On this day in History - May 21

• 427 adC - Plato was born (d. 0347 BC). Greek philosopher/ Nascimento de Platão. Filósofo grego.
• 0987 - King Louis V of France dies .
• 0996 - Sixteen-year-old Otto III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1471 - Albrecht Dürer was born (†1528). German painter and graphic artist.
• 1471 - King Henry VI of England dies (also date of death possibly 22 May) (b. 1421)
• 1502 - The island of Saint Helena is discovered by the Portuguese navigator João da Nova.
• 1527 - King Philip II of Spain, I of Portugal, was born in Valladolid (d. 1598).
• 1542 - Hernando de Soto dies (b. c. 1496). Spanish explorer.
• 1639 - Tommaso Campanella dies (b. 1568). Dominican theologian, philosopher and poet.
• 1647 - Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft dies (b. 1581). Dutch poet and historian.
• 1664 - Giulio Alberoni was born (d. 1754). Italian cardinal and statesman.
• 1670 - Niccolo Zucchi dies (b. 1586). Italian astronomer and physicist.
• 1674 - John Sobieski is elected by the nobility to be the King of Poland.
• 1688 - Alexander Pope was born (†1744). English poet.
• 1707 - Francisco Salzillo was born. Spanish sculptor.
• 1724 - Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer dies (b. 1661). English statesman.
• 1725 - The Order of Alexander Nevsky was instituted in Russia by an empress Catherine I.
• 1740 - Gasparo Pacchiarotti was born (d. 1821). Italian soprano.
• 1758 - Mary Campbell is abducted from her home in Pennsylvania by Lenape during the French and Indian War.
• 1763 - Joseph Fouché was born (d. 1820). French stateaman.
• 1780 - Elizabeth Fry was born (d. 1845). British social reformer and philanthropist.
• 1786 - Carl Wilhelm Scheele dies (b. 1742). Swedish chemist.
• 1790 - Thomas Warton dies (b. 1728). English poet.
• 1792 - Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis was born (d. 1843). French scientist.
• 1834 - Charles Albert Gobat was born. Swiss politician. Nobel Prize for Peace - 1902.
• 1839 - Albert Glatigny was born (†16 Abr 1873). French poet and dramatist.
• 1843 - Louis Renault was born. French jurist. Nobel Prize for Peace -1907.
• 1844 - Henri Rousseau was born (†1910). French artist.
• 1847 - Francisco Aguilar Barquero was born. President of Costa Rica (1919-1920).
• 1850 - Giuseppe Mercalli was born (d. 1914). Italian volcanologist.
• 1851 - Léon Bourgeois was born. French politician. Nobel Prize for Peace -1920.
• 1851 - Abolition of slavery in Colombia, South America.
• 1853 - Jacques Marie Eugène Godefroy Cavaignac was born (d. 1905). French politician.
• 1856 - Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces.
• 1860 - Willem Einthoven was born (d. 1927). Dutch inventor, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• 1863 - Archduke Eugen of Austria was born (d. 1954). Austrian field marshal.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Siege of Port Hudson - Union forces begin to lay siege to the Confederate-controlled Port Hudson, Louisiana.
• 1871 - French Government troops invade the Paris Commune and engage its residents in street fighting. By the close of "Bloody Week" some 20,000 communards have been killed and 38,000 arrested.
• 1873 - Hans Berger was born (d. 1941). German neuroscientist.
• 1874 - Juan Manuel Ferrari was born. Uruguyan sculptor.
• 1879 - War of the Pacific: Two Chilean ships blocking the harbor of Iquique, Chile battle 2 Peruvian vessels, the Huáscar and the Independencia in the Naval battle of Iquique. The Huascar sinks one Chilean ship, while the other Chilean ship, the Covadonga, forces the Independencia to run aground.
• 1879 - Arturo Prat Chacón dies. Chilean militar.
• 1881 - The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton.
• 1894 - The Manchester Ship Canal, England is officially opened by Queen Victoria, who knights its designer Sir Edward Leader Williams.
• 1894 - 22 year old French Anarchist Emile Henry is executed by guillotine.
• 1895 - Lázaro Cardenas was born. President of Mexico
• 1895 - Franz von Suppé dies (b. 1819). Croatian-Austrian composer.
• 1897 - Arturo Prat dies. Chilean naval officer
• 1898 - Armand Hammer was born (d. 1990). Physician, entrepreneur, oil magnate, and art collector.
• 1901 - Horace Heidt was born (d. 1986). Band leader.
