July 21

Thursday 21, 2005:

Four terrorist bombings, occurring exactly two weeks after the similar July 7 bombings, target London's public transportation system. All four bombs fail to detonate and all four suspected suicide bombers escape.

Wednesday 21, 2004:

The United Kingdom government publishes Delivering Security in a Changing World, a paper detailing wide-ranging reform of the country's armed forces.

Monday 21, 2003:

The last Volkswagen old-style Beetle rolls off the assembly line at Puebla, Mexico.

Sunday 21, 2002:

Telecom giant WorldCom files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the largest such filing in United States history.

Monday 21, 1997:

The fully restored USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides") celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.

Friday 21, 1995:

Third Taiwan Strait Crisis: The People's Liberation Army begins firing missiles into the waters north of Taiwan.

Thursday 21, 1994:

Tony Blair is declared the winner of the leadership election of the British Labour Party, paving the way to him becoming Prime Minister in 1997.

Saturday 21, 1984:

In Jackson, Michigan, a factory robot crushes a worker against a safety bar in apparently the first robot-related death in the United States.

Wednesday 21, 1976:

Christopher Ewart-Biggs British ambassador to the Republic of Ireland is assassinated by the Provisional IRA

Tuesday 21, 1970:

After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed.

Sunday 21, 1963:

Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini is elected Pope Paul VI by the College of Cardinals.

Friday 21, 1961:

Mercury program: Gus Grissom piloting the Mercury 4 capsule "Liberty Bell 7" becomes the second American to go into space (in a suborbital mission).

Wednesday 21, 1954:

First Indochina War: The Geneva Conference partitions Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

Friday 21, 1944:

American troops land on Guam starting the battle (ends on August 10).

Tuesday 21, 1931:

CBS's New York City station begins broadcasting the first regular seven days a week television schedule in the U. S.

Tuesday 21, 1925:

Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in class and fined $100.

Saturday 21, 1877:

After rioting by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers and the deaths of 9 rail workers at the hands of the Maryland militia, workers in Pittsburgh stage a sympathy strike that is met with an assault by the state militia.

Monday 21, 1873:

At Adair, Iowa, Jesse James and the James-Younger gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the American West.

Friday 21, 1865:

In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots Dave Tutt dead in what is regarded as the first true western showdown.

Sunday 21, 1861:

At Manassas Junction, Virginia, the first major battle of the war begins (Confederate victory).

Thursday 21, 1831:

Inauguration of Léopold I of Belgium, first king of the Belgians.

Thursday 21, 1774:

Russia and the Ottoman Empire sign the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji ending the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774.

Thursday 21, 1718:

Treaty of Passarowitz between the Ottoman Empire, Austria and the Republic of Venice is signed.

Saturday 21, 1579:

Our Lady of Kazan, a holy icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, was discovered underground in the city of Kazan, Tatarstan.

Sunday 21, 1568:

Battle of Jemmingen: Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva defeats Louis of Nassau

Thursday 21, 1403:

Battle of Shrewsbury: King Henry IV of England defeats rebels to the north of the county town of Shropshire, England

Monday 21, 1298:

Battle of Falkirk (1298): King Edward I of England defeats Scottish rebels led by William Wallace.

More on July, 21

• People Born on July, 21
• They left us on July, 21