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

May 21: Facts & Myths About This Day

May 21 is the 141^st day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 224 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.

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

When this day started, 29,129,760 minutes 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 ‘hectatetracontahenagon’ day.

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

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 272 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 4,534 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

May 21 Historical Events

• 1863 –
  Organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan.
• 1864 –
  Russia declares an end to the Russian-Circassian War and many Circassians are forced into exile. The day is designated the Circassian Day of Mourning.
• 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.
• 1894 –
  The Manchester Ship Canal in England is officially opened by Queen Victoria, who later knights its designer Sir Edward Leader Williams.
• 1911 –
  Mexican President Porfirio Díaz and the revolutionary Francisco Madero sign the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez to put an end to the fighting between the forces of both men, and thus concluding the initial phase of the Mexican Revolution.
• 1934 –
  Oskaloosa, Iowa, becomes the first municipality in the United States to fingerprint all of its citizens.
• 1937 –
  A Soviet station becomes the first scientific research settlement to operate on the drift ice of the Arctic Ocean.
• 1961 –
  American civil rights movement: Alabama Governor John Malcolm Patterson declares martial law in an attempt to restore order after race riots break out.
• 1966 –
  The Ulster Volunteer Force declares war on the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland.
• 1979 –
  White Night riots in San Francisco following the manslaughter conviction of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk.

Who were born on May 21?

• 1792 –
  Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis, French scientist (d. 1843)
• 1827 –
  William P. Sprague, American politician (d. 1899)
• 1912 –
  Akiva Vroman, Dutch-born Israeli geologist (d. 1989)
• 1934 –
  Bengt I. Samuelsson, Swedish biochemist, Nobel laureate
• 1947 –
  Jonathan Hyde, Australian-born actor
• 1957 –
  James Bailey, American basketball player
• 1967 –
  Chris Benoit, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 2007)
• 1984 –
  Sara Goller, German beach volleyball player
• 1985 –
  Marie McCray, American adult actress
• 1985 –
  Mark Cavendish, Manx cyclist

Who died on May 21?

• 1607 –
  John Rainolds, English scholar (b. 1549)
• 1650 –
  James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, Scottish royalist (b. 1612)
• 1771 –
  Christopher Smart, English poet (b. 1722)
• 1786 –
  Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Swedish chemist (b. 1742)
• 1894 –
  August Kundt, German physicist (b. 1839)
• 1911 –
  Williamina Fleming, Scottish-born astronomer (b. 1857)
• 1952 –
  John Garfield, American actor (b. 1913)
• 1981 –
  Patsy O'Hara, Irish hunger striker (b. 1957)
• 1984 –
  Ann Little, American actress (b. 1891)
• 2006 –
  Billy Walker, American singer (b. 1929)