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History Events on July 21


Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Sirimavo Bandaranaike is elected Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, becoming the world's first female head of government

#Sirimavo_Bandaranaike

United States Senate
The United States Senate ratifies the North Atlantic Treaty.

#United_States_Senate

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

#Scopes_Trial

NASA
NASA's Space Shuttle program ends with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-135 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

#NASA

365 Crete earthquake
The 365 Crete earthquake affects the Greek island of Crete with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), causing a destructive tsunami that affects the coasts of Libya and Egypt, especially Alexandria. Many thousands were killed.

#365_Crete_earthquake

Diocletian
Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar and co-ruler.

#Diocletian

Isle of Wight
The first landing of French troops on the coast of the Isle of Wight during the French invasion of the Isle of Wight.

#Isle_of_Wight

Ram Baran Yadav
Ram Baran Yadav is declared the first president of Nepal.

#Ram_Baran_Yadav

American Civil War
American Civil War: First Battle of Bull Run: At Manassas Junction, Virginia, the first major battle of the war begins and ends in a victory for the Confederate army.

#American_Civil_War

Malcolm Campbell
Malcolm Campbell becomes the first man to exceed 150 mph (241 km/h) on land. At Pendine Sands in Wales, he drives Sunbeam 350HP built by Sunbeam at a two-way average speed of 150.33 mph (242 km/h).

#Malcolm_Campbell

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

#Third_Taiwan_Strait_Crisis

1952 Kern County earthquake
The 7.3 Mw? Kern County earthquake strikes Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing 12 and injuring hundreds.

#1952_Kern_County_earthquake

Claus von Stauffenberg
World War II: Claus von Stauffenberg and fellow conspirators are tortured and executed in Berlin, Germany, for the July 20 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

#Claus_von_Stauffenberg

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

#First_Indochina_War

Pumpsie Green
Elijah Jerry "Pumpsie" Green becomes the first African-American to play for the Boston Red Sox, the last team to integrate. He came in as a pinch runner for Vic Wertz and stayed in as shortstop in a 2-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

#Pumpsie_Green

Eighty Years' War
Eighty Years' War: Battle of Jemmingen: Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva defeats Louis of Nassau.

#Eighty_Years'_War

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

#Battle_of_Shrewsbury

Airship
The dirigible Wingfoot Air Express crashes into the Illinois Trust and Savings Building in Chicago, killing 12 people.

#Airship

Qing dynasty
Qing dynasty regent Dorgon issues 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.

#Qing_dynasty

Lowest temperature recorded on Earth
The world's lowest temperature in an inhabited location is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at ?89.2 °C (?128.6 °F).

#Lowest_temperature_recorded_on_Earth

French campaign in Egypt and Syria
French campaign in Egypt and Syria: Napoleon's forces defeat an Ottoman-Mamluk army near Cairo in the Battle of the Pyramids.

#French_campaign_in_Egypt_and_Syria

Springfield, Missouri
In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first western showdown.

#Springfield,_Missouri

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

#Baltimore_and_Ohio_Railroad

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

#Leopold_I_of_Belgium

Battle of Taillebourg
Battle of Taillebourg: Louis IX of France puts an end to the revolt of his vassals Henry III of England and Hugh X of Lusignan.

#Battle_of_Taillebourg

The Troubles
The Troubles: Bloody Friday: The Provisional IRA detonate 22 bombs in central Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom in the space of 80 minutes, killing nine and injuring 130.

#The_Troubles

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

#Treaty_of_Passarowitz

Neil Armstrong
At 02:56 UTC, astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon.

#Neil_Armstrong

SS Columbia (1880)
The passenger steamer SS Columbia sinks after colliding with the steam schooner San Pedro off Shelter Cove, California, killing 88 people.

#SS_Columbia_(1880)

Berengar I of Italy
King Berengar I of Italy and a hired Hungarian army defeats the Frankish forces at Verona. King Louis III is captured and blinded for breaking his oath (see 902).

#Berengar_I_of_Italy

Akashi, Hy?go
At the conclusion of a fireworks display on Okura Beach in Akashi, Hy?go, Japan, 11 people are killed and more than 120 are injured when a pedestrian footbridge connecting the beach to JR Asagiri Station becomes overcrowded and people leaving the event fall down in a domino effect.

#Akashi,_Hy?go

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

#Aswan_Dam

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

#Project_Mercury

Jay Silverheels
Jay Silverheels, a Mohawk actor, becomes the first Native American to have a star commemorated in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

#Jay_Silverheels

Republic of China Military Police
Taiwan's military police forces mainland Chinese illegal immigrants into sealed holds of a fishing boat Min Ping Yu No. 5540 for repatriation to Fujian, causing 25 people to die from suffocation.

#Republic_of_China_Military_Police

Libyan-Egyptian War
The start of the four-day-long Libyan-Egyptian War.

#Libyan-Egyptian_War

World War II
World War II: Battle of Guam: American troops land on Guam, starting a battle that will end on August 10.

#World_War_II

NS Savannah
NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, is launched as a showcase for Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" initiative.

#NS_Savannah

Temple of Artemis
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is destroyed by arson.

#Temple_of_Artemis

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

#Adair,_Iowa

Louis Rigolly
Louis Rigolly, a Frenchman, becomes the first man to break the 100 mph (161 km/h) barrier on land. He drove a 15-liter Gobron-Brillié in Ostend, Belgium.

#Louis_Rigolly

Erden Eruç completes the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world.
July 2005 London bombings occur.
Christopher Ewart-Biggs, the British ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, is assassinated by the Provisional IRA.
In Lillehammer, Norway, Mossad agents kill a waiter whom they mistakenly thought was involved in the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre.
Russo-Turkish War (1768-74): Russia and the Ottoman Empire sign the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca ending the war.
The Raid on Málaga takes place during the Anglo-Spanish War.
Pope Pontian succeeds Urban I as the eighteenth pope.