March 21
March 21 is the 80 th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (81st in leap years ). There are 285 days remaining.
Events
1556 - In Oxford , Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burned at the stake .
1788 - A fire destroys 856 buildings in New Orleans and leaves most of the town in ruins.
1800 - With the church leadership driven out of the Vatican during an armed conflict, Pius VII was crowned Pope in Venice with a temporary papal tiara made of papier-mâché .
1801 - The Battle of Alexandria was fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis in Egypt .
1804 - Code Napoléon was adopted as French civil law .
1857 - Earthquake in Tokyo , Japan kills over 100,000.
1919 - The Chinese High School is established in Singapore by Tan Kah Kee .
1918 - World War I : Second Battle of the Somme begins
1928 - Charles Lindbergh is presented the Congressional Medal of Honor for his first trans-Atlantic flight.
1935 - Shah Reza Pahlavi formally asked the international community to call Persia by its native name, Iran , which means 'Land of the Aryans '.
1940 - Paul Reynaud becomes Prime Minister of France
1945 - World War II : British troops liberate Mandalay , Burma
1952 - Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball , the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio
1960 - Apartheid : Massacre in Sharpeville , South Africa : Police open fire on a group of unarmed black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180
1963 - Alcatraz , a federal penitentiary on an island in San Francisco Bay , closes.
1964 - In Copenhagen , Denmark , Gigliola Cinquetti wins the ninth Eurovision Song Contest for Italy singing "Non ho l'età" (I'm not old enough).
1965 - Ranger program : NASA launches Ranger 9 which is the last in a series of unmanned lunar space probes .
1965 - Martin Luther King Jr leads 3,200 people on the start of the 3'rd and finally successful Civil Rights March from Selma to Montgomery Alabama .
1970 - Vinko Bogataj crashes during a ski-jumping championship in Germany ; his image becomes that of the "agony of defeat guy" in the opening credits of ABC's Wide World of Sports .
1970 - In Amsterdam , Netherlands , Dana wins the fifteenth Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland singing "All Kinds of Everything".
1980 - President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan .
1980 - On the season finale of the soap opera Dallas J.R. Ewing is shot by an unseen assailant, leading to the catchphrase "Who Shot JR?"
1985 - Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research.
1989 - Sports Illustrated baseball player Pete Rose to baseball gambling .
1990 - Namibia becomes independent after 75 years of South African rule.
1999 - Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon .
2002 - In Pakistan , Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh along with three other suspects are charged with murder for their part in the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal Daniel Pearl .
2004 - In Malaysia , the 11th Federal and State elections are held, returning the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional to power with an increased majority.
2005 - In Red Lake , Minnesota , 10 are killed in a school shooting , the worst since the Columbine High School massacre .
Births
1685 - Johann Sebastian Bach , German composer, (d. 1750 )
1763 - Jean Paul , German writer (d. 1825 )
1768 - Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier , French mathematician , (d. 1830 )
1806 - Benito Juárez , Mexican statesman and national hero, (d. 1872 )
1839 - Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky , Russian composer , (d. 1881 )
1869 - Florenz Ziegfeld , theatrical producer, (d. 1932 )
1876 - John Tewksbury , American athlete (d. 1968 )
1882 - Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson , actor, (d. 1971 )
1891 - Jonathan Hale , Canadian actor (d. 1966 )
1895 - Zlatko Baloković , Croatian violinist , (d. 1955 )
1901 - Karl Arnold , politician, (d. 1958 )
1902 - Son House , blues musician, (d. 1988 )
1904 - Forrest Mars Sr. , American candymaker (d. 1999 )
1906 - Jim Thompson , the "Silk King" (death date unknown)
1913 - George Abecassis , English Formula One driver (d. 1991 )
1921 - Arthur Grumiaux , Belgian violinist (d. 1986 )
1922 - Russ Meyer , film director, producer (d. 2004 )
1923 - Shri Mataji Nirmala Shrivastava , the founder of Sahaja Yoga
1927 - Hans-Dietrich Genscher , politician
1932 - Joseph Silverstein , American violinist, conductor
1930 - James Coco , American actor (d. 1987 )
1934 - Al Freeman, Jr. , American actor
1936 - Mike Westbrook , English composer
1940 - Solomon Burke , American singer
1943 - Vivian Stanshall , British musician (Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band )
1945 - Rose Stone , American musician (Sly & the Family Stone )
1946 - Timothy Dalton , British James Bond actor
1951 - Russell Thompkins, Jr. , (The Stylistics) Singer
1958 - Gary Oldman , actor
1958 - Sabrina Le Beauf , American actress
1959 - Nobuo Uematsu , Japanese composer
1960 - Ayrton Senna , automobile racer, (d. 1994 )
1961 - Lothar Matthäus , soccer player
1962 - Rosie O'Donnell , comedienne, actress, talk show host, publisher
1962 - Matthew Broderick , actor
1967 - Jonas "Joker" Berggren , Swedish musician (Ace of Base )
1975 - Mark Williams , Welsh snooker player
1975 - Justin Pierce , British actor (d. 2000 )
1976 - Liza Harper , French pornographic actress
1977 - DJ Premier , American rapper (Gang Starr )
1978 - Kevin Federline , American dancer
1980 - Ronaldinho , Brazilian soccer player
Deaths
1076 - Robert I , Duke of Burgundy
1306 - Robert II , Duke of Burgundy
1556 - Thomas Cranmer , Archbishop of Canterbury , (b. 1489 )
1795 - Giovanni Arduino , geologist, (b. 1714 )
1843 - Robert Southey , English poet (b. 1774 )
1881 - Samuel Courtauld (industrialist) , textile magnate (b. 1793 )
1884 - Ezra Abbot , American bible scholar, (b. 1819 )
1934 - Franz Schreker , composer (b. 1878 )
1951 - Willem Mengelberg , Dutch conductor (b. 1871 )
1958 - Cyril M. Kornbluth , science fiction writer, (b. 1923 )
1984 - Shauna Grant , American erotic actress
1985 - Sir Michael Redgrave , actor, (b. 1908 )
1987 - Robert Preston , actor (b. 1918 )
1987 - Dean Paul Martin , American musician
1991 - Leo Fender , guitar manufacturer
1994 - Dack Rambo , American actor
1994 - Macdonald Carey , American actor
1997 - The Reverend W. V. Awdry , creator of Thomas the Tank Engine , (b. 1911 )
1997 - John Nemechek , American car racer
1999 - Ernie Wise OBE, British comedian (b. 1925 )
2001 - Norma Macmillan , cartoon voice actress, (b. 1921 )
2001 - Chung Ju-young , founder of Hyundai group (b. 1915 )
2002 - Herman Talmadge , American politician
2003 - Wolfgang Kartte , politician
2005 - Bobby Short , cabaret singer (b. 1924 )
2005 - Barney Martin , American actor
Holidays and observances
External links
March 20 - March 22 - February 21 - April 21 -- listing of all days
