This is a list of selected July 21 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article, featured list or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
Staging area
Images
Use only ONE image at a time
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Bull Run -
John T. Scopes -
Soldier with a queue -
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the Moon -
Buzz Aldrin -
Model of the Temple of Artemis -
Wild Bill Hickok -
Aswan High Dam -
Gualberto Villarroel -
Sirimavo Bandaranaike -
Yuen Long attack
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Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| ; Liberation Day in Guam (1944) | refimprove sections, outdated |
| Racial Harmony Day in Singapore (1964) | unreferenced section |
| 356 BC – The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was destroyed in an act of arson by a man named Herostratus. | lots of PN tags (6) |
| 1774 – The victorious Russian Empire and the defeated Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, officially ending the Russo-Turkish War. | unreffed material |
| 1831 – Following the Belgian Revolution, Leopold I was inaugurated as the first king of the Belgians at the Place Royale in Brussels. | Unref material |
| 1403 – Forces under Henry IV of England defeated a rebel army led by Henry "Hotspur" Percy at the Battle of Shrewsbury in what is now Battlefield, Shropshire. | refimprove section |
| 1645 – Qing dynasty regent Dorgon issued an edict ordering all Han Chinese men to shave their forehead and braid the rest of their hair into a queue identical to those of the Manchus. | multiple issues |
| 1861 – In the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle in the American Civil War, the Confederate Army under Joseph E. Johnston and P. G. T. Beauregard routed Union Army troops under Irvin McDowell. | unreferenced section |
| 1865 – In one of the few recorded instances of a "quick draw" gun duel in the American Old West, Wild Bill Hickok shot and killed Davis Tutt over a poker debt. | lots of CN tags (8) |
| 1944 – World War II: American troops landed on Guam to liberate it from Japanese control. | single source |
| 1944 - 20 July plot | too many {cn} tags |
| 1954 – First Indochina War: The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was established at the Geneva Conference, partitioning Vietnam along the 17th parallel north into two zones: North Vietnam led by Ho Chi Minh and South Vietnam under Bảo Đại. | unreferenced section |
| 1964 – Race riots began in Padang, Singapore (then part of Malaysia) during a Malay procession marking Muhammad's birthday, leaving 23 people dead, 450 people injured, significant damage to property and vehicles, and a government imposed 11-day curfew. | refimprove, page numbers needed |
| 1969 – During the Apollo 11 mission, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon. | Apollo 11-related articles TFA and POTD on July 20 (2021) |
| 1970 – The Aswan High Dam in Egypt was completed after 11 years of construction. | refimprove section |
| 1995 – The Chinese People's Liberation Army began firing missiles into the waters north of Taiwan, starting the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis. | refimprove |
| 2012 – Turkish adventurer Erden Eruç became the first person in history to complete a solo human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth. | primary sources |
| Brandi Chastain |b|1968 | unreferenced "Career statistics" |
| Rachael Flatt |b|1992 | unreferenced "detailed results" |
| Hubert Lyautey |d|1934| | Date uncertain |
| * 1973 – Mossad agents killed a Moroccan waiter in Lillehammer, Norway, mistakenly believing he had been involved in the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre. | Citation issues |
Eligible
- 230 – Pope Pontian began his pontificate, succeeding Urban I.
- 365 – A large earthquake occurred near Crete, triggering a tsunami, and causing widespread destruction around the eastern Mediterranean region.
- 905 – Louis III, Holy Roman Emperor, was captured and blinded during his attempt to restore Carolingian power over Italy by King Berengar I.
- 1877 – Much of central Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was burned and looted during the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.
- 1918 – World War I: An Imperial German Navy U-boat opened fire on a small convoy of barges and defending aircraft near the American town of Orleans, Massachusetts.
- 1925 – American high school biology teacher John T. Scopes was found guilty of violating Tennessee's Butler Act by teaching evolution in class.
- 1952 – An earthquake registering 7.3 Mw struck the southern San Joaquin Valley in California, causing 12 deaths and an estimated $60 million in property damage.
- 1960 – Sirimavo Bandaranaike (pictured) was elected the prime minister of Ceylon, becoming the world's first democratically elected female head of government.
- 1972 – The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated twenty-two bombs throughout Belfast, Northern Ireland.
- 1990 – The Taiwanese military ordered the deportation of dozens of illegal immigrants from mainland China in sealed boat holds, causing 25 deaths due to suffocation.
- 2007 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the popular Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, was released and sold 15 million copies in its first 24 hours, making it the fastest-selling book in history.
- 2013 – Nour Ahmad Nikbakht, an Iranian diplomat in Yemen, was kidnapped by al-Qaeda militants and held hostage for the next two years.
- 2019 – People returning from anti-extradition bill protests were attacked (pictured) by suspected triad members in Yuen Long, Hong Kong, leaving 45 people injured.
- Born/died: | Geoffrey I, Count of Anjou|d|987| Henry Percy|d|1403| Charles Tristan, marquis de Montholon|b|1783|Simion Bărnuțiu|b|1808| Paul Reuter|b|1816| Sophie Aberle|b|1896| Hart Crane|b|1899| Russell Lee|b|1903| Fiammetta Wilson|d|1920| Philomena Franz|b|1922| Johnny Peirson|b|1925| Louis Vauxcelles|d|1943| John Atta Mills|b|1944| Claus von Stauffenberg|d|1944| Hirini Melbourne|b|1949| Jimmie Foxx|d|1967| Ruth St. Denis|d|1968| Anthony Annan|b|1986| Rilwanu Lukman |d|2014|
Notes
- Apollo 11 featured on July 20, so Armstrong/Aldrin should not be used in the same year
- Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings featured on July 20, is on the same topic as Bloody Friday (1972)
- Wild Bill Hickok appears on August 2, so Hickok–Tutt shootout should not be used in the same year
July 21: Belgian National Day (1831)
Depiction of the Ciompi Revolt
- 625 – Paulinus was consecrated as the first bishop of York by Justus, the archbishop of Canterbury.
- 1378 – Unrepresented labourers revolted and violently took over the government of the Republic of Florence (depicted), demanding that they be granted political office.
- 1946 – After weeks of unrest, rioters lynched Bolivian president Gualberto Villarroel, desecrating and hanging his corpse in the streets of La Paz.
- 1959 – The inaugural International Mathematical Olympiad, the leading mathematical competition for pre-university students, began in Romania.
- 1977 – Libyan forces carried out a raid at Sallum, sparking a four-day war with Egypt.
- John Atta Mills (b. 1944)
- Claus von Stauffenberg (d. 1944)
- Jimmie Foxx (d. 1967)
- Lettice Curtis (d. 2014)