History Events on September 21

Malta gains independence from the United Kingdom, but remains in the Commonwealth.

#Malta

The Great Hurricane of 1938 makes landfall on Long Island in New York. The death toll is estimated at 500-700 people.

#1938_New_England_hurricane

Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan: British forces under the command of Horatio Kitchener take Dongola.

#Anglo-Egyptian_conquest_of_Sudan

A 5.6 Mw earthquake shakes the Albanian port of Durrës. 49 people are injured in the capital, Tirana.

#Albania

Romanian Prime Minister Armand C?linescu is assassinated by the Iron Guard.

#Armand_C?linescu

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos begins authoritarian rule by declaring martial law.

#Ferdinand_Marcos

Salvador Lutteroth establishes Mexican professional wrestling.

#Salvador_Lutteroth

Bahrain, Bhutan and Qatar join the United Nations.

#Bahrain

Ross Parker is murdered in Peterborough, England, by a gang of ten British Pakistani youths.

#Murder_of_Ross_Parker

Sandra Day O'Connor is unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate as the first female Supreme Court justice.

#Sandra_Day_O'Connor

The Kingdom of Dublin falls to Norman invaders.

#Kingdom_of_Dublin

American Revolutionary War: Benedict Arnold gives the British the plans to West Point.

#American_Revolutionary_War

Emperor Avitus enters Rome with a Gallic army and consolidates his power.

#Avitus

Second Opium War: An Anglo-French force defeats Chinese troops at the Battle of Palikao.

#Second_Opium_War

French Revolution: The National Convention abolishes the monarchy.

#French_Revolution

Russian President Boris Yeltsin triggers a constitutional crisis when he suspends parliament and scraps the constitution.

#Boris_Yeltsin

Belize is granted full independence from the United Kingdom.

#Belize

Seychelles joins the United Nations.

#Seychelles

The Galileo spacecraft is terminated by sending it into Jupiter's atmosphere.

#Galileo_(spacecraft)

The Congress of Arras causes Burgundy to switch sides in the Hundred Years' War.

#Congress_of_Arras

A large typhoon hits western Honsh?, Japan, killing more than three thousand people.

#1934_Muroto_typhoon

A Hanoverian army is defeated, in ten minutes, by the Jacobite forces of Prince Charles Edward Stuart

#Battle_of_Prestonpans

Armenia gains independence from the Soviet Union.

#Armenia

The Holocaust in Poland: At the end of Yom Kippur, Germans order Jews to permanently move from Konstantynów to Bia?a Podlaska.

#The_Holocaust_in_Poland

John Williams Wilson takes possession of the Strait of Magellan on behalf of the Chilean government.

#John_Williams_Wilson

Al-Shabaab Islamic militants attack the Westgate shopping mall in Kenya, killing at least 67 people.

#Westgate_shopping_mall_attack

Lieutenant No Kum-sok, a North Korean pilot, defects to South Korea with his jet fighter.

#No_Kum-sok

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress makes its maiden flight.

#Boeing_B-29_Superfortress

A storage silo in Oppau, Germany, explodes, killing 500-600 people.

#Oppau_explosion

Brunei joins the United Nations.

#Brunei

Part of New York City is burned shortly after being occupied by British forces.

#Great_Fire_of_New_York_(1776)

Orlando Letelier is assassinated in Washington, D.C. He had been a member of the former Chilean Marxist government.

#Orlando_Letelier

The Holocaust in Ukraine: In Dunaivtsi, Ukraine, Nazis murder 2,588 Jews.

#Dunaivtsi

Livonian Crusade: The Estonian leader Lembitu and Livonian leader Kaupo the Accursed are killed in the Battle of St. Matthew's Day.

#Livonian_Crusade

The Gambia, Maldives and Singapore are admitted as members of the United Nations.

#The_Gambia

The North American XB-70 Valkyrie, the world's fastest bomber, makes its maiden flight from Palmdale, California.

#North_American_XB-70_Valkyrie

Empress Dowager Cixi seizes power and ends the Hundred Days' Reform in China.

#Empress_Dowager_Cixi

The Defense of Marriage Act is passed by the United States Congress.

#Defense_of_Marriage_Act

The Holocaust in Ukraine: On the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, Nazis send over 1,000 Jews of Pidhaitsi to Be??ec extermination camp.

#The_Holocaust_in_Ukraine

Three Egyptian militants open fire on a group of Israeli soldiers in a southern Israel cross-border attack.

America: A Tribute to Heroes is broadcast by over 35 network and cable channels, raising over $200 million for the victims of the September 11 attacks.

The Chi-Chi earthquake occurs in central Taiwan, leaving about 2,400 people dead.

The People's Republic of China is proclaimed.

J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is published.