Today in History - Historical Events - May 21st

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Notable Historical Events on May 21st

1981Reggae musician Bob Marley receives a Jamaican state funeral

1972Michelangelo's Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is damaged by a vandal.

1927Aviator Charles Lindbergh, in the Spirit of St Louis, lands in Paris after first solo air crossing of Atlantic

1978Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Coca-Cola Golf Classic

1854Frederic Mistral, Joseph Roumanille, and five other Provencal poets found Félibrige, a literary and cultural association

1930NY Yankee Babe Ruth hits 3 consecutive homers

1969After 9,015 at bats Hank Aaron is lifted for a pinch hitter, Mike Lum, who doubled in a 15-3 victory over NY Mets

1995chris johnson wins Star Bank LPGA Golf Classic

1988"Fat" by Weird Al Yankovic hits #99

1938Don Bradman scores 143 Austalia v Surrey, 198 mins, 11 fours

1933Mount Davidson Cross lit by FDR via telegraph

1948NY Yank Joe DiMaggio hits for cycle (single, double, triple, HR)

1809Battle of Aspern-Essling: Austrian archduke Karl beats Napoleon

1881American Red Cross founded by Clara Barton

19321st transatlantic solo flight by a woman (Amelia Earhart) lands in Ireland

1944Hitler begins attack on British/US "terror pilots"

1725The Order of St. Alexander Nevsky is instituted in Russia by the empress Catherine I. It would later be discontinued and then reinstated by the Soviet government in 1942 as the Order of Alexander Nevsky.

