On this day in history

September 21

30 births · 14 deaths · 5 events

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Anniversary highlights

Event anniversary

Westgate shopping mall shooting

13 years ago

Born this day

1866

H. G. Wells

Died aged 79

Photo (modified): George Charles Beresford · Public domain

Oldest record

958th

Henry I of England

birth anniversary

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Famous births30

1068 · 958 yrs

Henry I of England

Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 67

View profile Photo (modified): Matthew Paris · Public domain

1415 · 611 yrs

Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (German: Friedrich III, 21 September 1415 – 19 August 1493) was the Holy Roman emperor from 1452 until his death in 1493. He was the penultimate emperor to be crowned by the pope, and the last to be crowned in Rome.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 77

View profile Photo (modified): Attributed to Hans Burgkmair the Elder · Public domain

1452 · 574 yrs

Girolamo Savonarola

Girolamo Savonarola, OP (UK:, US:; Italian:; 21 September 1452 – 23 May 1498), also referred to as Jerome Savonarola, was an Italian ascetic Dominican friar from Ferrara and a preacher active in Renaissance Florence.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ReligionDied aged 45

View profile Photo (modified): Fra Bartolomeo · Public domain

1791 · 235 yrs

Théodore Géricault

Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (French:; 26 September 1791 – 26 January 1824) was a French painter and lithographer. His best-known painting is The Raft of the Medusa.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ArtDied aged 32

View profile Photo (modified): Horace Vernet · CC0

1840 · 186 yrs

Murad V

Murad V (Ottoman Turkish: مراد خامس, romanized: Murâd-ı ḫâmis; Turkish: V. Murad; 21 September 1840 – 29 August 1904) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 30 May to 31 August 1876. The son of Abdulmejid I, he supported the conversion of the government to a constitutional monarchy.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 63

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

1842 · 184 yrs

Abdul Hamid II

Abdülhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (Ottoman Turkish: عبد الحميد ثانی, romanized: Abd ul-Hamid-i s̱ānī; Turkish: II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 – 10 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Notable PeopleDied aged 75

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

1853 · 173 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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1866 · 160 yrs

H. G. Wells

Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than forty novels and dozens of short stories.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 79

View profile Photo (modified): George Charles Beresford · Public domain

1866 · 160 yrs

Charles Nicolle

Charles Jules Henri Nicolle (21 September 1866 – 28 February 1936) was a French bacteriologist who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his identification of lice as the transmitter of epidemic typhus.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceDied aged 69

View profile Photo (modified): Roland Huet · Public domain

1874 · 152 yrs

Gustav Holst

Gustav Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite The Planets, he composed many other works across a range of genres, although none achieved comparable success.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MusicDied aged 59

View profile Photo (modified): Herbert Lambert · Public domain

1890 · 136 yrs

Friedrich Paulus

Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus (23 September 1890 – 1 February 1957) was a German Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) during World War II who is best known for being the commander of the German 6th Army during the Battle of Stalingrad (July 1942 to February 1943).

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryWould be 136

View profile Photo (modified): Mittelstaedt, Heinz · CC BY-SA 3.0 de

1909 · 117 yrs

Kwame Nkrumah

Kwame Nkrumah (born Francis Nwia Kofi Ngonloma, /(ə)nˈkruːmə/ (ə)n-KROO-mə; 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained independence from the United Kingdom.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsWould be 117

View profile Photo (modified): USSR Post · Public domain

Showing 12 of 30

Famous deaths14

1327 · 699 yrs

Edward II of England

Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne following the death of his older brother Alphonso.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 43

View profile Photo (modified): Founder of Oriel College, after a painting in the Bodleian Library (colour engraving) by English School (19th century) · Public domain

1375 · 651 yrs

Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio (16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he gained sufficient notoriety to be known simply as "the Certaldese".

