21 April
Notable Births
Hyein
b. 2008
South Korean singer (born 2008)
Princess Isabella of Denmark
b. 2007
Danish princess (born 2007)
Xavi Simons
b. 2003
Dutch footballer (born 2003)
Choi Hyun-suk
b. 1999
South Korean rapper (born 1999)
Jarrett Allen
b. 1998
American basketball player (born 1998)
Mikel Oyarzabal
b. 1997
Spanish footballer (born 1997)
Arianne Hartono
b. 1996
Dutch tennis player (born 1996)
Ludwig Augustinsson
b. 1994
Swedish footballer (born 1994)
Isco
b. 1992
Spanish footballer (born 1992)
Joc Pederson
b. 1992
American baseball player (born 1992)
Nikki Cross
b. 1989
Scottish professional wrestler (born 1989)
Ricky Berens
b. 1988
American swimmer (born 1988)
Jencarlos Canela
b. 1988
American actor (born 1988)
Tarvaris Jackson
b. 1983
American football player (1983–2020)
Tony Romo
b. 1980
American football player and television analyst (born 1980)
Virginie Basselot
b. 1979
French chef (born 1979)
James McAvoy
b. 1979
Scottish actor (born 1979)
Gyula Koi
b. 1977
Hungarian legal scholar and lecturer (born 1977)
Charles Grodin
b. 1935
American actor (1935–2021)
Elizabeth II
b. 1926
Queen of the United Kingdom from 1952 to 2022
Notable Deaths
Pope Francis
d. 2025
Head of the Catholic Church from 2013 to 2025
Terry A. Anderson
d. 2024
American journalist (1947–2024)
Polly Higgins
d. 2019
Scottish barrister, author, and environmental lobbyist (1968–2019)
Nabi Tajima
d. 2018
Japanese supercentenarian
Ugo Ehiogu
d. 2017
English football player and coach (1972–2017)
Prince (musician)
d. 2016
American musician and actor (1958–2016)
George H. Heilmeier
d. 2014
American engineer and businessman (1936-2014)
Win Tin
d. 2014
Burmese writer and political prisoner (12 March 1929 – 21 April 2014)
Shakuntala Devi
d. 2013
Indian writer and mental calculator (1929–2013)
Leopold Engleitner
d. 2013
Austrian Holocaust survivor
Catharina Halkes
d. 2011
Dutch theologian and feminist (1920-2011)
Gustav Lorentzen
d. 2010
Musical artist
Juan Antonio Samaranch
d. 2010
President of the IOC from 1980 to 2001
Zhang Chunqiao
d. 2005
Member of the Gang of Four (1917–2005)
Nina Simone
d. 2003
American singer-songwriter (1933–2003)
Charles "Buddy" Rogers
d. 1999
American actor and musician (1904–1999)
Jean-François Lyotard
d. 1998
French philosopher, sociologist, and literary theorist (1924-1998)
Diosdado Macapagal
d. 1997
President of the Philippines from 1961 to 1965
Abdul Hafeez Kardar
d. 1996
Pakistani cricketer and politician
John Maynard Keynes
d. 1946
British economist (1883–1946)
On This Day in History
All 53 ›
2021
Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Nanggala (402) sinks in the Bali Sea during a military drill, killing all 53 on board.
Indonesian Navy
2019
Eight bombs explode at churches, hotels, and other locations in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing at least 269.
2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings
2012
Two trains are involved in a head-on collision near Sloterdijk, Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, killing one person and injuring 116 others.
Amsterdam Westerpark train collision
2010
The controversial Kharkiv Pact (Russian Ukrainian Naval Base for Gas Treaty) is signed in Kharkiv, Ukraine, by Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev; it was unilaterally terminated by Russia on March 31, 2014.
Kharkiv Pact
2004
Five suicide car bombers target police stations in and around Basra, killing 74 people and wounding 160.
2004 Basra police station bombings
1996
Four people are killed and 75 are injured in a train accident in Jokela, Finland.
Jokela rail accident
1993
The Supreme Court in La Paz, Bolivia, sentences former dictator Luis García Meza to 30 years in jail without parole for murder, theft, fraud and violating the constitution.
La Paz
1989
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
1987
The Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that detonates in the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo, killing 106 people.
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
1985
The compound of the militant group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord surrenders to federal authorities in Arkansas after a two-day government siege.
The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord
1982
Baseball: Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers becomes the first pitcher to record 300 saves.
Baseball
1977
Annie opens on Broadway.
Annie (musical)
1975
Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Thiệu flees Saigon, as Xuân Lộc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.
Vietnam War
1972
Astronauts John Young and Charles Duke fly Apollo 16's Apollo Lunar Module to the Moon's surface, the fifth NASA Apollo Program crewed lunar landing.
John Young (astronaut)
1967
A few days before the general election in Greece, Colonel George Papadopoulos leads a coup d'état, establishing a military regime that lasts for seven years.
General election
1967
A tornado outbreak in Illinois, United States, kills over 50 and injures over 1,000. Belvidere sustains over 500 casualties as a violent tornado strikes the high school. Another tornado near Chicago causes another 500 casualties, devastating Oak Lawn.
Tornado outbreak of April 21, 1967
1966
Rastafari movement: Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Jamaica, an event now celebrated as Grounation Day.
Rastafari
1965
The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair opens for its second and final season.
1964 New York World's Fair
1964
A Transit-5bn satellite fails to reach orbit after launch; as it re-enters the atmosphere, 2.1 pounds (0.95 kg) of radioactive plutonium in its SNAP RTG power source is widely dispersed.
Transit (satellite navigation system)
1963
The first election of the Universal House of Justice is held, marking its establishment as the supreme governing institution of the Baháʼí Faith.
Universal House of Justice