May 21th

May 21 is the 141st (one hundred forty-first) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar and the 142nd in leap years. There are 224 days left to end the year.

Events

• 822: In Cordoba, Abderramán II is named new emir omeya of the Emirate of Cordoba.
• 1254: After the death of Emperor Conrado IV, a period of anarchy known as the Great Interregno begins in Germany.
• 1293: Sancho IV added Burgos Villaymara.
• 1403: Henry III sends an embassy to the Tatars of Tamerlan to try to get an alliance against the Ottomans.
• 1471: In England King Henry VI is killed in his chapel of Wakefield Tower.
• 1499: In Spain, the Catholic Kings grant liberties to those who travel to America.
• 1792: On Kyūshū Island, Japan, the Unzen volcano erupted, leaving a balance of 15,000 fatalities.
• 1813: In the battle of Bautzen (Saxonia), Napoleon defeats Prussians and Russians.
• 1822: In Mexico, Augustine de Iturbide swears as emperor of the First Mexican Empire.
• 1831: In France, Daguerre communicates to his partner Niépce the casual discovery of the impressionability of silver iodide by light, the basis of photography.
• 1851: In Colombia slavery is legally abused.
• 1863: In Battle Creek, Michigan, the United States officially founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
• 1871: In the Rigi, the first European zip railroad, originating in Vitznau, is operational.
• 1876: in Madrid, Spain, the writer Gaspar Núñez de Arce entered the Royal Spanish Academy.

Iquique naval combat.

• 1879: In the framework of the Pacific War (between Chile and Peru) the naval battles of Iquique and Punta Gruesa occur.
• 1881: In the United States, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross.
• 1887: In London, the British laryngologist Morell Mackenzie received a palace call to treat Prince Frederick of Prussia.
• 1900: Russia is annexed Manchuria at the expense of China, taking advantage of the war of the Boxers.
• 1901: at Technikum de Winterthur (Switzerland), physicist Albert Einstein begins to work as a chair assistant.
• 1903: the German squadron arrives in Vigo, commanding Prince Henry of Prussia, brother of the emperor.
• 1904: FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), the world leading agency of football, is founded.
• 1911: In Issy-les-Moulineaux (France), a plane crashes during an air competition and war minister Berteaux dies.
• 1912: in France, the Clement Bayard airline reaches 2900 m high.
• 1913: In front of the coasts of Newport (United States), the American ship USS Vesuvius launches a new torpedo, losing its course and destroying the ship.
• 1913: King George V of England officially visits Berlin.

Royal Academy of History.

