On this day in History - Apr. 21

• 753 BC - Romulus founds Rome (traditional).
• 043 BC - Mark Antony is defeated in battle by consul Hirtius in the Battle of Mutina, who is killed.
• 0953 - Otto I the Great gives Utrecht fishing rights.
• 1073 - Pope Alexander II [Anselmo da Baggio], Pope (1061-73), dies .
• 1109 - Anselm of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury, dies.
• 1142 - Pierre Abélard, dies (b. 1079). French writer.
• 1509 - Rei Henrique VII de Inglaterra morre.
• 1519 - El conquistador Hernán Cortés funda la ciudad de Veracruz, en México.
• 1574 - Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany dies (b. 1519).
• 1652 - Michel Rolle, was born (d. 1719). Mathematician .
• 1699 - Jean Racine, dies (b. 1639). French dramatist.
• 1729 - Tsarina Catherine II of Russia was born (d. 1796).
• 1731 - Daniel Defoe, dies (b. 1660). British author .
• 1774 - Jean-Baptiste Biot was born (d. 3 Feb 1862). French physicist who helped formulate the Biot-Savart law, which concerns magnetic fields, and laid the basis for saccharimetry, a useful technique of analyzing sugar solutions.
• 1775 - Alexander Anderson, was born (d. 1870). American wood-engraver and illustrator (d. 1870) .
• 1782 - Friedrich Froebel, was born. German educationalist
• 1789 - John Adams sworn in as first US Vice President, 9 days before Washington is sworn in as president.
• 1792 - Tiradentes, [Joaquim José da Silva Xavier], dies hanged (b. 1746).Revolutionary who was leading a movement for Brazil's independence.
• 1793 - John Michell, dies (b. 1724). British geologist and astronomer who is considered the father of seismology, the science of earthquakes.
• 1810 - John Putnam Chapin, was born (d. 1864). Mayor of Chicago .
• 1811 - Alson Sherman, was born (d. 1903). Mayor of Chicago .
• 1814 - Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, was born (d. 1906). English philanthropist.
• 1815 - Joseph Winston, dies (b. 1746). American patriot and Congressman from North Carolina.
• 1816 - Charlotte Brontë, was born (d. 1855). Author.
• 1822 - Combate de Riobamba: 96 granaderos al mando de Lavalle derrotan a más de 400 realistas.
• 1825 - Johann Friedrich Pfaff dies (b. 22 Dec 1765). German mathematician who proposed the first general method of integrating partial differential equations of the first order.
• 1830 - James Starley was born (d. 17 June 1881). British inventor and father of the bicycle industry.
• 1835 - Samuel Slater dies (b. 9 June 1768). English-American mechanical engineer who founded the American cotton-textile industry.
• 1836 - Texas Revolution: Battle of San Jacinto - Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna. (Santa Anna and hundreds of his troops are taken prisoner along the San Jacinto River the next day.)
• 1837 - Fredrik Bajer, was born. Danish writer and pacifist, Nobel Prize in Peace - 1908 .
• 1838 - John Muir, was born (d. 24 Dec 1814). Scottish-American naturalist, farmer, explorer, writer, conservationist, who championed the establishment of Sequoia and Yosemite national parks in California.Environmentalist.
• 1843 - Walther Flemming was born (d. 4 Aug 1905). German anatomist, a founder of the science of cytogenetics (the study of the cell's hereditary material, the chromosomes). He was the first to observe and describe systematically the behaviour of chromosomes in the cell nucleus during normal cell division (mitosis).
• 1849 - Oskar Hertwig was born (d. 25 Oct 1922). German embryologist and cytologist who did extensive work on the nuclear transmission of heredity. He was the first to recognize that the essential event in fertilization is the fusion of the nuclei of the sperm and ovum.
• 1851 - Charles Barrois, was born (d. 1939) . Geologist.
• 1863 - Bahá'u'lláh is proclaimed as the head of the Bahá'í Faith. Declaration of Baha'u'llah; Baha'i Feast of Ridvan (Jalal 13, 20)
• 1863 - American Civil War: Steight's Raid begins - Troops led by Union Colonel Abel Streight move into northern Alabama and Georgia to cut the Western and Atlantic Railroad between Chattanooga, Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia (the raid failed).
• 1864 - Max Weber, was born (d. 1920). Economist and sociologist.
• 1878 - Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Inscrutabili.
