Today in History – September 21 in History
What happened on this day in history – September 21 in History around the world
454 | In Italy, Aetius, the supreme army commander, is murdered in Ravenna by Valentinian III, the emperor of the West. | |
1327 | Edward II of England is murdered by order of his wife. | |
1520 | Suleiman (the Magnificent), son of Selim, becomes Ottoman sultan in Constantinople. | |
1589 | The Duke of Mayenne of France is defeated by Henry IV at the Battle of Arques. | |
1673 | James Needham returns to Virginia after exploring the land to the west, which would become Tennessee. | |
1745 | A Scottish Jacobite army commanded by Lord George Murray routs the Royalist army of General Sir John Cope at Prestonpans. | |
1863 | Union troops defeated at Chickamauga seek refuge in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which is then besieged by Confederate troops. | |
1904 | Exiled Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph dies of a “broken heart”. | |
1915 | Stonehenge is sold by auction for 6,600 pounds sterling ($11,500) to a Mr. Chubb, who buys it as a present for his wife. He presents it to the British nation three years later. | |
1929 | Fighting between China and the Soviet Union breaks out along the Manchurian border. | |
1936 | The German army holds its largest maneuvers since 1914. | |
1937 | The women’s airspeed record is set at 292 mph by American pilot Jacqueline Cochran. | |
1937 | J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel The Hobbit is published. | |
1941 | The German Army cuts off the Crimean Peninsula from the rest of the Soviet Union. | |
1942 | British forces attack the Japanese in Burma. | |
1944 | U.S. troops of the 7th Army, invading Southern France, cross the Meuse River. | |
1978 | Two Soviet cosmonauts set a space endurance record after 96 days in space. | |
1981 | Belize granted full independence from the United Kingdom. | |
1989 | General Colin Powell is confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. | |
1991 | Armenia granted independence from USSR. | |
1993 | The Russian constitutional crisis of 1993 begins when Russian President Boris Yeltsin suspends parliament and invalidates the existing constitution. | |
1999 | Earthquake in Taiwan kills more than 2,400, injures over 11,305, and causes $300 billion New Taiwan dollars ($10 billion in US dollars). | |
2003 | Galileo space mission ends as the probe is sent into Jupiter’s atmosphere where it is crushed. | |
Born on September 21 | ||
1756 | John Loudon McAdam, engineer who invented and gave his name to macadamized roads. | |
1866 | Charles Jean Henri Nicolle, bacteriologist, discovered that typhus fever is transmitted by body louse. | |
1866 | H.G. Wells, science fiction writer whose works include The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds. | |
1895 | Juan de la Cierva, aeronautical engineer who invented the autogyro. | |
1902 | Allen Lake, founded Penguin Books in 1935. | |
1912 | Chuck Jones, animator and director of Warner Brothers cartoons. | |
1947 | Stephen King, author best known for supernatural and horror tales (The Stand, Salem’s Lot, Joyland). | |
1947 | Marsha Norman, playwright (Getting Out, ‘Night Mother). | |
1950 | Bill Murray, actor; won Emmy for his work on Saturday Night Live TV series; movies include Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, Lost in Translation. | |
1951 | Aslan Aliyevich Maskhadov, rebel leader widely credited for the Chechen victory in First Chechen War (1994-96); President of Chechnya (1997-99). | |
1957 | Mark Levin, attorney, author; host of syndicated radio program The Mark Levin Show. | |
1968 | Faith Hill, Grammy Award-winning country pop singer (“Breathe”). | |
1968 | Ricki Lake, actress (China Beach TV series), producer, host of The Ricki Lake Show TV talk show for which she won a Daytime Emmy. | |
1987 | Ashley and Courtney Paris, twins who played in the Women’s National Basketball Association, Ashley for the Los Angeles Sparks, Courtney for the Atlanta Dream. |