Historical Events on March 21

Events 1 - 200 of 205

• 630 Byzantine emperor Heraclius restores the True Cross to Jerusalem
• 717 Battle of Vincy fought in the Cambrai during Frankish Civil War; Charles Martel's forces defeat those of King Chilperic II and his mayor Ragenfrid
• 1188 Accession to the throne of Japan by emperor Antoku

• 1681 3rd Exclusion Parliament meets in London

• 1788 Fire destroys 856 buildings in New Orleans, Louisiana

• 1791 Captain Hopley Yeaton becomes 1st commissioned officer in the Revenue Marine, later the Revenue Cutter Service, the forerunner of the modern US Coast Guard
• 1804 Napoleonic Code adopted in France, stresses clearly written and accessible law
• 1821 First revolutionary act in Monastery of Agia Lavra, Kalavryta, Greek War of Independence.
• 1821 Merger of the Hudson Bay Company and the North West Company, creating a monopoly of the fur trade in British North America [1]
• 1824 Fire at a Cairo ammunition dump kills 4,000 horses

• 1844 Origin of Baha'i Era-Baha'i calendar starts here (Baha 1, 1)
• 1844 The original date predicted by William Miller of Massachusetts for the return of Christ and the end of the world
• 1859 Scottish National Gallery opens in Edinburgh
• 1859 Zoological Society of Philadelphia, 1st in US, incorporated

• 1860 US extradition treaty with Sweden
• 1863 Naval Engagement at Havana, Cuba: USS Henrick Hudson vs Confederate blockade runner Wild Pigeon
• 1864 Battle at Henderson's Hill (Bayou Rapids) Louisiana
• 1865 Battle of Bentonville ends, last Confederate effort to stop Sherman
• 1866 US Congress authorizes national soldiers' homes
• 1868 1st US professional women's club, Sorosis, forms in NYC

• 1885 2nd French government of Ferry resigns
• 1888 Arthur Pinero's "Sweet Lavender" premieres in London
• 1890 Austrian Jewish communities are defined by law
• 1899 British & French accord over West Africa
• 1907 US sends troops to Honduras to halt the Nicaraguan army takeover
• 1909 Germany sends Russia a diplomatic notes requesting recognition of the Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and cessation of support to Serbia in the controversy
• 1909 Moran & MacFarland (US) wins Europe's 1st 6 day bicycle race (Berlin)
• 1913 -26] Flood in Ohio, kills 400
• 1916 JP Van Limburg Stirum succeeds AWF Idenburg as Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
• 1917 Loretta Walsh becomes US Navy's 1st female Petty Officer
• 1918 World War I: Germany launches Somme offensive
• 1921 Walter Kerr Theater (Ritz, CBS, NBC, ABC) opens at 223 W 48th St NYC
• 1922 KGW-AM in Portland OR begins radio transmissions
• 1923 US foreign minister Charles Hughes refuses USSR recognition
• 1924 1st foreign language course broadcast on US radio (WJZ, NYC)
• 1924 Mass Investors Trust becomes 1st mutual fund set up in US
• 1925 Edinburgh's Murreyfield Stadium officially opens
• 1925 Iran adopts Khorshidi solar Hijri calendar
• 1925 Tennessee governor Austin Peay passes the "Butler Act," making Tennessee the 1st state to outlaw teaching the theory of evolution (repealed 1967)
• 1927 Guomindang Army conquers Shanghai as British marines flee
• 1931 KRO-broadcast studio initiated in Hilversum Holland

• 1934 Fire destroys Hakodate Japan, killing about 1,500
• 1935 Jean Anouilh's play "Y avait un prisonnier" premieres in Paris
• 1935 Persia is officially renamed Iran
• 1937 Ponce massacre, police kill 19 at Puerto Rican Nationalist parade
• 1939 Nazi Germany demands the return of Danzig (Gdańsk) from Poland

• 1942 Convoy QP9 departs Great Britain to Murmansk

• 1943 Massacre of the town of Kalavryta, Greece by German Nazi troops.