• 1882 - Percy Williams Bridgman was born (d. 20 Aug 1961). American experimental physicist noted for his studies of materials at high temperatures and pressures. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1946 for his "invention of an apparatus to produce extremely high pressures, and for the discoveries he made therewith in the field of high pressure physics."
• 1889 - Nace Manuel Prado y Ugarteche, Presidente del Perú (1939-1945 y 1956-1962).
• 1889 - Paul Karrer, was born (d. 18 Jun 1971). Swiss chemist who investigated the constitution of carotenoids, flavins, and vitamins A and B2, for which he shared Nobel Prize in Chemistry -1937 (with Sir Norman Haworth of Great Britain).
• 1894 - Norway formaly adopts the Krag-Jørgensen rifle as the main arm of its armed forces, a weapon that would remain in service for almost 50 years.
• 1898 - Spanish-American War: The U.S. Congress, on April 25, recognized that a state of war had existed between the United States and Spain as of this date.
• 1907 - Enrique Líster, was born. Spanish militar and politician.
• 1907 - Antoni Szalowski,was born. Composer.
• 1909 - Dr. Rollo May was born (d. 22 Oct 1994). American psychologist who is the best known American existential psychologist.
• 1910 - Mark Twain, American author, humorist (b. 1835) [Samuel Clemens], auther (Huckleberry Finn).
• 1911 - Alfred Elis Törnebohm, dies (b. 16 Oct 1838). Swedish geologist and pioneer in the study and analysis of mountain structure
• 1912 - The New York Giants and New York Yankees play an exhibition game to benefit survivors of the RMS Titanic.
• 1912 - Marcel Camus, was born (d. 1982). Film director.
• 1913 - Choh Hao Li, was born (d. 28 Nov 1987). Chinese-American biochemist and experimental endocrinologist who with his co-workers isolated in pure form six of the eight hormones known to be secreted by the anterior pituitary gland
• 1914 - Revolución Mexicana: los marines estadounidenses ocupan Veracruz.
• 1915 - Nace en Chihuahua, México, el actor Anthony Quinn.
• 1915 - Anthony Quinn, actor (d. 3 Jun 2001) born in Mexico, Oscar-winning actor, Zorba the Greek, Lawrence of Arabia.
• 1918- World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, known as "The Red Baron," is shot down and killed by Allied fire over Vaux sur Somme in France.
• 1918- Manfred von Richthofen, ["Red Baron"] pilot (b. 1892) shot down in WW I at 25
• 1920 - Anselmo Duarte, was born in Salto, SP, Brazil. Brasilien actor and director.
• 1922 - Alistair MacLean, was born (d. 1987). Author.
• 1922 - Caso y Andrade was born (d. 30 Nov 1984). Mexican archaeologist and government official who explored the early Oaxacan cultures and is best remembered for his excavation of Tomb Seven at Monte Albán, the earliest-known North American necropolis . [El mapa de Teozacoalco, (1949); Kings and Kingdoms of the Mixteca ]
• 1923 - John Mortimer, was born. Barrister, writer .
• 1924 - Clara Ward, was born (d. 1973). Gospel music singer.
• 1926 - Queen Elizabeth II was born. Queen of England, since 1952.
• 1926 - Sir Henry Christopher Mance dies (b. 1840). British scientist and engineer who invented the heliograph, a signaling device that employs two mirrors to gather sunlight and send it to a prearranged spot as a coded series of short and long flashes.
• 1929 - Martin Kruse, was born. Theologian .
• 1930 - Silvana Mangano, was born in Rome, Italy (d. 1989). Actress ( Death in Venice, Barabbas ).
• 1930 - A fire at a Columbus, Ohio penitentiary kills 320 people.
• 1930 - Robert Bridges, dies (b. 1844). English poet.
• 1932 - Elaine May, was born. Comedienne.
• 1933 - Ohio, EE.UU.: el dirigible Macon hace su vuelo inaugural.
• 1935 - Charles Grodin, was born. Actor, journalist .
• 1935 - Thomas Kean, was born. Governor of New Jersey
• 1935 - King Boris of Bulgaria forbids all political parties .
• 1935 - Charles Grodin, American actor .
• 1937 - Se funda el Club Deportivo Universidad Católica, de Santiago de Chile.
• 1938 - Allama Iqbal, dies.(b. 1887). Philosopher-poet.
• 1943 - Football Club Nantes Atlantique, France is founded
• 1944 - Women in France receive the right to vote
• 1945 - World War II: Soviet Union forces south of Berlin at Zossen attack the German High Command headquarters.
• 1945 - Nascimento em S. Paulo de Ana Lúcia Torre . Atriz brasileira.
