Summary of the Day ✨ 21 July (21/07)
A Bangladesh military plane crashed into a school campus killing 35 people as U.S. President Joe Biden surprised the political world by withdrawing from the 2024 election and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, moviegoers embraced the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon by celebrating both Barbie and Oppenheimer as a surreal double feature while Hong Kong witnessed violent attacks on protesters by triad members with police failing to intervene, and adventurer Erden Eruç completed the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world.
Historical Events 📜
- 2025: A Bangladesh Air Force Chengdu FT-7BGI crashes shortly after takeoff into Milestone School campus in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 35 people and injuring 173.
- 2024: U.S. President Joe Biden announces he will no longer seek a second term and withdraws from the 2024 election, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as she launches her own presidential campaign.
- 2023: The Barbenheimer phenomenon begins as two major motion pictures, Greta Gerwig’s fantasy comedy Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s epic biographical thriller Oppenheimer, are released in theaters on the same day and audiences, instead of creating a rivalry between the extremely dissimilar films, instead attend and praise both as an informal, surreal double feature.
- 2019: Yuen Long attack or “721 incident” in Hong Kong. Triad members indiscriminately beat civilians returning from protests while police failed to take action.
- 2012: Erden Eruç completes the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world.
- 2011: NASA’s Space Shuttle program ends with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-135 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
- 2010: U.S. President Barack Obama signs the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
- 2008: Ram Baran Yadav is declared the first President of Nepal.
- 2005: Four attempted bomb attacks by Islamist extremists disrupt part of London’s public transport system.
- 2001: At the conclusion of a fireworks display on Okura Beach in Akashi, Hyōgo, 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.
- 1995: Third Taiwan Strait Crisis: The People’s Liberation Army begins firing missiles into the waters north of Taiwan.
- 1990: 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.
- 1983: The world’s lowest temperature in an inhabited location is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F).
- 1979: Jay Silverheels, a Mohawk actor, becomes the first Native American to have a star commemorated in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- 1977: The start of the four-day-long Libyan–Egyptian War.
Famous Births 👶
- 2006: Endrick, Brazilian footballer
- 2000: Erling Haaland, Norwegian footballer
- 2000: Lia, South Korean singer
- 1999: Evan McPherson, American football player
- 1998: Maggie Lindemann, American singer-songwriter.
- 1998: Marie Bouzkova, Czech tennis player
- 1996: Mikael Ingebrigtsen, Norwegian footballer
- 1992: Jude Adjei-Barimah, Italian-American football player
- 1992: Jessica Barden, English actress
- 1992: Julia Beljajeva, Estonian épée fencer
- 1992: Burak Çelik, Turkish actor and model
- 1992: Da$H, American rapper
- 1992: Giovanni De Gennaro, Italian slalom canoeist
- 1992: Charlotte de Witte, Belgian DJ and record producer
- 1992: Dawid Dryja, Polish volleyball player
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: Pau Alsina, Spanish motorcycle rider (born 2008)
- 2023: Tony Bennett, American singer (born 1926)
- 2020: Annie Ross, Scottish-American singer and actress (born 1930)
- 2020: Andrew Mlangeni, South African political activist (born 1925)
- 2018: Alene Duerk, U.S. Navy first female admiral (born 1920)
- 2017: John Heard, American film and television actor (born 1946)
- 2016: Dennis Green, American football player and coach (born 1949)
- 2015: Robert Broberg, Swedish singer-songwriter (born 1940)
- 2015: E. L. Doctorow, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (born 1931)
- 2015: Nicholas Gonzalez, American physician (born 1947)
- 2015: Czesław Marchaj, Polish-English sailor and academic (born 1918)
- 2015: Dick Nanninga, Dutch footballer (born 1949)
- 2014: Louise Abeita, Isleta Pueblo (Native American) writer, poet, and educator (born 1926)
- 2014: Dan Borislow, American businessman, invented the magicJack (born 1961)
- 2014: Lettice Curtis, English engineer and pilot (born 1915)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast day:
Albert John Luthuli (Episcopal Church) - Christian feast day:
Arbogast - Christian feast day:
Barhadbesciabas - Christian feast day:
Carlos of Brazil (Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church) - Christian feast day:
Daniel (Catholic Church) - Christian feast day:
Lawrence of Brindisi - Christian feast day:
Praxedes - Christian feast day:
Victor of Marseilles - Christian feast day:
July 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Liberation Day in 1944 (Guam)
- Belgian National Day (Belgium)
- Racial Harmony Day (Singapore)
- Summer Kazanskaya (Russia)