This Day in History – 21st May

This Day in History is DUE’s daily dose of trivia for all the history buffs out there. So sit back and take a ride to all the fascinating things that happened today!

People are trapped in history and history is trapped in people, and hence, every day has been a significant one in the foibles of History. Let’s take a tour of “This Day in History – 13th of May”.

1260 The Conquest of Song China

Hao Jing, envoy of Mongol leader Kublai Khan imprisoned by order of the High Chancellor of China, Jia Sidao at the Song Dynasty court of Emperor Lizong while attempting to negotiate with the Song.

1864 Circassian Day of Mourning

Russia declares an end to the Russian-Circassian War and many Circassians are forced into exile. The day is designated to be the Circassian Day of Mourning.

1881 American Red Cross founded by Clara Barton

Clarissa Harlowe Barton, known as Clara, is one of the most honored women in American history. Barton risked her life to bring supplies and support to soldiers in the field during the Civil War. On this day in History, she lays the foundation of the American Red Cross, at age 59, and led it for the next 23 years.

1881 US National Lawn Tennis Association is established in NYC, New York

Founding of the U.S. National Lawn Tennis Association. A small group of men from northeastern clubs, where most lawn tennis was played, form an association to promote the standardization of the rules and regulations for lawn tennis throughout the United States.

1894 22-year-old French Anarchist Émile Henry is executed by guillotine. His last words were reputed to be “Courage, camarades! Vive l’anarchie!”

Émile Henry was a French anarchist, who on 12 February 1894 detonated a bomb at the Café Terminus in the Parisian Gare Saint-Lazare killing one person and wounding twenty. On this day in History, he is executed.

1904 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) forms in Paris

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded in the rear of the headquarters of the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (USFSA) at the Rue Saint Honoré 229 in Paris on 21 May 1904.

1932 Amelia Earhart Flies Across the Atlantic

After flying for 17 hours from Newfoundland, Amelia Earhart lands near Londonderry, Northern Ireland, becoming the 1st transatlantic solo flight by a woman.

1994 South Yemen secedes from Yemen

Southern leaders seceded and declared the Democratic Republic of Yemen (DRY) on 21 May 1994. Saleh responded by calling on Islamists to support his cause, with several factions coming to the aid of the North. No international government recognized the DRY. In mid-May, northern forces began a push toward Aden.

1998 Indonesian president Suharto resigns after 31 years in power

Widely classified as a dictator by foreign observers, Suharto was president for 31 years, from the coup d’etat against Sukarno in 1967 until his overthrow in 1998. Suharto rose to the rank of major general following Indonesian independence.

1999 Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi gets assassinated

On this day in History, the youngest Indian Prime Minister to hold office – Rajiv Gandhi gets assassinated at Sriperumbudur located in the Kanchipuram district of the Indian state of Tamil. While walking towards the dais, he gets killed in an explosion executed by a human bomb.

To know more, read this.

2018 Former US president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama sign deal with Netflix to produce films and series

Barack and Michelle Obama had entered a multi-year agreement with Netflix to produce series and features, on this day in History. The Obamas had said that they hope “to promote greater empathy and understanding between peoples and help them share their stories with the entire world.”

Read more here.

2019 Oldest and most distant gravitational waves detected from collision of two black holes with first intermediate-mass black hole ever discovered, 7 billion light years away

On May 21, 2019, researchers identified a unique set of gravitational waves, or ripples in the fabric of space-time, that they haven’t seen before. For one, the waves came from halfway across the universe, or about 7 billion light-years away, making it the most distant gravitational-wave signal ever detected.

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