. 1683)

Famous Deaths

  • Jul 2 Thomas Harriot, English astronomer (1st person to draw map of the Moon with a telescope), dies at 61 or 62
  • Jul 10 Karel Bonaventura Buquoy, French soldier (b. 1571)
  • Jul 13 Albert VII, Archduke of Austria and cardinal-archbishop of Toledo, dies at 61