May 21

Events

• 996 - Sixteen year old Otto III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1674 - John Sobieski is elected by the nobility to be the King of Poland.
• 1856 - Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson[?] - Union forces begin to lay siege to the Confederate-controlled Port Hudson, Louisiana[?].
• 1881 - The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton.
• 1924 - University of Chicago students Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr. murder 14-year-old Bobby Franks in a "thrill killing."
• 1927 - Charles Lindbergh completes the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight.
• 1932 - Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1941 - World War II: 950 miles off the coast of Brazil, the freighter SS Robin Moor[?] becomes the first United States ship sunk by a German U-boat.
• 1956 - Nuclear testing: In the Pacific Ocean, Bikini Atoll is nearly obliterated by the first airborne explosion of a hydrogen bomb.
• 1961 - American civil rights movement: Alabama Governor John Patterson[?] declares martial law in an attempt to restore order after race riots break out.
• 1991 - In Madras, former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a terrorist bomb hidden in a bouquet of flowers.
• 1998 - School shooting[?]: At Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, Kipland Kinkel (who was suspended for bringing a gun to school) shoots a semi-automatic rifle into a room filled with students killing 2 wounding 25 others after killing his parents at home.
• 1998 - Reproductive rights[?]: In Miami, Florida, five abortion clinics[?] are hit by a butyric acid attacker.
• 2003 - An earthquake hits northern Algeria. More than 2,000 deaths.

Births

• 1471 - Albrecht Dürer, painter and graphic artist (+ 1528)
• 1527 - King Philip II of Spain (+ 1598)
• 1688 - Alexander Pope, poet (+ 1744)
• 1844 - Henri Rousseau[?], artist (+ 1910)
• 1898 - Armand Hammer[?], physician, entrepreneur, oil magnate, art collector
• 1901 - Horace Heidt[?], band leader (+ 1986)
• 1901 - Sam Jaffe[?], actor (+ 2000)
• 1902 - Marcel Lajos Breuer[?], architect (+ 1981)
• 1904 - Fats Waller, pianist (+ 1943)
• 1904 - Robert Montgomery, actor (+ 1981)
• 1916 - Harold Robbins, novelist (+ 1997)
• 1917 - Raymond Burr, actor (+ 1993)
• 1921 - Andrei Sakharov, physicist, human rights activist, recipient of the Nobel Prize (+ 1989)
• 1923 - Ara Parseghian[?], American football coach
• 1932 - Gabriele Wohmann[?], author
• 1945 - Ernst Messerschmid[?], physicist and astronaut
• 1948 - Leo Sayer[?], musician
• 1952 - Mr. T, actor
• 1956 - Judge Reinhold[?], actor
• 1960 - Jeffrey Dahmer, serial killer (+ 1994)
• 1972 - The Notorious B.I.G., musician (+ 1997)

Deaths

• 1542 - Hernando de Soto, explorer
• 1647 - Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch poet and historian
• 1935 - Jane Addams, social worker
• 1952 - John Garfield, actor
• 2000 - Sir John Gielgud, British actor
• 2000 - Barbara Cartland, romance novel[?] author
• 2002 - Niki de Saint Phalle[?], artist

Holidays and observances

May 20 - May 22 - April 21 - June 21 -- listing of all days

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