May is the fifth month of the year in our modern-day Gregorian calendar. In older versions of the ancient Roman calendar, May was the third month of the year. It became the fifth month when January and February were added to the calendar.
According to Gregory calendar, the day number 365 in a year and if it is a leap year then the day number is 366. May 21 has its own special significance in India and world history.
There are 31 days in May and it does not start or end on the same day of the week as any other month.
May’s birth flower is the Lily of the Valley and the Crataegus monogyna.
Here you will find some important events that happened today in Indian and world History on May 21. Read on to know more about this day.
List of Important Historical events of 21 May:
- 1216: Prince Louis of France enters England.
- 1502: João da Nova of Portugal discovered the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.
- 1725: The Order of Alexander Nevsky was founded in Russia by Empress Catherine I.
- 1758: Mary Campbell is kidnapped by Lenape from her home in Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War.
- 1819: America’s first bicycle (fast walker) introduced in NYC.
- 1840: New Zealand is declared a British colony.
- 1851: Slavery practice ended in Columbia, South America.
- 1881: US Nation Lawn Tennis Association is established.
- 1881: American Red Cross founded by Clara Barton.
- 1904: The International Football Federation (FIFA), the highest football football body, was established in Paris.
- 1917: 300 acres were destroyed in a 1917 Great Atlanta fire in the United States.
- 1918: US House of Representatives allows women to vote.
- 1929: India’s first air cargo service commences between then Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Bagdogra.
- 1991: Former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi was killed in a suicide bombing attack at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. Angered by sending peace forces to Sri Lanka, the LTTE, an organization of Tamil rebels, launched a suicide attack on Rajiv.
- 1994: Sushmita Sen won the 43rd Miss Universe Award.
- 2012: An earthquake in Italy killed 27 people.