• 1945 1st Japanese kamikaze "flying bombs" (MXY-7 Ohka) attack Okinawa
• 1945 During WW II Allied bombers begin 4-day raid over Germany
• 1945 Dutch Resistance fighter Hannie Schaft arrested by Nazi police
• 1946 Kenny Washington signs with Rams, 1st black NFLer since 1933
• 1946 UN set up temporary HQ at Hunter (now Lehman) College (Bronx)

• 1947 Test Cricket debut of Bert Sutcliffe, NZ v England at Christchurch

• 1948 "Stop the Music" with Bert Parks premieres on ABC radio

• 1949 WTVJ TV channel 4 in Miami, FL (NBC/CBS) begins broadcasting
• 1951 2,900,000 US soldiers in Korea
• 1952 -22] Tornadoes in Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama and Kentucky cause 343 deaths

• 1953 NBA record 106 fouls & 12 players foul out (Boston-Syracuse)
• 1954 KFBB TV channel 5 in Great Falls, MT (ABC/CBS/NBC) begins broadcasting
• 1955 Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus advocates for Cyprus to join Greece
• 1955 Brooklyn Bulletin ask Dodger fans not to call their team "Bums"
• 1956 "The Rose Tattoo" wins 3 Academy awards, including Anna Manini for Best Actress and Cinematography (Black & White)

• 1958 Dr. Ernest Lawrence, nuclear scientist and Nobel laureate, receives first West Point Sylvanus Thayer Award, presented to an outstanding US citizen whose service in the national interest exemplifies devotion to ideals of West Point motto: "Duty, Honor, Country"
• 1958 USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test
• 1960 Sharpeville Massacre: Police kill 72 in South Africa & outlaws ANC

• 1961 The Beatles' first appearance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool
• 1962 Dutch RC bishop Beckers declares himself in favor of birth control
• 1962 Philadelphia Phillies retire pitcher Robin Roberts' # 36
• 1962 Yogi the bear becomes the 1st creature to be ejected at supersonic speeds by the US military testing ejection seats

• 1963 David Hendon & Douglas Cross' musical premieres in London
• 1964 Beatles' single "She Loves You" goes #1 in the US & stays #1 for 2 weeks

• 1965 US Ranger 9 launched; takes 5,814 pictures before lunar impact
• 1966 American medical drama series "Ben Casey", starring Vince Edwards and Sam Jaffe, ends a five season run on ABC-TV
• 1966 US Supreme Court reverses Massachusetts ruling that "Fanny Hill" is obscene

• 1968 "Royals" chosen as the name of new KC AL franchise
• 1968 Hill, Hawkins & Coghill's musical premieres in London
• 1968 Israeli forces cross Jordan River to attack PLO bases

• 1969 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• 1970 Vinko Bogataj crashes during a ski-jumping championship in Germany; his image becomes that of the "agony of defeat guy" in the opening credits of ABC's Wide World of Sports.

• 1971 Vermont seasonal snowfall totals 132.2"
• 1971 WCPB TV channel 28 in Salisbury, MD (PBS) begins broadcasting
• 1972 US Supreme Court rules states can't require 1-yr residency to vote
• 1973 First Met Gala held with a theme - honoring designer Balenciaga, in New York

• 1974 Attempt made to kidnap Princess Anne in London's Pall Mall
• 1975 Ethiopia abolishes its monarchy after 3,000 years
• 1978 Padres fire Al Dark (2nd manager ever fired during spring training)
• 1978 San Francisco passes the most comprehensive homosexual rights bill in US history
• 1979 Egyptian Parliament unanimously approve peace treaty with Israel

• 1981 9-time World Grand Prix motorcycle champion Mike Hailwood along with his 9-year-old daughter Michelle are killed when his Rover SD1 collides with a truck near their home in Tanworth-in-Arden in England
• 1982 "Little Johnny Jones" opens & closes at Alvin Theater NYC
• 1982 Jerry Pate celebrates golf win by jumping into the water hazard

• 1983 Only known typo on Time Magazine cover (control=contol), all recalled

• 1984 NFL owners passed the infamous anti-celebrating rule

• 1984 Soviet sub crashes into USS aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk off Japan

• 1985 Bloodbath at Langa (Uitenhage) South-Africa, 19 killed

• 1986 Kania skates ladies world record 500 m (39.52 sec) & 3 km (4:18.02)
• 1986 Pittsburgh Associates buy Pittsburgh Pirates for $218 million
• 1987 PSV sells soccer player Ruud Gullit to AC Milan (Ÿ17 million)
• 1989 1st sea test of Trident 2 missile self-destructs, Cape Canaveral, Florida
• 1990 "Normal Life" starring Max Gail, Moon Unit & Dweezil Zappa premieres on CBS-TV
• 1990 Namibia becomes independent of South Africa, Sam Nujoma becomes president

• 1991 27 lost at sea when 2 US Navy anti-submarine planes collide
• 1991 Quebec Nordiques goaltender Ron Tugnutt sets NHL modern-day record for most saves in a regular season non-loss game (70 of 73 shots in 3-3 tie with the Boston Bruins

