This Day in History – May 21

Discover important historical events that happened on this day. Explore key moments in politics, science, culture, and more — organized by date and year.

MAY 21, 1138

The Crusades: The siege of Shaizar ended, and the Emir of Shaizar became a vassal of the Byzantine Empire.

The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Christian Latin Church in the medieval period.... The best known of these military expeditions are those to the Holy Land between 1095 and 1291 that had the objective of reconquering Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Muslim rule after the region had been conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate centuries earlier. Beginning with the First Crusade, which resulted in the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, dozens of military campaigns were organised, providing a focal point of European history for centuries. Crusading later declined rapidly after the 15th century with the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans. Read More

MAY 21, 1991

Former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.

Rajiv Gandhi was an Indian statesman and pilot who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took... office after the assassination of his mother, then–prime minister Indira Gandhi, to become at the age of 40 the youngest Indian prime minister. He served until his defeat at the 1989 election, and then became Leader of the Opposition, Lok Sabha, resigning in December 1990, six months before his own assassination. (Image Credits)

"RajivGandhi" by Post of India - GODL-India <a href='https://colnect.com/en/stamps/stamp/164194-Rajiv_Gandhi-Commemorations_1991-India' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Original Source</a>

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MAY 21, 1911

Mexican president Porfirio Díaz and the revolutionary Francisco I. Madero signed the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez to end hostilities between each other's forces, concluding the initial phase of the Mexican Revolution.

José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until... his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a military coup. He served on three separate occasions as President of Mexico, a total of over 30 years, this period is known as the Porfiriato and has been called a de facto dictatorship. Díaz’s time in office is the longest in the country’s history. Read More

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Famous Birthdays on May 21

Josh Hamilton

1981

American baseball player

(Image Credits)

"Josh Hamilton on May 10, 2012" by Keith Allison on Flickr - CC BY-SA 2.0

Originally posted to Flickr as "Josh Hamilton"

Peggy Cass

1924

American actress, comedian, and game show panelist (d. 1999)

Kent Hrbek

1960

American baseball player and sportscaster

Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan

1915

Indian Civil Service Officer and former Under Secretary-General of the UN (d. 2003)

Anthony Mundine

1975

Australian rugby league player and boxer

(Image Credits)

"Anthony Mundine" by Eva Rinaldi - CC BY-SA 2.0

Anthony Mundine

Elizabeth Fry

1780

English prison reformer, philanthropist and Quaker (d. 1845)

Manly Wade Wellman

1903

American author (d. 1986)

Haleh Afshar

1944

Baroness Afshar, Iranian-English academic and politician (d. 2022)

(Image Credits)

"Official portrait of Baroness Afshar crop 2" by Roger Harris - CC BY 3.0

https://members-api.parliament.uk/api/Members/3847/Portrait?cropType=ThreeFourGallery: https://members.parliament.uk/member/3847/portrait

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