• 1916: Ramón Menéndez Pidal takes over his chair at the Royal Academy of History.
• 1917: In Catalan tissue factories, work is reduced by 40% as a result of the persistent strike in the water industry.
• 1919: In the United States, the House of Representatives authorizes female suffrage for white women.
• 1920: in Mexico they murder Don Venustiano Carranza (leader of the 1910) Mexican Revolution.
• 1925: Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen is part of the North Pole.
• 1927: at Le Bourget Airport (in Paris) Charles Lindbergh completes his first solo transatlantic flight.
• 1929: the Japanese evac Tsing-tao (China) and the Shantung province is liberated.
• 1932: An earthquake occurs in Zacatecoluca (El Salvador).
• 1932: in Greece the Venizelos Cabinet is resigned.
• 1933: in Chamartín, the Spanish football team beats Bulgaria for 13 goals to 0.
• 1935: from Gambia (Africa), the Spanish driver Juan Ignacio Pombo crosses the Atlantic by plane to Natal (Brazil), in 18 hours and 15 minutes.
• 1937: in Paris it is serene — with the title 99 per cent— part (7 of 24 scenes) of the play Fear and misery of the Third ReichBertolt Brecht.
• 1938: in Chile the mandate of President Arturo Alessandri ends.
• 1941: In front of Key West the steamboat Faja de Oro is sunk, being the second Mexican oil vessel, whose sinking by the powers of the Axis led Mexico to abandon its neutrality and enter the Second World War.
• 1941: In Amba Alagi (Ethiopia), the Italians present their capitulation in the Ethiopian Campaign which represents the restoration of the empire with Hailé Selassié replacement on the throne.
• 1944: After a very hard battle, the allies surpass Montecassino, which facilitates the liaison with the forces of Anzio Nettuno and the advance on Rome.
• 1945: Mexico joins with Squadron 201 to World War II with the support of the Allies of World War II.
• 1945: Titus evacuates Carinthia (Austria) and withdraws from Trieste all military personnel, in the face of the strong attitude of the Anglo-Saxons.
• 1946: At the Los Alamos Laboratory (New Mexico) the Canadian physicist Louis Slotin (35) suffers a nuclear accident during an experiment. It will die 9 days after radiation poisoning. Nine months earlier a similar accident had occurred with the same device.
• 1947: in the state of South Carolina (United States), a jury composed of white skin people absolves 28 white defendants from the lynching of a black skin person.
• 1947: in Paso de los Libres (Argentina) and Uruguayan (Brazil) Presidents Juan Domingo Perón (Argentina) and Eurico Gaspar Dutra (Brazil) inaugurate the Agustín P International Bridge. Justo-Getúlio Vargas (habilitated the public two years earlier).
• 1948: Uruguay recognizes the State of Israel.
• 1949: during the Chinese Civil War, the Communists sit in Shanghai by land, sea and air.
• 1950: Ismet Inonu concludes his mandate in Turkey and Celai Bayar is elected President of the Republic.
• 1950: Greece and Yugoslavia restore diplomatic relations.
• 1951: Colombian battalion soldiers Colombia ship Cuken Victory to Korea under the banner of the United Nations and reject the Communists, north of the 38th parallel.
• 1951: 65,000 people are imprisoned in Hungary, accused of being part of the old bourgeoisie.
• 1955: The Soviet Union decides to sell weapons to Egypt.
• 1955: Spain renews its world title of skate hockey, after defeating Italy for 2 goals to 1.
• 1956: in the Bikini atoll (Marshall Islands, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean), the United States successfully detonates the 3800 kiloton Redwing Cherokee atomic bomb. It's the first hydrogen bomb dropped from a plane.

