On this day: July 21

Events on July 21

• 356 BC The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is destroyed by arson. Wikipedia
• 230 Pope Pontian began his pontificate, succeeding Urban I. Wikipedia
• 365 A large earthquake occurred near Crete, triggering a tsunami, and causing widespread destruction around the eastern Mediterranean region. Wikipedia
• 625 Paulinus was consecrated as the first bishop of York by Justus, the archbishop of Canterbury. Wikipedia
• 905 Louis III, Holy Roman Emperor, was captured and blinded during his attempt to restore Carolingian power over Italy by King Berengar I. Wikipedia
• 1378 Unrepresented labourers revolted and violently took over the government of the Republic of Florence, demanding that they be granted political office. Wikipedia
• 1877 Much of central Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was burned and looted during the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. Wikipedia
• 1918 World War I: An Imperial German Navy U-boat opened fire on a small convoy of barges and defending aircraft near the American town of Orleans, Massachusetts. Wikipedia
• 1925 American high-school biology teacher John T. Scopes was found guilty of violating Tennessee's Butler Act which forbade teaching evolution in class. Wikipedia
• 1944 World War II: Claus von Stauffenberg and four fellow conspirators are executed for the July 20 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Wikipedia
• 1946 After weeks of unrest, rioters lynched Bolivian president Gualberto Villarroel, desecrating and hanging his corpse in the streets of La Paz. Wikipedia
• 1949 The United States Senate ratifies the North Atlantic Treaty. Wikipedia
• 1952 An earthquake registering 7.3 Mw struck the southern San Joaquin Valley in California, causing 12 deaths and an estimated $60 million in property damage. Wikipedia
• 1954 First Indochina War: The Geneva Conference partitions Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Wikipedia
• 1959 The inaugural International Mathematical Olympiad, the leading mathematical competition for pre-university students, began in Romania. Wikipedia
• 1960 Sirimavo Bandaranaike was sworn in as prime minister of Ceylon, becoming the world's first democratically elected female head of government. Wikipedia
• 1969 Apollo program: At 02:56 UTC, astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon, followed 19 minutes later by Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. Wikipedia
• 1970 After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed. Wikipedia
• 1972 The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated twenty-two bombs throughout Belfast, Northern Ireland. Wikipedia
• 1977 Libyan forces carried out a raid at Sallum, sparking a four-day war with Egypt. Wikipedia
• 1990 The Taiwanese military ordered the deportation of dozens of illegal immigrants from mainland China in sealed boat holds, causing 25 deaths due to suffocation. Wikipedia
• 2007 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the popular Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, was released and sold 15 million copies in its first 24 hours, making it the fastest-selling book in history. Wikipedia
• 2013 Nour Ahmad Nikbakht, an Iranian diplomat in Yemen, was kidnapped by al-Qaeda militants and held hostage for the next two years. Wikipedia
• 2019 People returning from anti–extradition bill protests in Hong Kong were attacked by suspected triad members in Yuen Long, leaving 45 people injured. Wikipedia
• 2023 The Barbenheimer phenomenon begins as two major motion pictures, Greta Gerwig's fantasy comedy Barbie and Christopher Nolan's epic biographical thriller Oppenheimer, are released in theaters on the same day and audiences, instead of creating a rivalry between the extremely dissimilar films, instead attend and praise both as an informal, surreal double feature. Wikipedia
• 2024 U.S. President Joe Biden announces he will no longer seek a second term and withdraws from the 2024 election, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as she launches her own presidential campaign. Wikipedia

Born on July 21

• 1414 Pope Sixtus IV (died 1484) Wikipedia
• 1693 Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, English politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (died 1768) Wikipedia
• 1858 Lovis Corinth, German painter (died 1925) Wikipedia
• 1893 Hans Fallada, German author (died 1947) Wikipedia
• 1899 Ernest Hemingway, American novelist, short story writer, and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1961) Wikipedia
• 1911 Marshall McLuhan, Canadian author and theorist (died 1980) Wikipedia
• 1923 Rudolph A. Marcus, Canadian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2026) Wikipedia
• 1924 Don Knotts, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (died 2006) Wikipedia
• 1926 Norman Jewison, Canadian actor, director, and producer (died 2024) Wikipedia
• 1944 John Atta Mills, Ghanaian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Ghana (died 2012) Wikipedia
• 1944 Buchi Emecheta, Nigerian author and academic (died 2017) Wikipedia
• 1948 Cat Stevens, English singer-songwriter and guitarist Wikipedia
• 1951 Robin Williams, American actor and comedian (died 2014) Wikipedia
• 1955 Béla Tarr, Hungarian film director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2026) Wikipedia
• 1957 Stefan Löfven, Swedish trade union leader and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of Sweden Wikipedia
• 1957 Jon Lovitz, American comedian, actor, and producer Wikipedia
• 1971 Charlotte Gainsbourg, English-French actress and singer Wikipedia
• 1978 Josh Hartnett, American actor Wikipedia
• 1981 Joaquín, Spanish footballer Wikipedia
• 1989 Juno Temple, English actress Wikipedia
• 2000 Erling Haaland, Norwegian footballer Wikipedia
• 2006 Endrick, Brazilian footballer Wikipedia

Died on July 21

• 1425 Manuel II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (born 1350) Wikipedia
• 1796 Robert Burns, Scottish poet and songwriter (born 1759) Wikipedia
• 1899 Robert G. Ingersoll, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (born 1833) Wikipedia
• 1944 Claus von Stauffenberg, German soldier who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler (born 1907) Wikipedia
• 1948 Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter and illustrator (born 1904) Wikipedia
• 1967 Albert Lutuli, South African academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1898) Wikipedia
• 1967 Basil Rathbone, South African-American actor and singer (born 1892) Wikipedia
• 1972 Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, Bhutanese king (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 1977 Lee Miller, American model and photographer (born 1907) Wikipedia
• 1998 Alan Shepard, American admiral, pilot, and astronaut (born 1923) Wikipedia
• 2004 Jerry Goldsmith, American composer and conductor (born 1929) Wikipedia
• 2004 Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918) Wikipedia
• 2015 E. L. Doctorow, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (born 1931) Wikipedia
• 2023 Tony Bennett, American singer (born 1926) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Alberic Crescitelli Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Albert John Luthuli (Episcopal Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Arbogast Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Barhadbesciabas Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Carlos of Brazil (Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Daniel (Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Lawrence of Brindisi Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Praxedes Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Victor of Marseilles Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: July 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Liberation Day in 1944 (Guam) Wikipedia
• Belgian National Day (Belgium) Wikipedia
• Racial Harmony Day (Singapore) Wikipedia
• Summer Kazanskaya (Russia) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “July 21” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/July 21” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “July 21” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for July 21 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.