What Happened on May 21

  • May

Important Events

  • 1792 Mount Unzen on Japan's Shimabara Peninsula, erupts creating a tsunami, killing about 15,000; Japan's deadliest volcanic eruption
  • 1832 1st Democratic National Convention (Baltimore)
  • 1871 -July 28] French regular troops attack Commune of Paris; 17,000 die
  • 1927 Aviator Charles Lindbergh, in the Spirit of St Louis, lands in Paris after the first solo air crossing of Atlantic
  • 1932 After flying for 17 hours from Newfoundland, Amelia Earhart lands near Londonderry, Northern Ireland, becoming the 1st transatlantic solo flight by a woman
More Historical Events

May 21 in Film & TV

  • 1908 1st horror movie (Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde) premieres in Chicago

May 21 in Music

May 21 in Sport

  • 1904 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) forms in Paris

Did You Know?

All My Children star Susan Lucci finally wins a Daytime Emmy after being nominated 19 times, the longest period of unsuccessful nominations in television history

On May 21, 1999

Famous Birthdays

More Famous Birthdays

Would You Believe?

Stanislav Petrov awarded World Citizen Award for averting a potential nuclear war in 1983 after correctly guessing Russian early warning system at fault

On May 21, 2004

Famous Weddings

  • 1553 Lady Jane Grey (15), later English queen for 9 days, marries Lord Guildford Dudley (18)
  • 1825 Prince Willem FK marries Louise AWA of Prussia
  • 1944 Actor Burgess Meredith (36) weds actress Paulette Goddard (33) at David O Selznick's Beverly Hills home
More Weddings & Divorces

Famous Deaths

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May in History