21 September History


Month:                           Date:     

  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 1937    -    The women's airspeed record is set at 292 mph by American pilot Jacqueline Cochran.
  • 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.
  • 1989    -    General Colin Powell is confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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  • 21 September Birthdays

  • 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.
  • 1947    -    Marsha Norman, playwright (Getting Out, 'Night Mother).