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 62

View profile Photo (modified): Raffaello Sanzio Morghen / After Vincenzo Gozzini · Public domain

1558 · 468 yrs

Charles V

Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, King of Sicily and Naples from 1516 to 1554, and also Lord of the Netherlands and titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) from 1506 to 1555.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 58

View profile Photo (modified): Attributed to Titian · Public domain

1709 · 317 yrs

Ivan Mazepa

Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (30 March 1639 – 2 October 1709) was a Ukrainian military, political and civic leader who served as hetman of the Cossack Hetmanate in 1687–1709. His long and stable rule was marked by economical and political recovery from the Ruin.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PoliticsDied aged 70

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

1832 · 194 yrs

Walter Scott

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureDied aged 61

View profile Photo (modified): Henry Raeburn · Public domain

1860 · 166 yrs

Arthur Schopenhauer

Arthur Schopenhauer (22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860), also known as the “Philosopher of Pessimism”, was a German philosopher and writer.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

PhilosophyDied aged 72

View profile Photo (modified): Johann Schäfer · Public domain

1957 · 69 yrs

Haakon VII of Norway

Haakon VII (Norwegian:; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 1872 – 21 September 1957) was King of Norway from 1905 until his death in 1957.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

RoyaltyDied aged 85

View profile Photo (modified): National Library of Norway · No restrictions

1971 · 55 yrs

Bernardo Houssay

Bernardo Alberto Houssay (April 10, 1887 – September 21, 1971) was an Argentinian physiologist.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

ScienceWould be 139

View profile Photo (modified): unknow (uploader Claudio Elias) · Public domain

1972 · 54 yrs

Henry de Montherlant

Henry Marie Joseph Frédéric Expedite Millon de Montherlant (French:; 20 April 1895 – 21 September 1972) was a French essayist, novelist, and dramatist. His most famous play written in 1942 is La Reine morte, still studied today in French high schools.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

LiteratureWould be 131

View profile Photo (modified): Henri Manuel · Public domain

1974 · 52 yrs

Walter Brennan

Walter Andrew Brennan (July 25, 1894 – September 21, 1974) was an American actor and singer. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Come and Get It (1936), Kentucky (1938) and The Westerner (1940), making him the only person to win three awards in the supporting actor category.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

FilmWould be 132

View profile Photo (modified): ABC Television (ABC Photo); Bath & Wiener-photographer. · Public domain

1982 · 44 yrs

Ivan Bagramyan

Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan, born Hovhannes Baghramyan (2 December 1897 – 21 September 1982), was a Soviet military commander of Armenian origin who held the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

MilitaryWould be 128

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

1998 · 28 yrs

Florence Griffith Joyner

Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner (née Griffith; December 21, 1959 – September 21, 1998), also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete who set world records in the 100m and 200m in 1988.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

SportsWould be 66

View profile Photo (modified): All the photographs are in the public domain and may be credited "Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library. · Public domain

Showing 12 of 14

Events5

1788 · 238 yrs

Battle of Karánsebes

The Battle of Karánsebes (Turkish: Şebeş Muharebesi; German: Rückzug von Karánsebes; Hungarian: Karánsebesi csata; Romanian: Bătălia de la Caransebeș) was a friendly fire incident in the Austrian army, occurring during the night of 21–22 September 1788, during the Austro-Turkish War of 1788–1791.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

1999 · 27 yrs

1999 Jiji earthquake

The Chi-Chi earthquake (later also known as the Jiji earthquake, 921 Earthquake, or the great earthquake of September 21), was a 7.3 ML or 7.7 Mw earthquake which occurred in Jiji (Chi-Chi), Nantou County, Taiwan on September 21, 1999, at 01:47:12 local time.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Disaster

2013 · 13 yrs

Westgate shopping mall shooting

On 21 September 2013, four gunmen attacked the Westgate shopping mall, an upmarket mall in Nairobi, Kenya. There are conflicting reports about the number killed in the attack, since part of the mall collapsed due to a fire that started during the siege.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tragedy

2014 · 12 yrs

2014 Singapore Grand Prix

The 2014 Singapore Grand Prix (formally the 2014 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 21 September at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sports

2018 · 8 yrs

2018 Ahvaz military parade attack

On 22 September 2018, a military parade was attacked by gunmen in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz. The shooters killed 25 people, including soldiers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and civilian bystanders.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

War

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