On this day in history

February 21

29 births · 23 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

110

Battle of Verdun

110 years ago

Born this day

1989

Corbin Bleu

Turns 37

Photo (modified): Nielsoncaetanosalmeron · CC BY 4.0

Oldest record

809th

Hulegu Khan

birth anniversary

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Famous births29

1217 · 809 yrs

Hulegu Khan

Hulegu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulagu (c. 1217 – 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of West Asia.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryDied aged 47

View profile Photo (modified): Circa 1340 artist · Public domain

1801 · 225 yrs

John Henry Newman

John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English Catholic theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet. He was an important figure in the religious history of England in the 19th century.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 89

View profile Photo (modified): Herbert Rose Barraud · Public domain

1875 · 151 yrs

Jeanne Calment

Jeanne Louise Calment (French:; 21 February 1875 – 4 August 1997) was a French supercentenarian who is the oldest person in recorded history whose age has been verified, with a documented lifespan of 122 years and 164 days. Her longevity attracted media attention and medical studies of her health and lifestyle.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 58

View profile Photo (modified): Gustave Ouvière · Public domain

1885 · 141 yrs

Sacha Guitry

Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry (French:; 21 February 1885 – 24 July 1957) was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French actor, Lucien Guitry, and followed his father into the theatrical profession.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 141

View profile Photo (modified): Studio Harcourt · Public domain

1895 · 131 yrs

Henrik Dam

Carl Peter Henrik Dam (21 February 1895 – 17 April 1976) was a Danish biochemist and physiologist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1943 for joint work with Edward Doisy in discovering vitamin K and its role in human physiology.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 131

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

1897 · 129 yrs

Marian Anderson

Marian Anderson, born Marian Elina-Blanche Anderson (February 27, 1897 – April 8, 1993) was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to spirituals.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 129

View profile Photo (modified): S. Hurok-classical concert promoter · Public domain

1903 · 123 yrs

Anaïs Nin

Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell ( AN-eye-EESS NEEN; French:; February 21, 1903 – January 14, 1977) was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 123

View profile Photo (modified): Elsa Dorfman · CC BY 2.5

1903 · 123 yrs

Raymond Queneau

Raymond Auguste Queneau (French:; 21 February 1903 – 25 October 1976) was a French novelist, poet, critic, editor and co-founder and president of Oulipo (Ouvroir de littérature potentielle), notable for his wit and cynical humour.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 123

View profile Photo (modified): Jean-Max Albert · CC BY-SA 4.0

1907 · 119 yrs

W. H. Auden

Wystan Hugh Auden ( WIST-ən HYOO AWD-ən; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, form, and content.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 119

View profile Photo (modified): Carl Van Vechten · Public domain

1921 · 105 yrs

John Rawls

John Bordley Rawls (February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002) was an American philosopher, most active in moral, legal, and political philosophy. Rawls has been described as one of the most influential modern liberal political philosophers of the 20th century.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PhilosophyWould be 105

View profile Photo (modified): Published by the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press . Photograph taken by Alec Rawls, John's son. The portrait wa · Public domain

1924 · 102 yrs

Robert Mugabe

Robert Gabriel Mugabe (21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who led Zimbabwe from 1980 until 2017. He served as the country's first Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987 and as its second President from 1987 to 2017.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 102

View profile Photo (modified): Government of Zimbabwe, taken by Joseph Nyadzayo as Presidential Photographer · Public domain

1933 · 93 yrs

Nina Simone

Nina Simone ( NEE-nə sim-OHN; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American composer, concert pianist, singer, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title the High Priestess of Soul.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 93

View profile Photo (modified): Ron Kroon for Anefo Restored by Bammesk · CC0

Showing 12 of 29

Famous deaths23

1437 · 589 yrs

James I of Scotland

James I (late July 1394 – 21 February 1437) was King of Scots from 1406 to 1437. The youngest of three sons, he was born in Dunfermline Abbey to King Robert III and his wife Annabella Drummond.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 42

View profile Photo (modified): anonymous · Public domain

1513 · 513 yrs

Julius II

Pope Julius II (Latin: Iulius II; Italian: Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 1443 – 21 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and leader of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 69

