On this day: 21 January
Events, births and deaths on 21 January. Every date is checked against Wikidata.
Years ago today
1 year ago2025
- Deaths · Mauricio Funes
- Events · Grand Kartal fire
- Deaths · Garth Hudson
10 years ago2016
- Deaths · Mrinalini Sarabhai
- Deaths · Bill Johnson
100 years ago1926
- Deaths · Camillo Golgi
- Births · Steve Reeves
- Births · Clive Donner
1000 years ago1026
Within 100 years of that
- 1118 · Deaths · Paschal II
Events · 21
- 1757Battle on Snowshoes — 1757 battle
- 1793execution of Louis XVI — major event of the French Revolution
- 1824Battle of Nsamankow — 1824 battle
- 1862Opel — German automobile manufacturer, subsidiary of Stellantis
- 1899Malolos Constitution — constitution of the First Philippine Republic
- 1919Irish War of Independence — war of national liberation
- 1919Irish Republic — revolutionary state that declared its independence from Great Britain (UKGBI); 1919-1922
- 1919First Dáil — dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919 to 1921
- 1932Soviet–Finnish Non-Aggression Pact — 1932 treaty between Finland and the Soviet Union
- 1948flag of Quebec — flag of the province of Quebec, Canada
- 1960Avianca Flight 671 — 1960 aviation accident
- 1960Coalbrook mining disaster — 1960 mineshaft collapse at Clydesdale Colliery, South Africa
- 1964Hukou Incident — 1964 attempted coup d'etat in Taiwan
- 1968Battle of Khe Sanh — battle in Vietnam War in 1968
- 19681968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash — aviation accident
- 1980Iran Air Flight 291 — Aviation accident
- 1985Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 — 1985 aviation accident
- 20032003 Colima earthquake — high-magnitude earthquake in southwestern Mexico
- 20172017 Women's March — worldwide political rallies for women's rights
- 20232023 Monterey Park shooting — mass shooting that took place on January 21, 2023 near Los Angeles, California, USA
- 2025Grand Kartal fire — 2025 hotel fire in Bolu Province, Turkey
Births · 60
- 1338(Julian date)Charles V of France — King of France from 1364 to 1380 (1338–1380)
- 1813John C. Frémont — American politician, explorer and military officer (1813–1890)
- 1824Stonewall Jackson — general of the Confederate Army in the American Civil War
- 1829Oscar II of Sweden — King of Sweden from 1872 to 1907 and Norway from 1872 to 1905 (1829–1907)
- 1867Maxime Weygand — French general (1867–1965)
- 1885Umberto Nobile — Italian aeronautical engineer and Arctic explorer (1885-1978)
- 1887Wolfgang Köhler — German-American psychologist and phenomenologist (1887-1967)
- 1889Pitirim Sorokin — Russian sociologist (1889-1968)
- 1895Cristóbal Balenciaga — Spanish fashion designer (1895-1972)
- 1896Paula Hitler — younger sister of Adolf Hitler (1896–1960)
- 1898Ahmad Shah Qajar — The seventh and last Shah of Iran Qajar (1909–1925)
- 1901Ricardo Zamora — Spanish association football player (1901-1978)
- 1905Christian Dior — French fashion designer (1905–1957)
- 1910Hideo Shinojima — Japanese association football player (1910–1975)
- 1911Lee Yoo-hyung — Japanese and South Korean association football player (1911-2003)
- 1912Konrad Emil Bloch — German American biochemist (1912–2000)
- 1916Pietro Rava — Italian footballer and manager (1916–2006)
- 1922Paul Scofield — British actor (1922–2008)
- 1922Telly Savalas — American film and television actor and singer (1922–1994)
- 1923Lola Flores — Spanish actress, dancer and singer (1923–1995)
- 1924Benny Hill — British comedian and actor (1924–1992)
- 1926Steve Reeves — American bodybuilder and actor (1926–2000)
- 1928Reynaldo Bignone — president of Argentina
- 1928Gene Sharp — American political scientist (1928-2018)
- 1940Jack Nicklaus — American golfer (born 1940)
Deaths · 60
- 917(Julian date)Erchanger, Duke of Swabia — Duke of Swabia
- 1118(Julian date)Paschal II — Head of the Catholic Church from 1099 to 1118
- 1314(Julian date)Muhammad III of Granada — ruler of the Emirate of Granada from 1302 to 1309
- 1527(Julian date)Juan de Grijalva — Spanish conquistador (1490-1527)
- 1609Joseph Justus Scaliger — French historian (1540-1609)
- 1683Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury — English politician and founder of the Whig party (1621-1683)
- 1773Alexis Piron — French poet
- 1774Mustafa III — 26th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1757–1774)
- 1789Baron d'Holbach — German-born French philosopher (1723–1789)
- 1793Louis XVI of France — King of France and Navarre from 1774 to 1791, then King of the French from 1791 to 1792 (1754-1793)
- 1795Samuel Wallis — Royal Naval explorer (1728-1795)
- 1814Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre — writer and botanist from France (1737-1814)
- 1831Ludwig Achim von Arnim — German poet and novelist
- 1851Albert Lortzing — German opera composer (1801-1851)
- 1862Božena Němcová — Czech writer (1820-1862)
- 1870Alexander Herzen — Russian author, philosopher, and revolutionary (1812–1870)
- 1872
- 1881Wilhelm Matthias Naeff — member of the Swiss Federal Council (1802-1881)
- 1888George Robert Waterhouse — English scientist (1810–1888)
- 1891Calixa Lavallée — Canadian composer (1842-1891)
- 1892John Couch Adams — English mathematician and astronomer (1819–1892)
- 1901Elisha Gray — American electrical engineer
- 1914Theodor Kittelsen — Norwegian artist (1857–1914)
- 1919Gojong of the Korean Empire — 26th king of Joseon, first emperor of the Korean Empire (1852–1919)
- 1919Ahmed Muhtar Pasha — Ottoman grand vizier and general (1832-1919)
Dates verified against Wikidata (CC0). Titles and descriptions come from Wikidata.