On this day: March 21

Events on March 21

• 1556 Thomas Cranmer, a former archbishop of Canterbury and one of the founders of Anglicanism, was burned at the stake for heresy in Oxford, England. Wikipedia
• 1788 A large fire destroyed 856 of the 1,100 structures in New Orleans. Wikipedia
• 1800 With the church leadership driven out of Rome during an armed conflict, Pius VII is crowned Pope in Venice with a temporary papal tiara made of papier-mâché. Wikipedia
• 1804 Code Napoléon is adopted as French civil law. Wikipedia
• 1814 War of the Sixth Coalition: During their march on Paris, Coalition forces defeated Napoleon's French army on the final day of the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube. Wikipedia
• 1825 During his tour of the United States, the Marquis de Lafayette laid the cornerstone for the Nathanael Greene Monument in Savannah, Georgia. Wikipedia
• 1844 The Baháʼí calendar, used in the Baháʼí Faith, began. Wikipedia
• 1861 Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America, gave an extemporaneous speech laying out the Confederacy's rationale for seceding from the United States. Wikipedia
• 1871 Otto von Bismarck is appointed as the first Chancellor of the German Empire. Wikipedia
• 1871 Journalist Henry Morton Stanley begins his trek to find the missionary and explorer David Livingstone. Wikipedia
• 1874 Queen's Park defeated Clydesdale 2–0 in the final of the inaugural Scottish Cup. Wikipedia
• 1913 More than 360 were killed and 20,000 homes were destroyed in the Great Dayton Flood in Dayton, Ohio, U.S. Wikipedia
• 1918 First World War: The German Army opened the Spring Offensive with Operation Michael, attempting to break through the Allied lines and to seize ports on the English Channel. Wikipedia
• 1919 The Hungarian Soviet Republic is established becoming the first Communist government to be formed in Europe after the October Revolution in Russia. Wikipedia
• 1937 A police squad, acting under orders from Governor of Puerto Rico Blanton Winship, opened fire on demonstrators protesting the arrest of Puerto Rican Nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos, killing 21 people and injuring 235 others. Wikipedia
• 1945 World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma. Wikipedia
• 1946 The Los Angeles Rams signed Kenny Washington, making him the first African-American player in the National Football League since 1933. Wikipedia
• 1952 The Moondog Coronation Ball, generally considered to be the first major rock and roll concert, took place at the Cleveland Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Wikipedia
• 1960 Police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire on a group of unarmed black demonstrators who were protesting pass laws, killing 69 people and wounding 180 others. Wikipedia
• 1963 The Federal Bureau of Prisons closed Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, California. Wikipedia
• 1968 War of Attrition: The Battle of Karameh took place between the Israel Defense Forces and allied troops of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Jordanian Armed Forces. Wikipedia
• 1980 The American soap opera Dallas aired the episode "A House Divided", which led to eight months of international speculation on "Who shot J.R.?" Wikipedia
• 1983 In the West Bank, a number of Palestinian girls complained of breathing difficulties due to strange odors, leading to accusations of poison gas. Wikipedia
• 2006 A man smashed the statue of Phra Phrom at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, with a hammer, and was subsequently beaten to death by bystanders. Wikipedia
• 2006 Jack Dorsey sent the first message on the social-media network Twitter. Wikipedia
• 2019 A major explosion at a chemical plant in Yancheng, China, killed 78 people and injured 640 others. Wikipedia

Born on March 21

• 1626 Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur, Spanish saint and missionary (died 1667) Wikipedia
• 1685 Johann Sebastian Bach, German Baroque composer and musician (died 1750) Wikipedia
• 1763 Jean Paul, German journalist and author (died 1825) Wikipedia
• 1768 Joseph Fourier, French mathematician and physicist (died 1830) Wikipedia
• 1806 Benito Juárez, Mexican lawyer and politician, 25th President of Mexico (died 1872) Wikipedia
• 1839 Modest Mussorgsky, Russian pianist and composer (died 1881) Wikipedia
• 1925 Peter Brook, English-French director and producer (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1927 Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German soldier and politician, Vice-Chancellor of Germany (died 2016) Wikipedia
• 1932 Walter Gilbert, American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate Wikipedia
• 1946 Timothy Dalton, Welsh-English actor Wikipedia
• 1949 Slavoj Žižek, Slovenian sociologist, philosopher, and academic Wikipedia
• 1950 Sergey Lavrov, Russian politician and diplomat, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Wikipedia
• 1954 Prayut Chan-o-cha, Thai politician, Prime Minister of Thailand Wikipedia
• 1955 Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian politician and retired military officer, 38th President of Brazil Wikipedia
• 1958 Gary Oldman, English actor, filmmaker, musician, and author Wikipedia
• 1960 Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (died 1994) Wikipedia
• 1961 Lothar Matthäus, German footballer and manager Wikipedia
• 1962 Matthew Broderick, American actor Wikipedia
• 1963 Ronald Koeman, Dutch footballer and manager Wikipedia
• 1980 Ronaldinho, Brazilian footballer Wikipedia
• 1989 Jordi Alba, Spanish footballer Wikipedia
• 1991 Antoine Griezmann, French footballer Wikipedia

Died on March 21

• 1556 Thomas Cranmer, English archbishop (born 1489) Wikipedia
• 1617 Pocahontas, Algonquian Indigenous woman (born c. 1595) Wikipedia
• 1729 John Law, Scottish-French economist and politician, Controller-General of Finances (born 1671) Wikipedia
• 1762 Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, French priest, astronomer, and academic (born 1713) Wikipedia
• 1843 Robert Southey, English poet, historian, and translator (born 1774) Wikipedia
• 1843 Guadalupe Victoria, Mexican general and politician, 1st President of Mexico (born 1786) Wikipedia
• 1915 Frederick Winslow Taylor, American golfer, tennis player, and engineer (born 1856) Wikipedia
• 1936 Alexander Glazunov, Russian composer and conductor (born 1865) Wikipedia
• 1985 Michael Redgrave, English actor, director, and manager (born 1908) Wikipedia
• 1991 Leo Fender, American businessman, founded Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (born 1909) Wikipedia
• 2013 Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic (born 1930) Wikipedia
• 2013 Pietro Mennea, Italian sprinter and politician (born 1952) Wikipedia
• 2021 Nawal El Saadawi, Egyptian secularist, feminist (born 1931) Wikipedia
• 2025 George Foreman, American boxer, actor, and businessman (born 1949) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Arbor Day (Lesotho) Wikipedia
• Arbor Day (Portugal) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Augustine Zhao Rong Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Benedetta Cambiagio Frassinello Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Passing of Saint Benedict (Order of Saint Benedict, pre-1970 Calendar) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Birillus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Enda of Aran Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Nicholas of Flüe Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Serapion of Thmuis Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Thomas Cranmer (Anglicanism) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: March 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Early music Wikipedia
• Education Freedom Day Wikipedia
• Harmony Day (Australia) Wikipedia
• Human Rights Day (South Africa) Wikipedia
• Independence Day (Namibia) Wikipedia
• International Colour Day (International) Wikipedia
• International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (International) Wikipedia
• International Day of Forests (International), by proclamation of the United Nations General Assembly Wikipedia
• Mother's Day (most of the Arab world) Wikipedia
• Natalicio de Benito Juárez, one of Fiestas Patrias (Mexico) Wikipedia
• Oltenia Day (Romania) Wikipedia
• Rosie the Riveter Day (United States) Wikipedia
• Truant's Day (Poland, Faroe Islands) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “March 21” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/March 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 “March 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 March 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.