View profile Photo (modified): Raphael · Public domain

1677 · 349 yrs

Benedictus de Spinoza

Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin who was born and lived in the Dutch Republic.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PhilosophyDied aged 44

View profile Photo (modified): anonymous · Public domain

1730 · 296 yrs

Benedict XIII

Pope Benedict XIII (Latin: Benedictus XIII; Italian: Benedetto XIII; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco (or Pierfrancesco) Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and leader of the Papal States from 29 May 1724 to his death in February 1730.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 81

View profile Photo (modified): Unidentified painter · Public domain

1852 · 174 yrs

Nikolai Gogol

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1 April 1809 – 4 March 1852) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the grotesque in his writings, for example in his works "The Nose", "Viy", "The Overcoat", and "Nevsky Prospekt".

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 42

View profile Photo (modified): Otto Friedrich Theodor von Möller · Public domain

1894 · 132 yrs

Gustave Caillebotte

Gustave Caillebotte (French:; 19 August 1848 – 21 February 1894) was a French painter who was a member and patron of the Impressionists, although he painted in a more realistic manner than many others in the group. Caillebotte was known for his early interest in photography as an art form.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 45

View profile Photo (modified): Gustave Caillebotte · Public domain

1895 · 131 yrs

Nikolai Leskov

Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (Russian: Никола́й Семёнович Леско́в; 16 February 1831 – 5 March 1895) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 64

View profile Photo (modified): Valentin Serov · Public domain

1912 · 114 yrs

Osborne Reynolds

Osborne Reynolds (23 August 1842 – 21 February 1912) was an Irish-born British innovator in the understanding of fluid dynamics. Separately, his studies of heat transfer between solids and fluids brought improvements in boiler and condenser design.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

TechnologyDied aged 69

View profile Photo (modified): John Collier · Public domain

1925 · 101 yrs

Hjalmar Branting

Karl Hjalmar Branting (Swedish pronunciation:; 23 November 1860 – 24 February 1925) was a Swedish statesman and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Sweden on three occasions from 1920 to 1925.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 64

View profile Photo (modified): Henry B. Goodwin · Public domain

1926 · 100 yrs

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (Dutch:; 21 September 1853 – 21 February 1926) was a Dutch experimental physicist who became the first to liquefy helium, cooling it to near 1.5 kelvin (K). For this work, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1913.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 72

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1930 · 96 yrs

Ahmad Shah Qajar

Ahmad Shah Qajar (Persian: احمد شاه قاجار‎; 21 January 1898 – 21 February 1930) was the shah of Iran (Persia) from 16 July 1909 to 15 December 1925, and the seventh and final ruling member of the Qajar dynasty.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 128

View profile Photo (modified): Bain News Service · Public domain

1934 · 92 yrs

Augusto César Sandino

Augusto César Sandino (Latin American Spanish:; 18 May 1895 – 21 February 1934; Augusto Nicolás Calderón Sandino) was a Nicaraguan revolutionary, founder of the militant group EDSN, and leader of a rebellion between 1927 and 1933 against the United States occupation of Nicaragua.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ActivismWould be 131

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · Public domain

Showing 12 of 23

Events5

1808 · 218 yrs

Finnish War

The Finnish War was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1916 · 110 yrs

Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun (French: Bataille de Verdun; German: Schlacht um Verdun) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north of Verdun.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1972 · 54 yrs

1972 Nixon visit to China

From February 21 to 28, 1972, the president of the United States Richard Nixon visited Beijing, capital of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the culmination of his administration's efforts to establish relations with the PRC after years of U.S. diplomatic policy that favored the Republic of China in Taiwan.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

2020 · 6 yrs

COVID-19 pandemic in Israel

The COVID-19 pandemic in Israel was part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Disaster

2026 · 0 yrs

2026 Afghanistan–Pakistan War

Since February 2026, Pakistan and Afghanistan have been engaged in the most sustained cross-border conflict between the two countries since the Taliban's 2021 return to power in Afghanistan.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

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