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July 21 Birthday Events Poster

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July 21 Historical Events

The following events took place on July 21. The list is arranged in chronological order.

Found 42 events. Showing 1 - 30.

  • 356 BC
    The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is destroyed by arson.
  • 230
    Pope Pontian succeeds Urban I as the eighteenth pope.
  • 285
    Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar and co-ruler.
  • 365
    A tsunami devastates the city of Alexandria, Egypt. The tsunami was caused by the Crete earthquake estimated to be 8.0 on the Richter scale. Five thousand people perished in Alexandria, and 45,000 more died outside the city.
  • 1242
    Battle of Taillebourg: Louis IX of France puts an end to the revolt of his vassals Henry III of England and Hugh X of Lusignan.
  • 1403
    Battle of Shrewsbury: King Henry IV of England defeats rebels to the north of the county town of Shropshire, England.
  • 1545
    The first landing of French troops on the coast of the Isle of Wight during the French invasion of the Isle of Wight.
  • 1568
    Eighty Years’ War: Battle of Jemmingen: Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva defeats Louis of Nassau.
  • 1645
    Qing dynasty regent Dorgon issues an edict ordering all Han Chinese men to shave their forehead and braid the rest of their hair into a queue identical to those of the Manchus.
  • 1656
    The Raid on Málaga takes place during the Anglo-Spanish War.
  • 1718
    The Treaty of Passarowitz between the Ottoman Empire, Austria and the Republic of Venice is signed.
  • 1774
    Russo-Turkish War (1768–74): Russia and the Ottoman Empire sign the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca ending the war.
  • 1831
    Inauguration of Leopold I of Belgium, first king of the Belgians.
  • 1861
    American Civil War: First Battle of Bull Run: At Manassas Junction, Virginia, the first major battle of the war begins and ends in a victory for the Confederate army.
  • 1865
    In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first western showdown.
  • 1873
    At Adair, Iowa, Jesse James and the James–Younger Gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the American Old West.
  • 1877
    After rioting by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers and the deaths of nine rail workers at the hands of the Maryland militia, workers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania stage a sympathy strike that is met with an assault by the state militia.
  • 1904
    Louis Rigolly, a Frenchman, becomes the first man to break the 100 mph barrier on land. He drove a 15-liter Gobron-Brillié in Ostend, Belgium.
  • 1907
    The passenger steamer SS Columbia collides with the steam schooner San Pedro off Shelter Cove, California, causing the Columbia to sink killing 88 people.
  • 1914
    The Crown council of Romania decides for the country to remain neutral in World War I.
  • 1918
    SMU U-156 shells Nauset Beach, in Orleans, Massachusetts.
  • 1919
    The dirigible Wingfoot Air Express crashes into the Illinois Trust and Savings Building in Chicago, killing 12 people.
  • 1925
    Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in class and fined $100.
  • 1925
    Sir Malcolm Campbell, father of Donald Campbell, becomes the first man to break the 150 mph land barrier at Pendine Sands in Wales. He drove a Sunbeam at a two-way average speed of 150.33 mph.
  • 1944
    World War II: Battle of Guam: American troops land on Guam starting the battle. It would end on August 10.
  • 1944
    World War II: Claus von Stauffenberg and fellow conspirators are executed in Berlin, Germany, for the July 20 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
  • 1949
    The United States Senate ratifies the North Atlantic Treaty.
  • 1954
    First Indochina War: The Geneva Conference partitions Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam.
  • 1959
    NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, is launched as a showcase for Dwight D. Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” initiative.
  • 1959
    Elijah Jerry “Pumpsie” Green becomes the first African-American to play for the Boston Red Sox, the last team to integrate. He came in as a pinch runner for Vic Wertz and stayed in as shortstop in a 2–1 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

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