• 1958: in the Bikini atoll, the United States detonates its atomic bomb Nutmeg of 25.1 kt. It is the bomb number 129 of the 1132 that the United States detonated between 1945 and 1992.
• 1960: in Valdivia (South Chile), an earthquake of 9.5 degrees on the Richter scale is the prelude to the Valdivia Earthquake the next day.
• 1961: in Seville, a truck was launched in which 62 people traveled from the Macarena and Triana neighbourhoods and headed to Almonte to attend the pilgrimage of El Rocío. There are 21 deaths and 40 wounded.
• 1963: in the cave of the Civil, in the village of Tírig (Spain), a group of French expoliators steal cave paintings with the rudimentary method of making them jump to coups de escoplo.
• 1963: in Buenos Aires (Argentina) – within the framework of the government of José María Guido – José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz assumes as Minister of Economy.
• 1963: In Moscow, Lomonosov University appoints Fidel Castro honoris causa.
• 1965: In the Dominican Republic the ceasefire is declared.
• 1966: in Madrid the Chamberí station of the Metro line 1 is closed.
• 1966: in Guantánamo (Cuba) American soldiers murder young Luis Ramírez López, a member of the Border Brigade.
• 1968: In France, ten million citizens come to the call for a strike and there are major clashes between students and police.
• 1969: The American Spacecraft Apollo X approaches 15 kilometres from the Moon. Two of his three crew members leave the lunar module.
• 1969: in Rosario (Argentina)—in the framework of Rosariazo against the dictator Juan Carlos Onganía—workers and students repudiate the murder (in the hands of the police) of a university student in the city of Corrientes. The march is violently repressed by the police, killing another student.
• 1969: In Los Angeles, Robert Kennedy's killer, Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, is sentenced to death.
• 1971: the Spanish púgil Pedro Carrasco is proclaimed European champion of superlightweights.
• 1972: in the Vatican City, a demented hammered the face of the Virgin of Piedad (1499) by Michelangelo Buonarrotti.
• 1972: in Madrid, the playwright Antonio Buero Vallejo entered the Royal Spanish Academy.
• 1975: in Stuttgart the process against the Baader Meinhof band, self-denominated Red Army Fraction begins.
• 1981: Terra Lliure attacks Federico Jiménez Losantos.
• 1982: The British Queen Group launches the album Hot Space, considered by criticism, its worst album.
• 1984: In Paraguay, Covando (the oldest political prisoner in America, convicted in 1962 for participating in a military dispute against the Paraguayan dictator Stroessner) regains freedom.
• 1990: In Romania, Ion Iliescu wins the elections with 90% of the votes.
• 1991: in a town in the southern state of Tamil Nadú (India), former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi died in an attack before a rally, and 18 others.
• 1992: NATO extends beyond the borders of its European partners its goal of maintaining peace and becoming the defensive institution of the 52 countries that make up CESCE.
• 1993: UN blue helmets deployed in the former Yugoslavia receive the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation.
• 1993: The Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela gives the ruling to the judgment of merit against President Carlos Andrés Pérez for the crime of embezzlement of public flows of the 250 million partida Secreta.
• 1993: Octavio Lepage is appointed new interim president of Venezuela.