• 1901 - Sam Jaffe was born (d. 2000). Producer.
• 1902 - Earl Averill was born (d. 1983). Baseball Hall of Famer.
• 1902 - Marcel Lajos Breuer was born (d. 1981). Architect.
• 1903 - Manly Wade Wellman was born (d. 1986). American author.
• 1904 - Thomas "Fats" Waller was born (d. 1943). American pianist and jazz composer.
• 1904 - Robert Montgomery was born (d. 1981). American actor.
• 1904 -Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) founded in Paris.
• 1911 - Williamina Fleming dies (b. 1857). Astronomer.
• 1911 - Morte de Bernardo Pinheiro Correia de Melo . Conde de Arnoso - Portugal (n. 27 de Maio de 1855).
• 1912 - Monty Stratton was born (d. 1982). Major League Baseball pitcher.
• 1916 - Harold Robbins was born (d. 1997). Novelist.
• 1916 - Tinus Osendarp was born (d. 2002). Dutch sprinter.
• 1917 - Raymond Burr was born (d. 1993). Actor.
• 1917 - Great Atlanta fire of 1917.
• 1920 - Anthony Steel was born (d. 2001). British actor.
• 1921 - Andrei Sakharov was born (†1989). Physicist and human rights activist, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace - 1989
• 1921 - Assassinato de Don Venustiano Carranza (México) .
• 1923 - Ara Parseghian was born. American football coach
• 1923 - Armand Borel was born (d. 2003). Swiss mathematician
• 1923 - Ara Parseghian was born. American football coach
• 1924 - Peggy Cass was born (d. 1999). American actress and comedienne.
• 1924 - University of Chicago students Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr. murder 14-year-old Bobby Franks in a "thrill killing."
• 1927 - Charles Lindbergh touchs down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1928 - Hideyo Noguchi dies. Japanese bacteriologist.
• 1928 - D. António Ribeiro was born. Cardinal-Patriarch of Lisbon
• 1928 - Lucinda Simões dies. Portuguese actress.
• 1929 - Heinz Holliger was born. Swiss oboe player
• 1930 - Malcolm Fraser was born. 22nd Prime Minister of Australia
• 1932 - Gabriele Wohmann was born. Author
• 1932 - Amelia Earhart, because of bad weather, lands in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1933 - Maurice André was born. French trumpet.
• 1934 - Bengt I. Samuelsson was born. Swedish biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• 1934 - Oskaloosa, Iowa becomes the first municipality in the United States to fingerprint each of its citizens.
• 1935 - Jane Addams dies (b. 1860). Social worker. Nobel Prize for Peace - 1931.
• 1935 - Hisako Matsubara was born. Japanese novelist.
• 1935 - As «sociedades secretas» existentes em Portugal são ilegalizadas, sendo a principal a Maçonaria.
• 1936 - Sada Abe is arrested after wandering the streets of Tokyo for days with her dead lover's severed genitals in her hand. Her story soon became one of Japan's most notorious scandals.
• 1936 - Günter Blobel was born. German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• 1939 - Realiza-se em Lisboa o 1.º Congresso da Mocidade Portuguesa. O congresso terminará em 28 de Maio.
• 1939 - Heinz Holliger was born. Swiss oboist and composer
• 1940 - António Vitorino D'Almeida was born in Lisbon. Portuguese composer, conductor, actor, film director (A Culpa - 1980). One of the most important figures of Portuguese culture, awarded the prestigious Ordem do Infante D.Henrique (Grã Cruz) by President Jorge Sampaio (June 10th 2005).
• 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.
• 1941 - Martin Carthy was born. Singer and guitarist
• 1941 - Ronald Isley was born. American singer (The Isley Brothers)
• 1943 - Hilton Valentine was born. British guitarist (The Animals)
• 1944 - Mary Robinson was born. President of Ireland
• 1944 - Marcie Blane was born. American singer
• 1945 - Ernst Messerschmid was born. Physicist and astronaut
• 1945 - American screen legend Humphrey Bogart marries actress Lauren Bacall.
• 1945 - Eduardo Geada was born. Portuguese film director.
• 1947 - Tetsu Katayama assume o cargo de primeiro-ministro do Japão
• 1948 - Leo Sayer was born. Musician, singer.
• 1948 - Sri Lanka torna-se membro da Food and Agriculture Organization - FAO
• 1951 - Al Franken was born. American comedian and author
• 1952 - Mr. T (Laurence Tureaud), was born. American actor
• 1952 - John Garfield dies (b. 1913). Actor.
