On this day in history

July 21

28 births · 10 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

252

Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca

252 years ago

Born this day

1899

Ernest Hemingway

Would be 127

Photo (modified): Lloyd Arnold · Public domain

Oldest record

1369th

Battle of Siffin

event anniversary

Famous births28

1414 · 612 yrs

Sixtus IV

Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, Italian: Sisto IV; born Francesco da Savona later della Rovere; (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and leader of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 70

View profile Photo (modified): Pedro Berruguete · Public domain

1515 · 511 yrs

Philip Neri

Philip Neri, born Filippo Romolo Neri, pronounced (21 July 1515 – 26 May 1595) was an Italian Catholic priest who founded the Congregation of the Oratory, a society of secular clergy dedicated to pastoral care and charitable work.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 79

View profile Photo (modified): Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 4.0

1693 · 333 yrs

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne (21 July 1693 – 17 November 1768) was an English Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain, and whose official life extended throughout the Whig supremacy of the 18th century.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 75

View profile Photo (modified): William Hoare · Public domain

1858 · 168 yrs

Lovis Corinth

Lovis Corinth (21 July 1858 – 17 July 1925) was a German artist and writer whose mature work as a painter and printmaker realized a synthesis of impressionism and expressionism.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 66

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

1864 · 162 yrs

Frances Cleveland

Frances Clara Cleveland Preston (née Folsom, christened Frank Clara; July 21, 1864 – October 29, 1947) was the first lady of the United States from 1886 to 1889 and again from 1893 until 1897, as the wife of President Grover Cleveland. She was the first to hold the position nonconsecutively.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 83

View profile Photo (modified): Charles Milton Bell / Adam Cuerden · Public domain

1893 · 133 yrs

Hans Fallada

Hans Fallada (German:; born Rudolf Wilhelm Friedrich Ditzen; 21 July 1893 – 5 February 1947) was a German writer of the first half of the 20th century. Some of his better known novels include Little Man, What Now?

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 133

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

1899 · 127 yrs

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Miller Hemingway ( HEM-ing-way; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle and outspoken, blunt public image.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 127

View profile Photo (modified): Lloyd Arnold · Public domain

1911 · 115 yrs

Marshall McLuhan

Herbert Marshall McLuhan (mə-KLOO-ən; July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media theory. Raised in Winnipeg, McLuhan studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PhilosophyWould be 115

View profile Photo (modified): Josephine Smith · Public domain

1923 · 103 yrs100 Club

Rudolph A. Marcus

Rudolph Arthur Marcus (July 21, 1923 – July 16, 2026) was a Canadian-born American chemist who received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his contributions to the theory of electron transfer reactions in chemical systems".

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 103

View profile Photo (modified): No machine-readable author provided. Xvlun~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 2.5

1924 · 102 yrs

Don Knotts

Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924 – February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on the 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, for which he earned five Emmy Awards.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 102

View profile Photo (modified): CBS Television · Public domain

1926 · 100 yrs

Norman Jewison

Norman Frederick Jewison (July 21, 1926 – January 20, 2024) was a Canadian filmmaker. He is known for directing films which addressed topical social and political issues, often making controversial or complicated subjects accessible to mainstream audiences.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 100

View profile Photo (modified): Canadian Film Centre from Toronto, Canada · CC BY 2.0

1944 · 82 yrs

John Evans Atta Mills

John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (21 July 1944 – 24 July 2012) was a Ghanaian politician and legal scholar who served as the 11th president of Ghana from 2009 until his death in 2012.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 82

View profile Photo (modified): National Democratic Congress party of Ghana · CC BY-SA 3.0

Showing 12 of 28

Famous deaths10

1425 · 601 yrs

Manuel II Palaiologos

Manuel II Palaiologos or Palaeologus (Greek: Μανουὴλ Παλαιολόγος, romanized: Manouḗl Palaiológos, pronounced; 27 June 1350 – 21 July 1425) was Byzantine emperor from 1391 to 1425. Shortly before his death he was tonsured a monk and received the name Matthaios (Ματθαίος).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 75