• 1946 - John Maynard Keynes, dies (b. 1883). Economist.
• 1947 - Iggy Pop, was born. Musician
• 1948 - Claire Denis, born in Paris, France. Actress ( Boom Boom, Chocolat) .
• 1949 - Patti Lupone, was born. Singer, actress.
• 1948 - Muere el compositor y músico argentino Carlos López Buchardo.
• 1951 - The National Olympic Committee of the USSR was formed.
• 1951 - Michael Hartley Freedman, was born. American mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 1986 for his solution of the Poincaré conjecture in four dimensions.
• 1952 - Administrative Professionals' Day (formerly Secretaries Day), first celebrated.
• 1953 - Roy Cohn and G. David Schine, two of Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief aides, recommend the removal of 30,000 books from the libraries of the United States Information Service posts in Europe, including works by Dashiell Hammett, W. E. B. Du Bois, Herman Melville, John Steinbeck and Henry David Thoreau, calling them "pro-Communist".
• 1954 - Gregori Malenkov becomes premier of USSR.
• 1955 - Bob Hope's radio program airs its last segment.
• 1956 - Elvis Presley's song "Heartbreak Hotel" becomes the "King's" first song to reach the top of the Billboard magazine music charts.
• 1956 - Charles MacArthur, dies (b. 1895). Writer.
• 1957 - Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Fidei Donum
• 1957 - Sir John Graham Kerr dies (b. 18 Sep 1869). English embryologist and pioneer in naval camouflage who greatly advanced knowledge of the evolution of vertebrates and, in 1914, was among the first to advocate camouflage of ships by means of "dazzle" (countershading and strongly contrasting patches).
• 1958 - Nascimento de Andie MacDowell (Rosalie Anderson MacDowell), estrela do cinema mundial, em Gaffney, South Carolina-EUA
• 1958 - Andie MacDowell, was born. Actress.
• 1959 - Robert Smith, was born. English musician The Cure.
• 1960 - Brasília, Brazil's capital, is officially inaugurated. At 9:30 am the Three Powers of the Republic were simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.
• 1960 - Founding of the Orthodox Baha'i faith in Washington, DC
• 1960 - Fundación de Brasilia, capital administrativa de Brasil.
• 1961 - O austronauta soviético Yuri Gagarin torna-se o primeiro homem a ser lançado no espaço.
• 1961 - French army revolts in Algeria .
• 1962 - Sir Frederick Handley Page dies (b. 15 Nov 1885). British aircraft designer who built the Handley Page 0/400, the world's first twin-engine bomber for the Royal Flying Corps, one of the largest planes used in WW I.
• 1963 - Ken Caminiti, was born (d. 2004). Baseball player.
• 1963 - Roy Dupuis, was born. Actor.
• 1965 - Ed Belfour, was born. NHL goalie.
• 1965 - Sir Edward (Victor) Appleton dies (b. 6 Sep 1892). English physicist, born in Bradford, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1947 for his discovery of the so-called Appleton layer of the ionosphere, which is a dependable reflector of radio waves and as such is useful in communication.
• 1966 - Nos Estados Unidos, foi realizada a primeira implantação de um coração artificial num ser humano .
• 1966 - Rastafarianism: Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Jamaica. (Grounation Day) .
• 1967 - A few days before the general election in Greece, Colonel George Papadopoulos leads a coup d'état establishing a military regime that lasted for seven years.
• 1967 - André-Louis Danjon dies (b. 6 Apr 1890). French astronomer who devised a now standard five-point scale for rating the darkness and colour of a total lunar eclipse, which is known as the Danjon Luminosity Scale
• 1969 - 73rd Boston Marathon won by Yoshiaki Unetani of Japan in 2:13:49
• 1970 - Hutt River Province "secedes" from the Commonwealth of Australia.
• 1970 - Nicole Sullivan, was born. Actress, comedienne and writer .
• 1971 - Jean Claude Duvalier asume el poder en Haití, luego de la muerte de su padre.
• 1971 - Jennifer Reed, was born. Miss USA-Michigan 1997
• 1972 - John Young y Charles Duke, tripulantes del Apolo 16, exploran la superficie de la Luna.
• 1972 - Muere el pintor y dibujante Juan Carlos Castagnino.
• 1973 - Arthur Fadden, dies (b. 1894). Thirteenth Prime Minister of Australia
• 1975 - Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyen Van Thieu flees Saigon, as Xuan Loc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.
