Historical Events on Monday, 21st July

21/07/2025

A Bangladesh Air Force Chengdu FT-7BGI crashes shortly after takeoff into Milestone School campus in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 35 people and injuring 173.

The Bangladesh Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, responsible for defending the airspace of Bangladesh and supporting national security operations. Operating under the Ministry of Defence, the BAF conducts air defense, reconnaissance, transport, and disaster relief missions. Established after the 1971 Liberation War, the Bangladesh Air Force has actively participated in United Nations peacekeeping operations and regional security initiatives.

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21/07/2024

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.

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Delaware in the United States Senate from 1973 to 2009 and also served as the 47th vice president under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017.

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21/07/2023

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.

Barbenheimer was a cultural phenomenon that preceded and surrounded the simultaneous theatrical release of two major studio films—Barbie by Warner Bros. Pictures and Oppenheimer by Universal Pictures—on July 21, 2023. The dichotomy between Barbie, a fantasy comedy directed by Greta Gerwig based on the fashion doll Barbie, and Oppenheimer, a biographical thriller directed by Christopher Nolan based on the life of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, sparked widespread online engagement. This included the creation of memes, merchandise, and themed content across social media.

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21/07/2019

Yuen Long attack or "721 incident" in Hong Kong. Triad members indiscriminately beat civilians returning from protests while police failed to take action.

The 2019 Yuen Long attack, also known as the 721 incident, refers to a mob attack that occurred in Yuen Long, a town in the New Territories of Hong Kong, on the evening of 21 July 2019. It took place in the context of the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. A mob dressed in white stormed the MTR's Yuen Long station and attacked protesters returning from a demonstration in Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island as well as bystanders.

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21/07/2012

Erden Eruç completes the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world.

Erden Eruç is a Turkish-American adventurer who became the first person in history to complete an entirely solo and entirely human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth on 21 July 2012 in Bodega Bay, California, United States. The journey had started from Bodega Bay a little more than five years earlier on 10 July 2007. The modes of transport included a rowboat to cross the oceans, a sea kayak for shorelines, a bicycle on the roads and hiking on trails, along with canoes for a few river crossings. The route he followed was 66,299 km (41,196 mi) long, crossed the equator twice and all lines of longitude, and passed over twelve pairs of antipodal points, meeting all the requirements for a true circumnavigation of the globe. Guinness World Records has officially recognized Eruç for the "First solo circumnavigation of the globe using human power" on a journey that lasted 5 years 11 days 12 hours and 22 minutes.

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21/07/2011

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

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the United States' civil space program and for research in aeronautics and space. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NASA operates ten field centers across the U.S. and is organized into mission directorates for Science, Space Operations, Exploration Systems Development, Space Technology, Aeronautics Research, and Mission Support. Established in 1958, NASA succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the U.S. space program a distinct civilian orientation focused on peaceful applications. Since then, it has led most American spaceflight programs, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the Apollo program, Skylab, the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station (ISS) and the ongoing multi-national Artemis program.

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21/07/2010

U.S. President Barack Obama signs the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.

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21/07/2008

Ram Baran Yadav is declared the first President of Nepal.

Dr. Ram Baran Yadav is a Nepali politician and physician who served as the first president of Nepal from 23 July 2008 to 29 October 2015, following the declaration of republic in 2008. Previously, he served as Minister of Health from 1999 to 2001 and general secretary of the Nepali Congress.

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21/07/2005

Four attempted bomb attacks by Islamist extremists disrupt part of London's public transport system.

On 21 July 2005, four attempted bomb attacks by four Islamist extremists disrupted part of London's public transport system as a follow-up attack to the 7 July 2005 London bombings two weeks earlier. The explosions occurred around midday at Shepherd's Bush, Warren Street and Oval stations on the London Underground, and on London Buses route 26 in Haggerston. A fifth bomber dumped his device without attempting to set it off.

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21/07/2001

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.

Akashi is a city in southern Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 February 2024, the city had an estimated population of 305,925 in 137,288 households and a population density of 6,200 people per km2. The total area of the city is 49.42 square kilometres (19.08 sq mi).

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21/07/1995

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

The Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, also called the 1995–1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, or the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, was the effect of a series of missile tests conducted by the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the waters surrounding Taiwan, including the Taiwan Strait, from 21 July 1995 to 23 March 1996. The first set of missiles fired in mid-to-late 1995 was allegedly intended to send a strong signal to the Republic of China government (ROC) under President Lee Teng-hui, who had been seen as "moving its foreign policy away from the One-China policy", as claimed by the PRC. The second set of missiles was fired in early 1996, allegedly intending to intimidate the Taiwanese electorate in the run-up to the 1996 presidential election.

