On This Day — 21 April

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

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

1962

The Seattle World's Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opens. It is the first World's Fair in the United States since World War II.

Century 21 Exposition

1960

Brasília, Brazil's capital, is officially inaugurated. At 09:30, the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.

Brasília

1958

United Air Lines Flight 736 collides with a United States Air Force fighter jet near Arden, Nevada in what is now Enterprise, Nevada.

United Air Lines Flight 736

1952

Secretary's Day (now Administrative Professionals' Day) is first celebrated.

Administrative Professionals Day

1950

The Nainital wedding massacre occurs, killing 22 members of the Harijan caste.

List of mass stabbing incidents (before 2010)

1948

United Nations Security Council Resolution 47 relating to Kashmir conflict is adopted.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 47

1946

The U.S. Weather Bureau records that a tornado which struck Timber Lake, South Dakota was 4 miles (6.4 km), among the widest tornadoes on record.

National Weather Service

1945

World War II: Soviet forces south of Berlin at Zossen attack the German High Command headquarters.

World War II

1934

The "Surgeon's Photograph", the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail (in 1994, it is revealed to be a hoax).

Loch Ness Monster

1926

Al-Baqi cemetery, former site of the mausoleum of four Shi'a Imams, is leveled to the ground by Wahhabis.

Al-Baqi Cemetery

1918

World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, better known as "The Red Baron", is shot down and killed over Vaux-sur-Somme in France.

World War I

1914

Ypiranga incident: A German arms shipment to Mexico is intercepted by the U.S. Navy near Veracruz.

Ypiranga incident

1898

Spanish–American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports. When the U.S. Congress issued a declaration of war on April 25, it declared that a state of war had existed from this date.

Spanish–American War

1894

Norway formally adopts the Krag–Jørgensen bolt-action rifle as the main arm of its armed forces, a weapon that would remain in service for almost 50 years.

Krag–Jørgensen

1856

Australian labour movement: Stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne march from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight-hour day.

Australian labour movement

1836

Texas Revolution: The Battle of San Jacinto: Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.

Texas Revolution

1821

Benderli Ali Pasha arrives in Constantinople as the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire; he remains in power for only nine days before being sent into exile.

Benderli Ali Pasha

1809

Two Austrian army corps are driven from Landshut by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon as two French corps to the north hold off the main Austrian army on the first day of the Battle of Eckmühl.

Landshut

1806

Action of 21 April 1806: A French frigate escapes British forces off the coast of South Africa.

Action of 21 April 1806

1802

Twelve thousand Wahhabis sack Karbala, killing over three thousand inhabitants.

Wahhabi sack of Karbala

1796

War of the First Coalition: In the climax of the Montenotte Campaign, Napoleon Bonaparte decisively defeats the army of Piedmont at the Battle of Mondovi, leading to Piedmont's surrender a week later and decisively turning the Italian campaign in France's favor.

War of the First Coalition

1792

Tiradentes, a revolutionary leading a movement for Brazil's independence, is hanged, drawn and quartered.

Tiradentes

1789

John Adams sworn in as first US Vice President (nine days before George Washington).

John Adams

1789

George Washington's reception at Trenton is hosted by the Ladies of Trenton as he journeys to New York City for his first inauguration.

George Washington's reception at Trenton

1782

The city of Rattanakosin, now known internationally as Bangkok, is founded on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River by King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.

Bangkok

1615

The Wignacourt Aqueduct is inaugurated in Malta.

Wignacourt Aqueduct

1526

The last ruler of the Lodi dynasty, Ibrahim Lodi, is defeated and killed by Babur in the First Battle of Panipat.

Lodi dynasty

1509

Henry VIII ascends the throne of England on the death of his father, Henry VII.

Henry VIII

1506

The three-day Lisbon Massacre comes to an end with the slaughter of over 1,900 suspected Jews by Portuguese Catholics.

Lisbon massacre

1092

The Diocese of Pisa is elevated to the rank of metropolitan archdiocese by Pope Urban II.

Archdiocese of Pisa

900

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (the earliest known written document found in what is now the Philippines): the Commander-in-Chief of the Kingdom of Tondo, as represented by the Honourable Jayadewa, Lord Minister of Pailah, pardons from all debt the Honourable Namwaran and his relations.

Laguna Copperplate Inscription

-43

Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered shortly after.

Battle of Mutina

-753

Romulus founds Rome (traditional date).

Romulus