• 1996: The Italian singer of pop/rock genres Eros Ramazzotti launches his fifth studio album in Spanish entitled Where is music.
• 1997: in Belfast, members of Sinn Féin—IRA's political arm (Irish Republican Army)—and British officials hold the first meeting after the ceasefire broke.
• 1997: The British band of alternative rock Radiohead performs the first release of its summit album OK Computer in Japan.
• 1998: the North-Irlands give their majority support to the peaceful settlement of the Úlster conflict, which is reflected in the Stormont agreement.
• 1998: In Portugal, President Jorge Sampaio opened the Universal Exhibition of Lisbon, the last of the millennium.
• 2000: in Cannes (France) Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier wins the Palma de Oro at the 53rd edition of the Festival de Cannes, for his film Dancer in the dark.
• 2001: World Day of Cultural Diversity and National Day of Afro-Colombianity is established.
• 2001: the Secretary of State of the United States, Colin Powell, requires Israel to cease the fire and to halt new settlements of settlers in the Palestinian Territories.
• 2002: The Colombian singer Juanes launches his second studio album entitled A normal day.
• 2002: The Puerto Rican Merenguero Elvis Crespo launches his fourth studio album as a soloist entitled Urban.
• 2002: The Cuban singer Donato Póveda launches his studio debut album as a soloist entitled Bohemio in love.
• 2002: The Mexican singer, songwriter and actress Thalía launches her second homonym album titled Thalía.
• 2003: The Spanish Royal Court officially recognizes Leandro Alfonso de Borbón Ruiz, the bastard son of King Alfonso XIII.
• 2003: Moroccan courts sentenced a dissident journalist to four years in prison.
• 2003: An offensive by the Indonesian Army against the separatists of the Aceh Liberation Movement (GAM) is emitted with dozens of deaths.
• 2004: Six people are seriously injured in the crash of two Talgo trains in Zamora.
• 2004: Fights between U.S. troops and Shiite radicals leave about twenty bodies in Kerbala and Nayaf. U.S. troops release another 472 prisoners from Abu Ghraib prison.
• 2004: Sherpa Pemba Dorji bats the record of climbing to Everest, with a new mark of 8 hours and 10 minutes from base camp, more than two hours less than the previous time.
• 2005: in Malaga the Spanish police dismantled a network that, in six years, had whitened 30 million euros from drug trafficking.
• 2005: in the Dominican Republic begins the gastronomic and entertainment program The attic, created by Massimo Borghetti.
• 2005: the Navarre team Portland San Antonio is proclaimed champion of the ASOBAL League of Basketball.
• 2005: Chile Tragedy of Antuco occurs the second worst tragedy in times of peace of the army, when 45 uniformed in the middle of a snowstorm.
• 2006: A Referendum is made on the independence of Montenegro, where a majority are pronounced to be independent of Serbia.
• 2006: The Tuzos del Pachuca achieves its fourth title of the 2006 Closing Tournament by winning 1-0 to the Tuneros del San Luis in the Hidalgo Stadium.
• 2008: the end of the UEFA Champions League is celebrated in which Manchester United is a winner. The party headquarters was the Luzhniki Olympic Stadium in Moscow (Russia).
• 2012: Google Chrome first becomes the most used browser in the world.
• 2017: at the Billboard Music Awards (American music prizes) has won for the first time a K-Pop group, BTS.
• 2019: IlloJohn Reddit is created.