• 1975 - 4th Boston Women's Marathon won by Liane Winter of W Germ in 2:42:24 (world record) .
• 1975 - 79th Boston Marathon won by Bill Rodgers of Mass in 2:09:55
• 1975 - Last South Vietnam president Nguyen Van Thieu resigns after 10 years
• 1977 - Jamie Salé, was born. Figure skater .
• 1977 - Karen Ann Peterson, was born. Miss Aruba Universe 1997
• 1977 - Gummo Marx, dies (b. 1892). Actor, comedian, Marx Brothers
• 1977 - Héctor German Oesterheld, dies (b.1919). Argentine writer and guionist, born in Buenos Aires. Oesterheld is probably the most important comics writer from South America.
• 1978- Sandy Denny, dies (b. 1947). British vocalist.
• 1978 - Angelo Maria Ripellino, dies (b. 1923 ). Italian Critic and poet born in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. He wrote extensively on Contemporary Russian literature and Czech literature.
• 1978 - Thomas Wyatt Turner, dies (b. 1877). Civil rights advocate and agricultural engineer.
• 1980 - Vincent Lecavalier, was born. NHL hockey player .
• 1980 - 84th Boston Marathon won by Bill Rodgers of Mass in 2:12:11
• 1980 - 9th Boston Women's Marathon won by Jacqueline Gareau of Canada in 2:34:28 Rosie Ruiz disqualified as women's champ she hadn't run entire course
• 1980 - Aleksandr Oparin, dies (b. 18 Feb 1894). Russian biochemist noted for his studies on the origin of life from chemical matter.
• 1984 - Muere Manuel "Manucho" Mujica Lainez, periodista y literato.
• 1985 - Tancredo de Almeida Neves, president-elect of Brazil, dies in São Paulo.
• 1985 - Ayrton Senna wins the first of 41 Formula One championship races at the Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril.
• 1985 - Ingrid Kristiansen wins London Marathon in a record 2:21:06
• 1985 - Rudi Gernreich, dies. Fashion designer.
• 1985 - Morre Tancredo Neves (n. 1910). Presidente eleito do Brasil
• 1986 - 15th Boston Women's Marathon won by I Kristiansen of Norway in 2:24:55 April 21, 1986 - 90th Boston Marathon won by Rob de Castella of Australia in 2:07:51
• 1987 - La Asamblea Nacional francesa aprueba el Tratado franco-británico para la construcción del túnel bajo el Canal de La Mancha.
• 1988 - El escritor mexicano Carlos Fuentes recibe el Premio Cervantes de Literatura.
• 1989 - Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate the late Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.
• 1990 - Richard Bevan Braithwaite dies (b. 15 Jan 1900). British philosopher best known for his theories in the philosophy of science and in moral and religious philosophy.
• 1991 - Jakov Tolstikov wins 4th World Cup marathon (2:09:17)
• 1991 - Rosa Mota wins 4th World Cup female marathon (2:26:14)
• 1991 - A atleta portuguesa Rosa Mota venceu a maratona de Londres
• 1991 - 52nd PGA Seniors Golf Championship: Jack Nicklaus
• 1992 - Death penalty: After 13 years on death row, convicted murderer Robert Alton Harris is executed in California's gas chamber.
• 1992 - Vladimir K Romanov, Grand Duke/Russian pretender to the throne, dies at 74
• 1993 - Brazil votes against a monarchy
• 1994 - The first discovery of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan.
• 1994 - Muere el pintor Raúl Soldi.
• 1996 - 57th PGA Seniors Golf Championship: Hale Irwin
• 1996 -Dzhojar Dudaev, president of Republic of Chechenia (1991), dies
• 1997 - Andres Rodriguez, Paraguayan president (1989-93), dies.
• 1997 - Diosdado Macapagal, Philippine president (1961-65), dies.
• 1997 - 101st Boston Marathon won by Lameck Aguta of Kenya in 2:10:34
• 1997 - 26th Boston Women's Marathon won by Fatuma Roba of Ethopia in 2:26:23
• 1999 - Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, dies. Actor, musician.
• 2001 - Jack Haley Jr., dies. Producer.
• 2003 - Nina Simone, dies in Carry-le-Rouet, France. USA singer and pianist (b. 1933) - I Put a Spell on You.
• Bahá'í Faith - First day of the festival of Ridván
• Roman Empire - the Parilia was held in honor of Pales
• Rome - city birthday
• United States - Administrative Professionals Day
• Islam - Mawlid al-Nabi, Muhammad's birthday (2005)