• 1955 - Paul Barber was born. British field hockey player
• 1955 - Stan Lynch was born. American drummer
• 1956 - Judge Reinhold was born. Actor
• 1956 - Nuclear testing: In the Pacific Ocean, Bikini Atoll is nearly obliterated by the first airborne explosion of a hydrogen bomb.
• 1957 - Renée Soutendijk was born. Dutch actress.
• 1957 - Judge Reinhold was born. American actor
• 1958 - United Kingdom Postmaster General Ernest Marples announces that from December, Subscriber Trunk Dialling will be introduced in the Bristol area.
• 1958 - José Antonio Oría é eleito presidente da Academia Argentina de Letras.
• 1959 - Nick Cassavetes was born. American actor and director
• 1960 - Jeffrey Dahmer was born (d. 1994). American serial killer.
  1961 - American civil rights movement: Alabama Governor John Patterson declares martial law in an attempt to restore order after race riots break out.
• 1963 - Richard Appel was born. American writer and producer ("The Simpsons")
  1964 - James Franck dies (b. 1882). German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1965 - Geoffrey de Havilland dies (b. 1882). British aircraft designer.
  1965 - Celebra-se pela primeira vez em Portugal o 'Dia do Bibliotecário'.
  1965 - Em Portugal, foi extinta a Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores, por decreto do Ministério da Educação.
  1967 - Chris Benoit was born. Canadian professional wrestler
• 1967 - Lisa Edelstein was born. American actress.
• 1968 - Matthias Ungemach was born. German rower
• 1970 - E. L. Grant Watson dies (b. 1885). Author and biologist.
• 1972 - The Notorious B.I.G. was born (d. 1997). Musician.
• 1972 - Alesha Oreskovich was born. American model
• 1972 - Michelangelo's Pietà, in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, is damaged by a vandal.
• 1974 - Fernando Almeida (Fernando Almeida Soares) was born in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian actor
• 1977 - Carlos Lacerda dies. Brazilian politician and journalist
• 1978 - Briana Banks was born. German-American adult film actress.
• 1979 - Damian Ariel Álvarez was born. Argentinian footballer
• 1979 - White Night riots in San Francisco following the manslaughter conviction of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk.
• 1980 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back opens in theaters.
• 1981 - Pierre Mauroy becomes Prime Minister of France.
• 1981 - Max was born. German singer
• 1981 - Pierre Mauroy becomes Prime Minister of France.
• 1984 - Phillip Gargiulo was born. American Artist
• 1987 - Ashlie Brillault was born. Actress
• 1988 - Sammy Davis, Sr. dies. American dancer and actor
• 1991 - Rajiv Gandhi dies (b. 1944). Former prime minister of India.
• 1991 - Former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a female suicide bomber near Madras.
• 1998 - EXPO 98 is inaugrated in Lisbon, Portugal / Inaugurada oficialmente a Exposição Mundial de Lisboa (EXPO - 98).
• 1998 - At Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, Kipland Kinkel, 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.
• 2000 - A chartered British Aerospace Jetstream 31 crashes near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, killing 19.
• 2000 - Sir John Gielgud dies (b. 1904). British actor.
• 2000 - Barbara Cartland dies (b. 1901). Romance novel author.
• 2001 - French Taubira law which officially recognize the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity.
• 2002 - Umberto Bindi dies. Italian composer.
• 2002 - Niki de Saint Phalle dies (b. 1930). French artist.
• 2003 - Frank D. White dies (b. 1933). Governor of Arkansas.
• 2003 - An earthquake hits northern Algeria, killing more than 2,000 people.
• 2004 - Sherpa Pemba Dorje climbs Mount Everest in 8 hours 10 minutes, breaking his rival Sherpa Lakpa Gelu's record from the previous year.
• 2004 - Stanislav Petrov is awarded the World Citizen Award for averting a potential orld War III in 1983 .
• 2004 - A Espanha completa a retirada de seus soldados do Iraque.
• 2005 - In Kiev, Ukraine, Greece wins the fiftieth Eurovision Song Contest with "My Number One" performed by Elena Paparizou.
• 2006 - The Republic of Montenegro holds a referendum proposing independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
• Namibia - Casinga Day
• Navy Day in Chile
• Astrology: First day of sun sign Gemini
• Dia da Cachaça (Brasil). Criado em Minas Gerais pela Lei N° 1.949/2001, corresponde ao início da safra de cana-de-açúcar nesse estado brasileiro.