Births

• 1471: Alberto Durero, German painter and engraver (f. 1528).
• 1527: Philip II, King of Spain (f. 1598).
• 1565: Juan de Oviedo, sculptor and Spanish architect (f. 1625).
• 1664: Giulio Alberoni, Italian cardinal advisor to Felipe V of Spain (f. 1752).
• 1688: Alexander Pope, British poet (f. 1744).
• 1743: Manuel de Bernardo Álvarez, was a neo-granadian lawyer and politician. (f. 1816).
• 1759: Bernard of the Holy Spirit, Mexican bishop (f. 1825).
• 1763: Joseph Fouché, a French politician (f. 1820).
• 1792: Gaspard Gustave de Coriolis, physicist, mathematician and French engineer (f. 1843).
• 1799: Mary Anning, British paleontologist (f. 1847).
• 1841: Felix Sardá and Salvany, a Spanish religious and writer (f. 1916).
• 1843: Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss politician, Nobel Peace Prize in 1902 (f. 1914).
• 1843: Louis Renault, French jurist, Nobel Peace Prize in 1907 (f. 1918).
• 1844: The customsman Rousseau (Henrí Rousseau), a French painter (f. 1910).
• 1850: Giuseppe Mercalli, seismologist and Italian vulcanologist (f. 1914).
• 1851: Léon Bourgeois, French politician, Nobel Peace Prize in 1920 (f. 1925).
• 1854: John F. Peto, American painter (f. 1907).
• 1855: Emile Verhaeren, a Belgian poet (f. 1916).
• 1856: José Batlle and Ordóñez, politician and Uruguayan president (f. 1929).
• 1856: José Rodríguez Carracido, biochemical and Spanish pharmacologist (f. 1928).
• 1860: Willem Einthoven, Dutch doctor, nobel medical prize in 1924 (f. 1927).
• 1862: Severiano Martínez Anido, a Spanish military officer (f. 1938).
• 1873: Alvaro Alcalá Galiano, a Spanish painter (f. 1936).
• 1873: Hans Berger, German neurologist (f. 1941).
• 1878: Glenn Curtiss, American aviator (f. 1930).
• 1879: Pablo Luna, Spanish composer (f. 1942).
• 1880: Tudor Arghezi, Romanian writer (f. 1967).
• 1884: Manuel Pérez and Curis, Uruguayan poet (f. 1920).
• 1887: Secundino Zuazo, Spanish architect (f. 1971).
• 1895: Lazaro Cárdenas del Río, Mexican politician and military (f. 1970).
• 1898: Robert Goffin, Belgian essayist (f. 1984).
• 1902: Marcel Lajos Breuer, American architect and designer (f. 1981).
• 1903: Pedro Eugenio Aramburu, militar y política argentina (f. 1970).
• 1903: Francisco José Iturriza, Venezuelan Catholic priest (f. 2003).
• 1904: Robert Montgomery, American actor (f. 1981).
• 1904: Fats Waller, American musician (f. 1943).
• 1905: Andréi Alioshin, Soviet military, Hero of the Soviet Union (f. 1974)
• 1909: Victorio Unamuno, Spanish footballer (f. 1988).
• 1916: Harold Robbins, American novelist (f. 1997).
• 1916: Lydia Mendoza, American singer and guitarist (f. 2007).
• 1917: Raymond Burr, Canadian actor (f. 1993).
• 1921: Andréi Sájarov, a Russian human rights and physical activist, a Nobel Peace Prize in 1975 (f. 1989).
• 1925: Pasieguito, Spanish footballer (f. 2002).
• 1925: Frank Kameny, American LGBT activist (f. 2011).
• 1926: Forbes Robinson, British singer (f. 1987).
• 1927: Marcelo Salado, a Cuban revolutionary, murdered by Batista (f. 1958).
• 1927: Tomás Segovia, a Spanish-Mexican poet (f. 2011).
• 1930: Malcolm Fraser, politician and Australian Prime Minister (f. 2015).
• 1930: Kesang Choden, king of Bhutan.
• 1932: Jean Stablinski, a French cyclist of Polish origin (f. 2007).
• 1932: Inese Jaunzeme, athlete and Latvian coach (f. 2011).
• 1933: Maurice André, French trumpetist (f. 2012).
• 1934: Bengt Samuelsson, Swedish chemist, nobel medical prize in 1982.
• 1935: Hisako Matsubara, Japanese novelist.
• 1936: Günter Blobel, German biologist, nobel medical prize in 1999 (f. 2018).
• 1938: Ana Diosdado, actress and Spanish writer of Argentine origin (f. 2015).
• 1939: Heinz Holliger, oboist, orchestra director and Swiss composer.
• 1940: Tony Sheridan, British singer (f. 2013).
• 1940: Ildikó Pécsi, Hungarian actress (f. 2020).
• 1941: Diego Gracia Guillén, a Spanish scientist and thinker.
• 1942: Humberto Serrano, an Argentine actor of Spanish origin (f. 2013).
• 1943: Hilton Valentine, British guitarist, of the band The Animals (f. 2021).
• 1943: Antton Valverde, Spanish singer.
• 1944: Mary Robinson, Irish politician and lawyer.
• 1946: John Woo, Chinese filmmaker
• 1950: Víctor Sánchez Espinoza, Mexican Archbishop
• 1951: William Vinasco Chamorro, a journalist and sports narrator, a radio and Colombian politician.
• 1951: Al Franken, American politician, writer and humorist.
• 1952: Mr. T, American actor.
• 1952: Daniel Barret, Uruguayan anarchist sociologist (f. 2009).
• 1953: Alberto Marcos Martín, Spanish historian.
• 1955: Serguéi Shoigú, Russian politician.
• 1957: Judge Reinhold, an American actor.
• 1957: Rebecca Jones, Mexican actress.
• 1959: Adriana Ozores, Spanish actress.
• 1960: Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (f. 1994).
• 1960: Eva Suarez, Spanish Olympic shooter.
• 1963: Kevin Shields, singer, guitarist and musical producer, of the band My Bloody Valentine.