View profile Photo (modified): The original uploader was Pitchka at English Wikipedia . · Public domain

1796 · 230 yrs

Robert Burns

Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 37

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

1899 · 127 yrs

Robert Green Ingersoll

Robert Green Ingersoll (August 11, 1833 – July 21, 1899), nicknamed "the Great Agnostic", was an American lawyer, writer, and orator during the Golden Age of Free Thought, who campaigned in defense of agnosticism.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LawDied aged 65

View profile Photo (modified): Mathew Benjamin Brady / Levin Corbin Handy · Public domain

1944 · 82 yrs

Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg

Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (German:; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer who is best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair, part of Operation Valkyrie.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyWould be 118

View profile Photo (modified): Unknown author · CC0

1977 · 49 yrs

Lee Miller

Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, Lady Penrose (April 23, 1907 – July 21, 1977) was an American photographer and photojournalist. Miller was a fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris, becoming a fashion and fine-art photographer there.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtWould be 119

View profile Photo (modified): U.S. Army Official Photograph · CC BY-SA 4.0

1998 · 28 yrs

Alan Shepard

Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) was an American astronaut.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

SpaceWould be 102

View profile Photo (modified): NASA · Public domain

2004 · 22 yrs

Jerry Goldsmith

Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929 – July 21, 2004) was an American composer, conductor and orchestrator with a career in film and television scoring that spanned 49 years and over 200 productions, between 1954 and 2003. He was considered one of film music's most innovative and influential composers.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 97

View profile Photo (modified): fuxoft · CC BY-SA 2.0

2004 · 22 yrs

Edward B. Lewis

Edward Butts Lewis (May 20, 1918 – July 21, 2004) was an American geneticist, a corecipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He helped to found the field of evolutionary developmental biology.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 108

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

2022 · 4 yrs

Uwe Seeler

Uwe Seeler (German pronunciation:; 5 November 1936 – 21 July 2022) was a German footballer and football official. As a striker, he was a prolific scorer for Hamburger SV and also made 72 appearances for the West Germany national team.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

SportsWould be 89

View profile Photo (modified): Joop van Bilsen for Anefo · CC0

2023 · 3 yrs

Tony Bennett

Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicWould be 100

View profile Photo (modified): Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0

Events5

AD 657 · 1369 yrs

Battle of Siffin

The Battle of Siffin (Arabic: معركة صفّين, romanized: Maʿraka Ṣiffīn) was fought in 657 CE (37 AH) between the forces of the fourth Rashidun caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib, and the forces of the Umayyad governor of Syria, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1718 · 308 yrs

Treaty of Passarowitz

The Treaty of Passarowitz, or Treaty of Požarevac, was the peace treaty signed in Požarevac (Serbian Cyrillic: Пожаревац, German: Passarowitz, Turkish: Pasarofça), a town that was in the Ottoman Empire but is now in Serbia, on 21 July 1718 between the Ottoman Empire and its adversaries, the Habsburg monarchy and the…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

1774 · 252 yrs

Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca

The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (Turkish: Küçük Kaynarca Antlaşması; Russian: Кючук-Кайнарджийский мир), formerly often written Kuchuk-Kainarji, was a peace treaty signed on 21 July 1774, in Küçük Kaynarca (today Kaynardzha, Bulgaria) between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, ending the Russo-Turkish War of…

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Politics

1798 · 228 yrs

Battle of the Pyramids

The Battle of the Pyramids (French: Bataille des Pyramides), also known as the Battle of Embabeh (bataille d'Embabech), was fought on 21 July 1798 during the French invasion of Egypt and Syria.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1861 · 165 yrs

First Battle of Bull Run

The First Battle of Bull Run, called the Battle of First Manassas by Confederate forces, was the first major battle of the American Civil War.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

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