March 21

Monday 21, 2005:

In Red Lake, Minnesota, 10 are killed in a school shooting, the worst since the Columbine High School massacre.

Sunday 21, 2004:

In Malaysia, the 11th Federal and State elections are held, returning the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional to power with an increased majority.

Thursday 21, 2002:

In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh along with three other suspects are charged with murder for their part in the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Sunday 21, 1999:

Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.

Wednesday 21, 1990:

Namibia becomes independent after 75 years of South African rule.

Tuesday 21, 1989:

Sports Illustrated reports allegations that tie baseball player Pete Rose to baseball gambling.

Thursday 21, 1985:

Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research.

Friday 21, 1980:

On the season finale of the soap opera Dallas, the infamous character J.R. Ewing is shot by an unseen assailant, leading to the catchphrase "Who Shot JR?"

Saturday 21, 1970:

In Amsterdam, Netherlands, Dana wins the fifteenth Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland singing "All Kinds of Everything".

Sunday 21, 1965:

Martin Luther King Jr leads 3,200 people on the start of the third and finally successful civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama.

Saturday 21, 1964:

In Copenhagen, Denmark, Gigliola Cinquetti wins the ninth Eurovision Song Contest for Italy singing "Non ho l'età" (I'm not old enough).

Thursday 21, 1963:

Alcatraz, a federal penitentiary on an island in San Francisco Bay, closes.

Monday 21, 1960:

Apartheid: Massacre in Sharpeville, South Africa: Police open fire on a group of unarmed black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180

Friday 21, 1952:

Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio

Wednesday 21, 1945:

World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma

Thursday 21, 1940:

Paul Reynaud becomes Prime Minister of France

Thursday 21, 1935:

Shah Reza Pahlavi formally asked the international community to call Persia by its native name, Iran, which means 'Land of the Aryans'.

Wednesday 21, 1928:

Charles Lindbergh is presented the Congressional Medal of Honor for his first trans-Atlantic flight.

Thursday 21, 1918:

World War I: Second Battle of the Somme begins

Friday 21, 1919:

The Chinese High School is established in Singapore by Tan Kah Kee.

Tuesday 21, 1871:

Journalist Henry Morton Stanley began his trek to find the missionary and explorer David Livingstone.

Saturday 21, 1857:

Earthquake in Tokyo, Japan kills over 100,000.

Wednesday 21, 1804:

Code Napoléon was adopted as French civil law.

Saturday 21, 1801:

The Battle of Alexandria was fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis in Egypt.

Friday 21, 1800:

With the church leadership driven out of the Rome during an armed conflict, Pius VII was crowned Pope in Venice with a temporary papal tiara made of papier-mâché.

Friday 21, 1788:

A fire destroys 856 buildings in New Orleans and leaves most of the town in ruins.

Wednesday 21, 1556:

In Oxford, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burned at the stake.

More on March, 21

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