Chris Benoit

• 1965: Antonio Carmona, Spanish singer, of the Ketama band.
• 1965: Pete Sandoval, Salvadoran drummer, of the band Morbid Angel.
• 1966: Lisa Edelstein, American actress.
• 1967: Chris Benoit, Canadian professional fighter (f. 2007).
• 1967: Aditya Chopra, Indian filmmaker
• 1972: Notorious B.I.G., American rapper (f. 1997).
• 1972: Adriano Cintra, Brazilian multi-nstrumentist.
• 1972: Paco Ayala, Mexican bassist, of the gang Mólotov.
• 1974: Fairuza Balk, American actress.
• 1974: Havoc, American rapper, from the Mobb Deep band.
• 1975: Laurent Robert, French footballer.
• 1976: Christopher Tin, American composer.
• 1977: Quinton Fortune, South African footballer.
• 1977: Maxime Brunerie, a French criminal.
• 1978: Jamaal Magloire, Canadian basketball player.
• 1978: Lisette Morelos, Mexican actress.
• 1978: Choi Yong-Sin, South Korean Yudoca.
• 1978: Briana Banks, American pornographic actress of German origin.
• 1978: José Manuel Sierra, Spanish basketball player.
• 1978: Erin Taylor-Talcott, American athlete.
• 1978: Ricardo Rodriguez, Dominican baseball player.
• 1978: Katharina Wagner, German theatre director.
• 1979: Adam Gontier, Canadian singer, of the Three Days Grace band.
• 1979: Damián Álvarez, Argentine soccer player.
• 1981: Max (Maximilian Mutzke), German singer.

Mario Mandžukić

• 1982: Gaspard Augé, a French musician, of the Justice band.
• 1985: Mutya Buena, British singer, Sugababes band.
• 1985: Mark Cavendish, British cyclist.
• 1986: Mario Mandzukic, Croatian footballer.
• 1988: Jonny Howson, British footballer.
• 1989: Emily Robins, New Zealand actress and singer.
• 1989: Hal Robson-Kanu, British footballer.
• 1991: Williams Pérez, Venezuelan baseball player.
• 1991: Evgen Makarenko, Ukrainian footballer.
• 1991: Fiodor Černych, Lithuanian footballer.
• 1994: Tom Daley, British professional lever, Olympic medalist.
• 1993: Matías Kranevitter, Argentine footballer.
• 1995: Filippo Costa, Italian footballer.
• 1997: Timur Zhamaletdinov, Russian footballer.
• 1997: Federico Bonazzoli, Italian footballer.
• 2002: Elena Huelva, activist and Spanish influencer (f. 2023).

