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 142nd day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 224 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Tuesday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is May 8, 2024 – a Tuesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 28,604,160 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 ‘hectatetracontadigon’ 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 253 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 4,169 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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May 21 Historical Events
- 1349 –Dušan’s Code, the constitution of the Serbian Empire, is enacted by Dušan the Mighty.
- 1856 –Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces.
- 1871 –Opening of the first rack railway in Europe, the Rigi-Bahnen on Mount Rigi.
- 1917 –The Great Atlanta fire of 1917.
- 1969 –Civil unrest in Rosario, Argentina, known as Rosariazo, following the death of a 15-year-old student.
- 1979 –White Night riots in San Francisco following the manslaughter conviction of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk.
- 1981 –Irish Republican hunger strikers Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O’Hara die on hunger strike in Maze prison.
- 1981 –The Italian government releases the membership list of Propaganda Due, an illegal pseudo-Masonic lodge that was implicated in numerous Italian crimes and mysteries.
- 1982 –Falklands War: British amphibious assault during Operation Sutton lead to the Battle of San Carlos.
- 1991 –Mengistu Haile Mariam, president of the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, flees Ethiopia, effectively bringing the Ethiopian Civil War to an end.
Who were born on May 21?
- 1827 –William P. Sprague, American politician (d. 1899)
- 1851 –Léon Bourgeois, French statesman, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 1925)
- 1860 –Willem Einthoven, Dutch physiologist; Nobel laureate (d. 1927)
- 1901 –Sam Jaffe, American film producer (d. 2000)
- 1923 –Vernon Biever, American photographer (d. 2010)
- 1936 –Günter Blobel, German biologist, Nobel laureate
- 1958 –Jefery Levy, American television director
- 1969 –Georgiy R. Gongadze, Ukrainian/Georgian journalist
- 1972 –Alesha Oreskovich, American model
- 1986 –Myra, American singer
Who died on May 21?
- 1237 –Olaf the Black, King of Mann and the Isles
- 1542 –Hernando de Soto, Spanish explorer (b. 1496 or 1497)
- 1790 –Thomas Warton, English poet (b. 1728)
- 1895 –Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer (b. 1819)
- 1935 –Jane Addams, American social worker, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1860)
- 1952 –John Garfield, American actor (b. 1913)
- 1956 –Harry Bensley, English rake and adventurer (b. 1877)
- 1981 –Patsy O'Hara, Irish hunger striker (b. 1957)
- 2003 –Frank D. White, American politician (b. 1933)
- 2005 –Howard Morris, American comic actor and director (b. 1919)
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