198935th Mazda LPGA Championship won by Nancy Lopez

May 21st Historical Events
Date Event
143
Earliest known date in Amer-pre Mayan king Harvest-Bergvorst installed 
685
Battle of Nechtansmere/Dun Nechtain: Picts beat Northumbrians 
878
Syracuse is captured by the Muslim sultan of Sicily. 
879
Pope John VIII gives blessings to duke Branimir and to Croatian people, considered to be international recognition of Croatian state. 
996
Pope Gregory V crowns his cousin Otto III as Holy Roman Emperor 
1040
King Henry III gives Utrecht the Groninger currency 
1216
French crown prince Louis enters England 
1260
Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire sends his envoy Hao Jing and two other advisors to the Song Dynasty court of Emperor Lizong of Song; while attempting to negotiate with the Song in order to resolve their conflict, Hao Jing and his fellow emissaries are imprisoned by order of the high Chancellor of China, Jia Sidao. 
1420
Treaty of Troyes following Englsh victory at Agincourt: Henry V of England and his heirs would inherit the throne of France upon the death of King Charles VI of France 
1471
King Edward IV enters London 
1502
Portuguese admiral Da Nova discovers St Helena 
1526
-Jun 8] Sermon of Bathe, Aargau: TC evangelical theology 
1602
Martha's Vineyard 1st sighted (Captain Bartholomew Gosnold) 
1674
General John Sobieski chosen King of Poland 
1683
West Indian Company sells 1/3 of Suriname 
1725
The Order of St. Alexander Nevsky is instituted in Russia by the empress Catherine I. It would later be discontinued and then reinstated by the Soviet government in 1942 as the Order of Alexander Nevsky. 
1758
Mary Campbell is abducted from her home in Pennsylvania by Lenape during the French and Indian War. 
1793
Curacao Island Council forbids criticism of House of Orange 
1804
Lewis & Clark Expedition begins 
1809
Battle of Aspern-Essling: Austrian archduke Karl beats Napoleon 
1819
1st bicycles (swift walkers) in US introduced in NYC 
1832
1st Democratic National Convention (Baltimore) 
1840
New Zealand became a British colony 
1840
Captain William Hobson proclaims British sovereignty over New Zealand; the North Island by treaty and the South Island by 'discovery' 
1846
1st steamship arrives in Hawaii 
1854
Frederic Mistral, Joseph Roumanille, and five other Provencal poets found Félibrige, a literary and cultural association 
1856
Lawrence, Kansas, is captured and sacked by pro-slavery forces 
1861
Richmond, Va, is designated Confederate Capital 
1863
Siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, begins 
1864
Gen David Hunter takes command of Dept of West Virginia 
1864
Russia declares an end to the Russian-Circassian War and many Circassians are forced into exile. The day is designated to be the Circassian Day of Mourning. 
1866
1st-class debut of G F Grace aged 15 years 159 days 
1871
-July 28] French regular troops attack Commune of Paris; 17,000 die 
1878
4th Kentucky Derby: Jimmy Carter aboard Day Star wins in 2:37.25 
1879
Battle of Iquiquw 
1879
War of the Pacific: Two Chilean ships blocking the harbor of Iquique (then belonging to Peru) battle two Peruvian vessels in the Battle of Iquique. 
1881
American Red Cross founded by Clara Barton 
1881
US Nation Lawn Tennis Association forms 
1886
14th Preakness: S Fisher aboard Bard wins in 2:45 
1891
Boxers Peter Jackson & Jim Corbett fight to a draw in 61 rounds 
1892
Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera "I Pagliacci" premieres in Milan 
1894
22-year-old French Anarchist Émile Henry is executed by guillotine. 
1897
Yerkes Observatory 40" (1m) refractor used for 1st time 
1898
US Assay Office in Seattle, Washington authorized 
1904
Federation Internationale de Football Association (Soccer) forms in Paris 
1904
France recalls its ambassador to the Vatican to protest the Pope's attempt to discipline two French bishops; this is yet another incident driving France and the Catholic Church apart 
1906
Louis H Perlman patents a demountable tire carrying rim for cars 
1906
The US and Mexico sign an agreement over distribution of the waters of the Rio Grande, increasingly diverted to the US for irrigation 
1907
32nd Preakness: G Mountain aboard Don Enrique wins in 1:45.4 
1908
1st horror movie (Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde) premieres in Chicago 
1908
Bill Burns has no-hitter broken up with 2 outs in 9th 
1911
French troop enter Fez in Morocco to quell anti-European agitation 
1914
39th Preakness: Andy Schuttinger aboard Holiday wins in 1:53.8 
1914
Greyhound Bus Co begins in Minnesota 
1916
Britain begins "Summer Time" (daylight saving time) 
1917
Leo Pinckney, 1st American drafted during WW I 
1917
The Great Fire of Atlanta: at least 10,000 people were displaced, but there was only one fatality 
1918
US House of Representatives passes amendment allowing women to vote 
1921
Oldest radio station west of Mississippi River licensed in Greeley Co 
1922
"On the Road to Moscow" is 1st cartoon to receive a Pulitzer Prize 
1922
Col Ruppert buys out Col Huston interest in NY Yankees for $1,500,000 
1922
Pulitzer prize awarded to Eugene O'Neill (Anna Christie) 
1922
Ruppert buys out Huston interest in Yankees for $15 million 
1924
Leopold & Loeb kidnap Bobby Franks for fun 
1925
Canadians allow to sell beer 
1925
George Lloyd, Baron Lloyd of Dolobran, becomes British High Commissioner in Egypt 
1925
Roald Amundsun leaves Spitsbergen with 2 seaplanes to North Pole 
1926
White Sox Earl Sheely hits a record 6th consecutive double 
1927
