What are the important events that happened on July 21? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

July 21: Facts & Myths About This Day

July 21 is the 202^nd day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 163 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is July 8, 2025 – a Monday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 1,753,056,000 seconds has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘dihectadigon’ day.

Cancer is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Ruby is the modern birthstone for this month. Ruby is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 211 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,595 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

July 21 Historical Events

• 230 –
  Pope Pontian succeeds Urban I as the eighteenth pope.
• 365 –
  A tsunami devastates the city of Alexandria, Egypt. The tsunami was caused by the Crete earthquake estimated to be 8.0 on the Richter Scale. 5,000 people perished in Alexandria, and 45,000 more died outside the city.
• 1873 –
  At Adair, Iowa, Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the American Old West.
• 1918 –
  SMU U-156 shells Nauset Beach, in Orleans, Massachusetts.
• 1925 –
  Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in class and fined $100.
• 1944 –
  World War II: Battle of Guam – American troops land on Guam starting the battle. It would end on August 10.
• 1944 –
  World War II: Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg and fellow conspirators are executed in Berlin, Germany for the July 20 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
• 1969 –
  Space Race: Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon, during the Apollo 11 mission (July 20 in North America).
• 1977 –
  The start of the four day long Libyan-Egyptian War.
• 2001 –
  At the conclusion of a fireworks display on Okura Beach in Akashi, Hyōgo, Japan, 11 people are killed and more than 120 are injured when a pedestrian footbridge connecting the beach to JR Asagiri railway station becomes overcrowded and people leaving the event fall down in a domino effect.

Who were born on July 21?

• 1710 –
  Paul Möhring, German physician (d. 1792)
• 1898 –
  Sara Carter, Carter Family vocalist/guitarist (d. 1979)
• 1934 –
  Jonathan Miller, British theatre director
• 1945 –
  John Lowe, English darts player
• 1945 –
  Lydia Shum, Hong Kong comedian and actress (d. 2008)
• 1950 –
  Ubaldo Fillol, Argentinian footballer
• 1955 –
  Béla Tarr, Hungarian film director
• 1959 –
  Paul Vautin, Australian rugby league player
• 1960 –
  Fritz Walter, German footballer
• 1981 –
  Yushin Okami, Japanese mixed martial artist

Who died on July 21?

• 1796 –
  Robert Burns, Scottish poet (b. 1759)
• 1946 –
  Gualberto Villarroel, Bolivian politician (b. 1908)
• 1967 –
  Albert Lutuli, South African politician, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
• 1970 –
  Mikhail Gerasimov, Russian anthropologist and sculptor (b. 1907)
• 1972 –
  Ralph Craig, American athlete (b. 1889)
• 1986 –
  Ernest Maas, American screenwriter (b. 1892)
• 1998 –
  Alan Shepard, American astronaut (b. 1923)
• 1998 –
  Robert Young, American actor (b. 1907)
• 2001 –
  Steve Barton, American actor (b. 1954)
• 2003 –
  John Davies, New Zealander athlete (b. 1938)