• 1991 UN Security Council panel decided to lift the food embargo on Iraq
• 1992 Pakistan scores 6-264 to overhaul NZ in exciting World Cup cricket semi

• 1993 South Africa White Wolves kill 5-year-old black girl

• 1994 Anne P Sidamon-Eristoff named chairwoman of Museum of National History

• 1994 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) enters into force after being ratified by the required number of nations

• 1995 NYC agrees to sell its 2 owned radio stations (WNYC AM & FM)

• 1997 Ice Dance Championship in Lausanne, Switzerland won by Oksana Grishuk & Evgeny Platov (Rus)

• 1999 Swiss aviator Bertrand Piccard and British aviator Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
• 2000 NSYNC release their 4th studio album “No Strings Attached” (2000 Billboard Album of the Year)
• 2002 In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh along with three other suspects are charged with murder for their part in the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
• 2002 Schoolgirl Amanda Dowler is abducted in broad daylight on her way home from Heathside School in Walton-on-Thames, England
• 2004 In Malaysia, the 11th Federal and State elections are held, returning the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional to power with an increased majority

• 2006 Immigrant workers constructing the Burj Dubayy in Dubai, The United Arab Emirates and a new terminal of Dubai International Airport join together and riot, causing $1M in damage.
• 2012 Five former Guatemalan paramilitaries are sentenced to 7,710 years in jail for their role in the Plan de Sanchez massacre in 1982
• 2012 Greek Parliament votes in favour of an international bailout deal
• 2012 Sergio Agüero & Samir Nasri score to give Manchester City 2-1 win over Chelsea at City of Manchester Stadium; EPL record 20th consecutive home win; streak ends with 3-3 draw v Sunderland 31/3
• 2013 12 people are killed and 30 are injured by a car bombing in Peshawar, Pakistan
• 2013 24 people are killed and 100 are injured by a tornado and hail storm in southern China
• 2013 42 people are killed and 84 are injured by a bombing in a mosque in Damascus, Syria
• 2013 A barter dispute gets out of control and results in 10 people being killed, 20 injured, and four mosques burnt to the ground in Myanmar
• 2013 At least 45 people drown and 60 are missing after a Nigerian boat sinks off the shore of Gabon
• 2013 Martin Gould defeats Ali Carter to win the snooker 2013 Championship League
• 2013 The European Space Agency reveals new data that indicates that the universe is 13.82 billion years old

• 2014 Russia formally annexes Crimea amid international condemnation
• 2017 Singer Wyclef Jean wrongly identified as a suspect, handcuffed and detained by LA county sheriff’s department
• 2018 African trade deal agreed by 44 African countries in Kigali, Rwanda
• 2018 Austin bombing suspect Mark Conditt kills himself in chase with police in Austin, Texas
• 2018 China announces greater controls over the media, including merging state-run radio and television broadcasters into a single conglomerate called “Voice of China”
• 2018 Dave Patterson and John Hennessy win the Turing Award for their work on RISC computer chips
• 2018 English TV presenter Ant McPartlin charged with drink driving following an accident in London

• 2018 Nigerian government confirms 101 out of 110 schoolgirls kidnapped from Dapchi returned
• 2018 Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi accepts plea deal for 8 months in prison after slapping Israeli officer
• 2018 Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski offers his resignation amid vote-buying scandal
• 2018 Suicide bomber kills 31 in crowd celebrating Persian New Year in Kabul, Afghanistan
• 2019 A huge blast from a chemical factory in Chenjiagang Chemical Industry Park in eastern China is so big it registers as an earthquake, kills 78 people and injuries 617
• 2019 Bangladeshi woman with two uteruses safely gives birth to twins 26 days after giving birth to another child

• 2019 Governor of Missouri Mike Parson declares a state of emergency as flooding from Nebraska and Iowa flows downstream into the state

• 2019 Overloaded boat sinks in the Tigris river near Mosul, Iraq, drowning nearly 100

• 2020 Italy records record daily death toll of 793 for COVID-19 as the worldwide death tolls surpasses 12,000 with 299,000 known infections (Johns Hopkins figures)
• 2021 45 crushed to death in a crowd paying respects to the late President John Magufuli at a stadium in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• 2022 178 wildfires have burnt more than 108,000 acres across southwest Texas according to local fire officials with 23 still active [1]
• 2022 China Eastern Airlines jetliner crashes in mountains in Guangxi region, China, with 132 people on board
• 2022 Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court confirmation hearings begin in Washington D.C.

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