Aviator Charles Lindbergh, in the Spirit of St Louis, lands in Paris after first solo air crossing of Atlantic 
1929
Automatic electric stock quotation board installed, NYC 
1929
Sergei Prokoviev's ballet "Prodigal Son" premieres in Paris 
1930
Max Bishop draws 8 walks in a doubleheader 
1930
NY Yankee Babe Ruth hits 3 consecutive homers 
1931
Belgian government of Jaspar falls 
1932
1st Curtis Cup: US wins, 5½-3½ at Wentworth Club (Wentworth, England) 
1932
1st transatlantic solo flight by a woman (Amelia Earhart) lands in Ireland 
1933
Mount Davidson Cross lit by FDR via telegraph 
1934
Oskaloosa, Iowa, becomes first US city to fingerprint its citizens 
1936
Sada Abe is arrested after wandering the streets of Tokyo for days with her dead lover's severed genitals in her hand. Her story soon becomes one of Japan's most notorious scandals. 
1938
Don Bradman scores 143 Austalia v Surrey, 198 mins, 11 fours 
1940
AVRO-chairman Willem Vogt fires all Jewish employees 
1940
Allied counter attack at Atrecht, northern France 
1940
Reynaud forms French government 
1941
SS Robin Moore is first US ship sunk by a U-boat 
1941
German airforce occupies airport at Maleme, Crete 
1941
Singer Johan Heesters visits Dachau concentration camp 
1942
Convoy PQ16 departs Great Britain for Russia 
1943
Fastest 9 inning AL baseball game (89 mins), White Sox beat Senators 
1944
Hitler begins attack on British/US "terror pilots" 
1945
Aust Services win 1st Victory Test Cricket at Lord's by 6 wickets 
1945
Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler of the Nazi SS captured 
1946
Physicist Louis Slotin is exposed to a lethal dose of radiation while preparing a plutonium core experiment at the Los Alamos lab, he dies 9 days later and the accident ends all hands-on nuclear assembly work at Los Alamos 
1948
NY Yank Joe DiMaggio hits for cycle (single, double, triple, HR) 
1950
Vietnamese troops of Ho Chi-Minh attack Cambodia 
1951
The opening of the Ninth Street Show, otherwise known as the 9th Street Art Exhibition - a gathering of a number of notable artists, and the stepping-out of the post war New York avant-garde, collectively know as the New York School. 
1952
Bkln Dodgers score 15 runs in 1st inning & beat Cin Reds, 19-1 
1952
Dutch Queen Juliana opens Amsterdam-Rhine Canal 
1953
French government of Mayer resigns 
1954
Amendment to give 18-year-olds right to vote is defeated 
1955
"House of Flowers" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 165 performances 
1955
1st transcontinental round-trip solo flight-sunrise to sunset 
1955
WFRV TV channel 5 in Green Bay, WI (ABC/NBC) begins broadcasting 
1956
Jordan government of Said el-Mufti forms 
1956
US explodes 1st airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll 
1956
WITI TV channel 6 in Milwaukee, WI (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting 
1957
French government of Mollet resigns 
1958
Indonesian paratroopers reconquers Morotai Island 
1958
US performs nuclear test at Bikini Island (atmospheric tests) 
1959
"Gypsy" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 702 performances 
1959
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Children's Petting Farm opens 
1960
86th Preakness: Bobby Ussery aboard Bally Ache wins in 1:57.6 
1961
Governor Patterson declares martial law in Montgomery 
1962
3 more Cleveland HR set AL record for most HR (26) over 8 games 
1964
1st nuclear-powered lighthouse begins operations (Chesapeake Bay) 
1964
Fire in Belgium resort kills 19 
1964
US begin intelligence flights above Laos 
1966
"Downtown" by Mrs Miller hits #82 
1966
"Time for Singing" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 41 performances 
1966
92nd Preakness: Don Brumfield aboard Kauai King wins in 1:55.4 
1966
Louie Louie by The Kingsmen reentered the chart & hits #97 
1966
Muhammad Ali TKOs Henry Cooper in 6 for heavyweight boxing title 
1966
A loyalist group calling itself the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) issued a statement declaring war on the Irish Republican Army (IRA) 
1967
"Sing, Israel Sing" closes at Brooks Atkinson NYC after 14 perfs 
1967
Marilynn Smith wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open 
1968
Cubs Billy Williams sets outfielder record of 695 straight game 
1968
Paul McCartney & Jane Asher attend an Andy Williams concert 
1968
USSR performs nuclear test (underground) 
1968
WEKW TV channel 52 in Keene, NH (PBS) begins broadcasting 
1968
Nuclear-powered sub USS Scorpion, with 99 men, reported missing & is later found at the bottom of the ocean off Azores 
1969
Robert Kennedy's murderer Sirhan Sirhan sentenced to death: later commuted to life imprisonmnet 
1969
Slovan Bratislava wins 9th Europe Cup II in Basel 
1969
After 9,015 at bats Hank Aaron is lifted for a pinch hitter, Mike Lum, who doubled in a 15-3 victory over NY Mets 
1969
Civil unrest in Rosario, Argentina, aka Rosariazo, following the death of a 15-year-old student. 
1970
National Guard mobilizes to quell disturbances at Ohio State U 
1970
USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR 
1971
Chelsea wins 11th Europe Cup II in Athens 
1971
National Guard mobilizes to quell riot in Chattanooga Tenn 
1972
"Heathen!" opens & closes at Billy Rose Theater NYC for 1 performance 
1972
"Lost in the Stars" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 39 perfs 
1972
Kathy Cornelius wins LPGA Bluegrass Golf Invitational 
1972
Michelangelo's Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is damaged by a vandal. 
1972
The Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) kidnap and shoot dead William Best (19), a member of the Royal Irish Rangers 
