AllTheAnswers : Events of the Day

21 May 1471

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Birth of Albrecht Dürer in Nuremberg, Germany (d.1528), painter and engraver, who in 1498 published his first great series of designs on wood, the illustrations of the Apocalypse.

21 May 1471

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Death of Henry VI (b.1421 in Windsor, Berkshire), King of England (1422–61, 1470–1), who was murdered in the Tower of London.

21 May 1535

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Capture and imprisonment of William Tyndale (c.1496–1536) in Antwerp, for heresy over his translation of the Bible into English.

21 May 1542

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Death of Hernando de Soto (b.1496 in Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain), explorer, who died while searching for gold on the banks of the Mississippi River.

21 May 1664

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Birth of Giulio Alberoni in Firenzuola, Italy (d.1752), Spanish statesman and cardinal, whose aggressive foreign policy as prime minister resulted in the destruction of the Spanish fleet.

21 May 1688

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Birth of Alexander Pope in London (d.1744), satirical poet, whose works include The Rape of the Lock (1712).

21 May 1810

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Death of Charles G Chevalier Eon de Beaumont (b.1728 in Tonnerre, France), duelist, spy, and transvestite, from whose name the term ‘eonism’ came.

21 May 1851

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Discovery of gold in Australia.

21 May 1854

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Birth of John Peto in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d.1907), artist, whose trompe l'oeil style was apparent in his still-life paintings.

21 May 1859

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

[30 April Old Style] Death of Sergei Aksakov (b.1791 in Ufa, Russia), writer, whose novels include Years of Childhood (trans, 1858).

21 May 1881

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Formation of the US Lawn Tennis Association, in New York.

21 May 1884

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Completion of the Statue of Liberty; designed by French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi (1834–1904), and shipped to New York to be assembled and dedicated in 1886.

21 May 1894

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Formal opening of the Manchester Ship Canal, length 57 km/35 mi, by Queen Victoria.

21 May 1904

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Birth of Fats Waller, popular name of Thomas Wright Waller, in New York City (d.1943), jazz musician and songwriter, whose works include ‘Keeping Out of Mischief Now’ (1932).

21 May 1916

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Birth of Harold Robbins in New York (d.1997), writer, whose works include Never Love a Stranger (1948).

21 May 1916

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Introduction of Daylight Saving Time in Britain.

21 May 1921

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Birth of Andrey Sakharov in Moscow (d.1989), physicist, who was awarded the 1975 Nobel Peace Prize.

21 May 1927

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Aviator Charles Lindbergh (1902–74) landed at Le Bourget Field near Paris in the aircraft ‘The Spirit of St Louis’, the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight .

21 May 1929

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Death of Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (b.1847 in London), British prime minister (1894–5).

21 May 1932

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

US aviator Amelia Earhart (1897–1937) became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, landing near Londonderry, Northern Ireland, after a flight of nearly 15 hours.

21 May 1935

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Death of Jane Addams (b.1860 in Cedarville, Illinois), social reformer, who founded Hull House in Chicago, where she worked for social justice, female suffrage, and the cause of pacifism.

21 May 1945

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Marriage of Humphrey Bogart (1899–1957) to Lauren Bacall (b.1924).

21 May 1956

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Detonation of the first known airborne US hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.

21 May 1965

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Death of Sir Geoffrey de Havilland (b.1882 in Haslemere, Surrey), aircraft designer, who won the King's Cup air race at the age of 51.

21 May 1966

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

US boxer Muhammad Ali (b.1942) beat Britain's Henry Cooper (b.1934), retaining the world heavyweight championship.

21 May 1979

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Elton John performed at a live concert in Leningrad in the USSR, the first rock star to do so.

21 May 1991

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Death of Rajiv Gandhi (b.1944 in Mumbai (Bombay), India), former prime minister of India, assassinated by a bomb in a basket of flowers.

21 May 2000

Mon, 21 May 2012 02:30:00 +0200

Death of Sir John Gielgud (b.1904 in London), leading Shakespearian actor, whose films include Chariots of Fire (1981).