May 21 is the 141st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (142nd in leap years). There are 224 days remaining.
- 996 - Sixteen year old Otto III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1674 - John Sobieski is elected by the nobility to be the King of Poland.
- 1856 - Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces.
- 1863 - American Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson[?] - Union forces begin to lay siege to the Confederate-controlled Port Hudson, Louisiana[?].
- 1881 - The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton.
- 1924 - University of Chicago students Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr. murder 14-year-old Bobby Franks in a "thrill killing."
- 1927 - Charles Lindbergh completes the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight.
- 1932 - Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
- 1941 - World War II: 950 miles off the coast of Brazil, the freighter SS Robin Moor[?] becomes the first United States ship sunk by a German U-boat.
- 1956 - Nuclear testing: In the Pacific Ocean, Bikini Atoll is nearly obliterated by the first airborne explosion of a hydrogen bomb.
- 1961 - American civil rights movement: Alabama Governor John Patterson[?] declares martial law in an attempt to restore order after race riots break out.
- 1991 - In Madras, former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a terrorist bomb hidden in a bouquet of flowers.
- 1998 - School shooting[?]: At Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, Kipland Kinkel (who was suspended for bringing a gun to school) shoots a semi-automatic rifle into a room filled with students killing 2 wounding 25 others after killing his parents at home.
- 1998 - Reproductive rights[?]: In Miami, Florida, five abortion clinics[?] are hit by a butyric acid attacker.
- 2003 - An earthquake hits northern Algeria. More than 2,000 deaths.
- 1471 - Albrecht Dürer, painter and graphic artist (+ 1528)
- 1527 - King Philip II of Spain (+ 1598)
- 1688 - Alexander Pope, poet (+ 1744)
- 1844 - Henri Rousseau[?], artist (+ 1910)
- 1898 - Armand Hammer[?], physician, entrepreneur, oil magnate, art collector
- 1901 - Horace Heidt[?], band leader (+ 1986)
- 1901 - Sam Jaffe[?], actor (+ 2000)
- 1902 - Marcel Lajos Breuer[?], architect (+ 1981)
- 1904 - Fats Waller, pianist (+ 1943)
- 1904 - Robert Montgomery, actor (+ 1981)
- 1916 - Harold Robbins, novelist (+ 1997)
- 1917 - Raymond Burr, actor (+ 1993)
- 1921 - Andrei Sakharov, physicist, human rights activist, recipient of the Nobel Prize (+ 1989)
- 1923 - Ara Parseghian[?], American football coach
- 1932 - Gabriele Wohmann[?], author
- 1945 - Ernst Messerschmid[?], physicist and astronaut
- 1948 - Leo Sayer[?], musician
- 1952 - Mr. T, actor
- 1956 - Judge Reinhold[?], actor
- 1960 - Jeffrey Dahmer, serial killer (+ 1994)
- 1972 - The Notorious B.I.G., musician (+ 1997)
See Also:
May 20 - May 22 - April 21 - June 21 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, October, November, December