On this day: June 21

Events on June 21

• 217 BC Second Punic War: Commanded by Hannibal, the Carthaginians ambushed a Roman army at the Battle of Lake Trasimene, capturing or killing 25,000 men. Wikipedia
• 217 BC A Carthaginian force under Hannibal ambushes and defeats a Roman army commanded by Gaius Flaminius in the battle of lake Trasimene during the Second Punic War. Wikipedia
• 1307 Külüg Khan is enthroned as Khagan of the Mongols and Wuzong of the Yuan. Wikipedia
• 1529 War of the League of Cognac: The French army under Francis de Bourbon was destroyed in Lombardy, Italy, by the Spanish army. Wikipedia
• 1575 French Wars of Religion: Catholic forces defeated an armed group of Huguenots attempting to capture Besançon, from which they had previously been expelled. Wikipedia
• 1734 In Montreal, New France, a slave known by the French name of Marie-Joseph Angélique is put to death, having been convicted of setting the fire that destroyed much of the city. Wikipedia
• 1749 Halifax, Nova Scotia, is founded. Wikipedia
• 1788 New Hampshire ratified the U.S. Constitution and was admitted as the ninth U.S. state. Wikipedia
• 1788 New Hampshire becomes the ninth state to ratify the Constitution of the United States. Wikipedia
• 1791 King Louis XVI and his immediate family begin the Flight to Varennes during the French Revolution. Wikipedia
• 1826 Greek War of Independence: A combined Egyptian and Ottoman army began an invasion of the Mani Peninsula, but were initially held off by the Maniots at the fortifications of Vergas. Wikipedia
• 1864 American Civil War: The Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road begins. Wikipedia
• 1890 Rudyard Kipling's poem Mandalay was published. Wikipedia
• 1915 The U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision in Guinn v. United States 238 US 347 1915, striking down Oklahoma grandfather clause legislation which had the effect of denying the right to vote to African-Americans. Wikipedia
• 1919 Admiral Ludwig von Reuter scuttles the German fleet at Scapa Flow, Orkney. The nine sailors killed are the last casualties of World War I. Wikipedia
• 1919 During a general strike in Winnipeg, Canada, members of the Royal North-West Mounted Police attacked a crowd of strikers, armed with clubs and revolvers. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: The main offensive of the unsuccessful Italian invasion of France began. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: Italy begins an unsuccessful invasion of France. Wikipedia
• 1963 Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini is elected as Pope Paul VI. Wikipedia
• 1978 The original production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, Evita, based on the life of Eva Perón, opens at the Prince Edward Theatre, London. Wikipedia
• 1982 John Hinckley is found not guilty by reason of insanity for the attempted assassination of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Wikipedia
• 2000 President Bill Clinton awarded the Medal of Honor to 22 Asian Americans, mostly from the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for actions during World War II. Wikipedia
• 2000 Section 28 (of the Local Government Act 1988), outlawing the 'promotion' of homosexuality in the United Kingdom, is repealed in Scotland with a 99 to 17 vote. Wikipedia
• 2001 A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, indicts 13 Saudis and a Lebanese in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 American servicemen. Wikipedia
• 2006 Pluto's newly discovered moons are officially named Nix and Hydra. Wikipedia
• 2009 Greenland assumes self-rule. Wikipedia

Born on June 21

• 1002 Pope Leo IX (died 1054) Wikipedia
• 1774 Daniel D. Tompkins, American lawyer and politician, 6th Vice President of the United States (died 1825) Wikipedia
• 1781 Siméon Denis Poisson, French mathematician and physicist (died 1840) Wikipedia
• 1839 Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Brazilian author, poet, and playwright (died 1908) Wikipedia
• 1905 Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and author (died 1980) Wikipedia
• 1914 William Vickrey, Canadian-American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1996) Wikipedia
• 1921 Jane Russell, American actress and singer (died 2011) Wikipedia
• 1935 Françoise Sagan, French author and playwright (died 2004) Wikipedia
• 1947 Shirin Ebadi, Iranian lawyer, judge, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1948 Andrzej Sapkowski, Polish author and translator Wikipedia
• 1948 Ian McEwan, British novelist and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1953 Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani politician, Prime Minister of Pakistan (died 2007) Wikipedia
• 1955 Michel Platini, French footballer and manager Wikipedia
• 1961 Joko Widodo, Indonesian businessman and politician, 7th President of Indonesia Wikipedia
• 1962 Viktor Tsoi, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1990) Wikipedia
• 1962 Shōhei Takada, Japanese shogi player and theoretician Wikipedia
• 1967 Pierre Omidyar, French-American businessman, founded eBay Wikipedia
• 1967 Yingluck Shinawatra, Thai businesswoman and politician, 28th Prime Minister of Thailand Wikipedia
• 1979 Chris Pratt, American actor Wikipedia
• 1982 William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne Wikipedia
• 1983 Edward Snowden, American activist and academic Wikipedia
• 1985 Lana Del Rey, American singer-songwriter Wikipedia

Died on June 21

• 866 Rodulf, Frankish archbishop Wikipedia
• 870 Al-Muhtadi, Muslim caliph Wikipedia
• 1377 Edward III of England (born 1312) Wikipedia
• 1527 Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian historian and author (born 1469) Wikipedia
• 1582 Oda Nobunaga, Japanese warlord (born 1534) Wikipedia
• 1865 Frances Adeline Seward, American wife of William H. Seward (born 1824) Wikipedia
• 1874 Anders Jonas Ångström, Swedish physicist and astronomer (born 1814) Wikipedia
• 1876 Antonio López de Santa Anna, Mexican general and politician 8th President of Mexico (born 1794) Wikipedia
• 1908 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer and educator (born 1844) Wikipedia
• 1914 Bertha von Suttner, Austrian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1843) Wikipedia
• 1954 Gideon Sundback, Swedish-American engineer, developed the zipper (born 1880) Wikipedia
• 1957 Johannes Stark, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1874) Wikipedia
• 1970 Sukarno, Indonesian engineer and politician, 1st President of Indonesia (born 1901) Wikipedia
• 1992 Li Xiannian, Chinese captain and politician, President of China (born 1909) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Alban of Mainz Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Aloysius Gonzaga Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Engelmund of Velsen Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: John Rigby Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Martin of Tongres Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Mewan Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Onesimos Nesib (Lutheran) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: June 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Day of the Martyrs (Togo) Wikipedia
• Father's Day (Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Uganda, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates) Wikipedia
• Go Skateboarding Day Wikipedia
• International Yoga Day (international) Wikipedia
• National Indigenous Peoples Day (Canada) Wikipedia
• Solstice-related observances (see also June 20): Day of Private Reflection (Northern Ireland) Wikipedia
• Solstice-related observances (see also June 20): National Day (Greenland) Wikipedia
• Solstice-related observances (see also June 20): We Tripantu, a winter solstice festival in the southern hemisphere. (Mapuche, southern Chile) Wikipedia
• Solstice-related observances (see also June 20): Willkakuti, an Andean-Amazonic New Year (Aymara) Wikipedia
• Solstice-related observances (see also June 20): Fête de la Musique Wikipedia
• World Humanist Day (Humanism) Wikipedia
• World Hydrography Day (international) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “June 21” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.