May 21

Events

• 1832 - The first national convention of the Democratic Party held in Baltimore.
• 1881 - The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton.
• 1917 - Great Atlanta fire of 1917.
• 1924 - Jewish students Leopold and Loeb commit their infamous murder
• 1927 - Charles Lindbergh touches down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1932 - Amelia Earhart, because of bad weather, lands in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1941 - World War II: 950 miles off the coast of Brazil, the freighter SS Robin Moor becomes the first United States ship sunk by a German U-boat.
• 1961 - Alabama Governor John Malcolm Patterson declares martial law in an attempt to restore order after race riots break out.
• 1979 - White Night riots in San Francisco following the manslaughter conviction of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk.

Births

• 1471 - Albrecht Dürer, German painter (d. 1528)
• 1527 - King Philip II of Spain (d. 1598)
• 1921 - Andrei Sakharov, Russian physicist (d. 1989)
• 1951 - Al Franken, comedian and politician

Deaths

• 1542 - Hernando de Soto, Spanish explorer
• 1920 - Venustiano Carranza, 54th President of Mexico (b. 1859)
• 1981 - Raymond Mccreesh, Irish hunger striker (b. 1957)
• 1988 - Dino Grandi, Italian Fascist politician (b. 1895)
• 1991 - Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (b. 1944)
• 2008 - Brian Keenan, IRA member (b. 1942)