Deaths

• 252: Sun Quan, Chinese military and political (n. 182).
• 822: Al-Hakam I, third independent Cordoba emir (n. 770).
• 1471: Henry VI, English king (n. 1421).
• 1542: Hernando de Soto, Spanish explorer (n. 1500).
• 1639: Tommaso Campanella, Italian writer and thinker (n. 1568).
• 1647: Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, poet, playwright and Dutch historian (n. 1581).
• 1686: Otto von Guericke, German physicist (n. 1602).
• 1724: Robert Harley, British statesman (n. 1661).
• 1786: Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Swedish chemical (n. 1742).
• 1790: Thomas Warton, British poet (n. 1728).
• 1813: Edward Robson, British botanist (n. 1763).
• 1814: Jordan of Asso, naturalist, jurist and Spanish historian (n. 1742).
• 1815: Roman Hoffstetter, German composer (n. 1742).
• 1841: Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Polish statesman (n. 1757).
• 1848: Pierre Wantzel, French mathematician (n. 1814).
• 1861: Eugenio de Mazenod, a French Sulpician priest (n. 1782).
• 1877: José María del Canto Marín de Poveda, Chilean military (n. 1800).
• 1879: Arturo Prat, Chilean Marine (n. 1848).
• 1882: Manuel Ancízar, a Colombian writer, lawyer and journalist (n. 1812).
• 1891: Alphonso Taft, American diplomat (n. 1810).
• 1894: Emile Henry, a Franco-Spanish anarchist (n. 1872).
• 1895: Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer (n. 1819).
• 1897: Gregorio Luperón, a Dominican military, political and patriot (n. 1839).
• 1897: Jules Bernard Luys, French neurologist (n. 1828).
• 1897: Augustus Wollaston Franks, British antiquarian (n. 1826).
• 1904: Étienne Jules Marey, doctor, photographer and French researcher (n. 1830).
• 1920: Venustiano Carranza, Mexican politician, president between 1915 and 1920 (n. 1860).
• 1920: Willard T. Sears, American architect (n. 1837).
• 1925: Eisaburo Ueno, acronym engineer and Japanese teacher (n. 1872), owner of the famous faithful dog Hachiko (1923-1935).
• 1935: Jane Addams, American sociologist, Nobel Peace Prize in 1931 (n. 1860).
• 1935: Hugo de Vries, Dutch botanist (n. 1848).
• 1944: Rene Daumal, French writer (n. 1906).
• 1949: Klaus Mann, German writer (n. 1906).
• 1951: Eduardo Arozamena, Mexican actor and filmmaker (n. 1875).
• 1952: John Garfield, American actor (n. 1913).
• 1955: Andrés Eloy Blanco, Venezuelan poet and politician (n. 1896).
• 1963: Roberto José Tavella, a religious writer and an Argentine teacher (n. 1893).
• 1964: James Franck, German-American physicist and chemist, nobel prize of physics in 1925 (n. 1882).
• 1966: Ricard Opisso, a Spanish artist (n. 1880).
• 1966: Dorothy Macmillan, British aristocrat (n. 1900).
• 1973: Ivan Konev, Soviet military (n. 1900).
• 1980: Roberto Wachholtz, Chilean politician (n. 1899).
• 1983: Eric Hoffer, American writer and philosopher (n. 1902).
• 1984: Rogelio A. González, Mexican actor and filmmaker (n. 1922).
• 1991: Rajiv Gandhi, Indian Prime Minister, murdered (n. 1944).
• 1993: John Dutton Frost, British military (n. 1912).
• 1994: Francisco Otero Besteiro, Spanish sculptor (n. 1933).
• 1996: Fernando Volio Jiménez, a Costa Rican politician (n. 1924).
• 1999: Bugz, American rapper, from the D12 band (n. 1978).
• 2000: Barbara Cartland, British novelist (n. 1901).
• 2000: John Gielgud, British actor (n. 1904).
• 2002: Niki de Saint Phalle, sculptor, painter and French filmmaker (n. 1930).
• 2012: Milton Schinca, playwright and Uruguayan writer (n. 1926).
• 2012: Rodolfo Félix Valdés, Mexican engineer and politician (n. 1922).
• 2014: Jaime Lusinchi, Venezuelan physician and politician, president of Venezuela between 1984 and 1989 (n. 1924).
• 2018: Clint Walker, American actor (n. 1927).
• 2020: Oliver E. Williamson, American economist (n. 1932).
• 2021: Tahir Salahov, Azerbaijani painter (n. 1928).
• 2022: Tania Tinoco, Ecuadorian journalist (n. 1963).
• 2022: Marco Antonio Cornez, Chilean footballer (n. 1958).

Celebrations

• International Tea Day
• Optometrist Day in Venezuela
• Fundación del Colegio de Optometrista De Venezuela (21 May 1949)
• World Day of Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development

ColombiaColombia

• Day of Afro-Colombianity, when the government of José Hilario López decreed the abolition of slavery in Colombia.

ChileChile

• Naval Glories Day, commemorating the naval combats of Iquique and Punta Gruesa.
• Lawyer's Day.

Mexico Mexico

• Córdoba: a decisive battle takes place for the independence movement of Mexico in 1821, in the place known as La Casa Quemada, the insurgents in charge of José Joaquín de Herrera defeat the hosts of the realistic Hevia, who perishes in the confrontation.
• National Polytechnic Institute Day.

European Union

• European Natura Network Day 2000. Day to publicize and revaluate this network of protected spaces in all countries of the European Union.
• Italy, Lombardia, Inveruno, 'festa delle belle ragazze', the tradition says that Celtic origins would have left a notorious concentration of young beautiful.

Spain:

May 21, National Private Security Day

Catholic saints list

• San Cristóbal Magallanes and compañeros
• Saint Eugene de Mazenod
• San Hemming de Abo
• Saint Hospicio of Nice
• San Mancio
• San Paterno de Dariorige
• San Polieucto
• San Teobaldo de Vienne
• St. Timothy of Mauritania
• Blessed Juan Mopinot