1975
Borussia Mönchengladbach wins 4th UEFA Cup at Enschede 
1975
Lowell W Perry confirmed as chairman of Equal Opportunity Comm 
1975
Trial against Baader-Meinhof-group begins in Stuttgart 
1977
"Fiddler on the Roof" closes at Winter Garden NYC after 167 perfs 
1977
103rd Preakness: Jean Cruguet aboard Seattle Slew wins in 1:54.4 
1977
Albert Innaurato's "Gemini" premieres in NYC 
1977
Fire in hotel Duc de Brabant Brussels, kills 19 
1977
SD Padres beat Mont Expos, 11-8, in 21 innings 
1978
118 Unification church couples wed in England 
1978
Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Coca-Cola Golf Classic 
1978
Yamada Mumon Roshi appointed head of Zen Rinzai Sect 
1979
Dan White convicted of manslaughter death of SF mayor Moscone 
1979
National Volksraad installed in Namibia 
1979
Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens beat NY Rangers, 4 games to 1 
1980
"Star Wars Episode V - Empire Strikes Back" opens in cinemas in UK and North America 
1980
Eintracht Frankfurt wins 9th UEFA Cup at Frankfurt 
1980
Ensign Jean Marie Butler is 1st woman to graduate from US service academy 
1981
Francois Mitterrand becomes president of France 
1981
Kim Seelbrede, (Ohio), crowned 30th Miss USA 
1981
Stanley Cup: NY Islanders beat Minnesota North Stars, 4 games to 1 
1981
Reggae musician Bob Marley receives a Jamaican state funeral 
1982
British troops land on Falkland Islands 
1983
"Bang The Drum All Day" by Todd Rundgren hits #63 
1983
109th Preakness: Donald Miller Jr on Deputed Testamony wins in 1:55.4 
1983
Challenger moves to Vandenberg AFB, for mating for STS-7 mission 
1983
David Bowie's "Let's "Dance" single goes #1 
1986
Atlanta Brave Rafael Ramirez hits 4 doubles in a game 
1986
US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site 
1987
Military coup in Fiji Islands under lt col Sitivani Rabuka 
1987
Xignals PC Board BBS begins in Alabama 
1988
"Da'Butt" by EU hits #35 
1988
"Fat" by Weird Al Yankovic hits #99 
1988
114th Preakness: Eddie Delahoussaye aboard Risen Star wins in 1:56.2 
1988
US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site 
1989
35th Mazda LPGA Championship won by Nancy Lopez 
1990
Dow Jones avg hits a record 2,844.68 
1990
Last episode of "Newhart" airs on CBS-TV 
1991
Ethiopia's Marxist president (Mengistu Haile Mariam) resigns 
1992
China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC 
1992
NJ senate overrides Governor Florio's veto & lowers sales tax to 6% 
1993
Dayanara Torres, 18, of Puerto Rico, crowned 42nd Miss Universe 
1993
Opposition leader Xanana Gusmao of East-Timor sentenced to life 
1993
Robin Smith scores 167 in England Texaco Trophy loss v Australia 
1993
Venezuela president Carlos Andres Perez fired 
1994
"Best Little Whorehouse" closes at Lunt-Fontanne NYC after 16 perfs 
1994
120th Preakness: Pat Day aboard Tabasco Cat wins in 1:56.4 
1994
Reds bat out of order against Dodgers in 2nd inning 
1994
South Yemen secedes from Yemen 
1995
chris johnson wins Star Bank LPGA Golf Classic 
1996
Blackout in many areas of Queens NY 
1996
Ken Griffey Jr, 26, is 8th youngest to hits 200 home runs 
1996
Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens beats Yankees for his 200th win 
1996
The Trappist Martyrs of Atlas are executed. 
1997
Emmy 24th Daytime Award presentation - Susan Lucci loses for 17th time 
1998
In Miami, Florida, five abortion clinics are hit by a butyric acid attacker. 
1998
Suharto, the Indonesian dictator who had ruled for 32 years, resigns. 
1999
All My Children star Susan Lucci finally wins a Daytime Emmy after being nominated 19 times, the longest period of unsuccessful nominations in television history 
2001
French Taubira law officially recognizes the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity. 
2001
The Enron Corporation's power generating venture in India, the Dabhol Power Company, serves formal notice that it will terminate its power supply contract and pull out 
2003
An earthquake hits northern Algeria killing more than 2,000 people. 
2003
38th Academy of Country Music Awards: Toby Keith, Martina McBride & Kenny Chesney wins 
2004
Sherpa Pemba Dorjie climbs Mount Everest in 8 hours 10 minutes, breaking his rival Sherpa Lakpa Gelu's record from the previous year. 
2004
Stanislav Petrov awarded World Citizen Award for averting a potential nuclear war in 1983 after correctly guessing Russian early warning system at fault 
2006
The Republic of Montenegro holds a referendum proposing independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. The Montenegrin people choose independence with a majority of 55%. 
2006
The Swedish ice hockey team Tre Kronor takes gold in the World Championship, becoming the first nation to hold both the World and Olympic titles separately in the same year. 
2007
Cutty Sark, the last surviving tea clipper, is badly damaged by fire in Greenwich, England. 
2011
137th Preakness: Jesús Castañón aboard Shackleford wins in 1:56.47 
2012
120 people are killed and 350 injured by a suicide bomb in Sana'a, Yemen 
2012
13 people are killed and 22 people injured after a bus falls 80 metres off a cliff in Albania 
2013
Microsoft announces the release of Xbox One 
2014
José Mário Vaz is elected President of Guinea-Bissau 
2016
Secret Service Shoots Man Near White House 
2016
Flight data showed smoke alerts on EgyptAir plane before crash -CNN 
2016
Oklahoma governor vetoes bill to jail abortion doctors 
2017
13-1 shot Cloud Computing springs upset in Preakness 
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