On this day: May 21st

There are many and several events on this day in history. Read and discover what happened on this day: On this day: May 21st

Events On this day: May 21st

1881: The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton.
1904: FIFA, the world governing body of association football, is founded. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association is responsible for the organization of the World Cup, which is one of the world’s most viewed sporting events.
1927: Charles Lindbergh completes the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
1932: Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
1951: The 9th Street Show opens in New York. The ground-breaking art exhibition showing works by artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning is considered the birth hour of the artistic avant-garde, referred to as the New York School.
1979: Violent clashes follow the lenient sentencing for Harvey Milk’s murderer. Milk, the first openly gay U.S. politician, had been shot and killed together with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone. The assassin, Dan White, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter only, triggering the White Night Riots.
1980: Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back opens in theaters.
1991: Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in the midst of a re-election campaign, killed by a bomb hidden in a bouquet of flowers. He had served as prime minister from 1984 to 1989, succeeding his mother, Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1984.

1471: Albrecht Durer (German painter)
1527: Phillip II (King of Spain)
1844: Henri Rousseau (French painter)
1904: Fats Waller (Jazz pianist)
1921: Russian physicist and human rights activist Andrei Sakharov (1921–1989) was born in Moscow
1952: Mr. T (Actor)
1957: Judge Reinhold (Actor)
1972: Notorious BIG (Rapper)
1977: Ricky Williams (Football Player)
1980: Gotye (Belgian/Australian singer-songwriter)
1981: Josh Hamilton (Baseball player)

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