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21/07/1990

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.

The Republic of China Military Police, referred to informally as the Taiwanese Military Police is a military police force operating under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defense of Republic of China (Taiwan). Unlike military police organisations in many other countries, the ROCMP functions as a distinct branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces.

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21/07/1983

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

The lowest natural temperature ever directly recorded at ground level on Earth is −89.2 °C at the then-Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica on 21 July 1983 by ground measurements.

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21/07/1979

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

Jay Silverheels was a First Nations and Mohawk actor and athlete, descended from three Iroquois nations. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the Native American companion of the Lone Ranger in the American Western television series The Lone Ranger.

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21/07/1977

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

The Egyptian–Libyan War, also known as the Four Day War, was a short border war fought between Libya and Egypt that lasted from 21 to 24 July 1977. The conflict stemmed from a deterioration in relations that had occurred between the two states after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat had rebuffed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's entreaties to unify their countries and had started to pursue peace negotiations with Israel in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Soon thereafter, Libya began sponsoring dissidents and assassination plots to undermine Sadat, in which Egypt responded in kind to weaken Gaddafi. In early 1976, Gaddafi dispatched troops to the Egyptian frontier where they began clashing with border guards. Sadat responded by moving many troops to the area, while the Egyptian General Staff drew up plans for an invasion to depose Gaddafi.

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21/07/1976

Christopher Ewart-Biggs, the British ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, is assassinated by the Provisional IRA.

Christopher Thomas Ewart Ewart-Biggs, was the British ambassador to Ireland, an author and senior Foreign Office liaison officer with MI6. He served as a British ambassador to Ireland on July 9, 1976 until his assassination 12 days later by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Sandyford, Dublin.

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21/07/1973

In Lillehammer, Norway, Mossad agents kill a waiter whom they mistakenly thought was involved in the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre.

The Lillehammer affair was the murder of Ahmed Bouchikhi, a Moroccan waiter and the brother of the French musician Chico Bouchikhi, by Mossad agents in Lillehammer, Norway, on 21 July 1973. The Israeli agents had mistaken their target for Ali Hassan Salameh, the chief of operations for Black September. Six of the fifteen members of the Mossad team were captured and convicted of complicity in the killing by the Norwegian justice system, in a major blow to the intelligence agency's reputation.

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21/07/1972

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 were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe.

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21/07/1970

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

The Aswan High Dam, often called simply Aswan Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built between 1960 and 1970 across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt. The project was developed by the military regime that took power following the 1952 Egyptian revolution, to better control flooding, provide increased water storage for irrigation and generate hydroelectricity. The dam was seen as pivotal to the country's industrialization plans. Like the earlier implementation, the High Dam has had a significant effect on the economy and culture of Egypt.

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21/07/1969

Apollo program: At 02:56 UTC, astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon, followed 19 minutes later by Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin.

The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo was conceived in 1960 in the Dwight D. Eisenhower presidency during Project Mercury and executed after Project Gemini. Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal, "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" in his address to the U.S. Congress on May 25, 1961.

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21/07/1964

A series of racial riots break out in Singapore. In the next six weeks, 23 die with 454 others injured.

The 1964 race riots in Singapore were a series of communal disturbances and racial conflicts between the Malay and Chinese communities in Singapore. They occurred just months after Singapore's merger with Malaysia on 16 September 1963 and were regarded as the most serious and prolonged racial violence in the nation's post-war history. Although 1964 was marked by general racial tension, the term specifically refers to two major outbreaks on 21 July and 2 September, particularly the former, which was more severe and resulted in 23 deaths and 454 injuries.

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21/07/1961

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 was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Union. Taken over from the US Air Force by the newly created civilian space agency NASA, it conducted 20 uncrewed developmental flights, and six successful flights by astronauts. The program, which took its name from Roman mythology, cost $2.83 billion. The astronauts were collectively known as the "Mercury Seven", and each spacecraft was given a name ending with a "7" by its pilot.

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Alaska Airlines Flight 779 crashes near Shemya Air Force Base in Shemya, Alaska killing six.

Alaska Airlines Flight 779 was a contract cargo flight operated on 21 July 1961 by an Alaska Airlines Douglas DC-6A that crashed short of the runway at Shemya Air Force Base with the loss of all six crew members on board.

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21/07/1960

Sirimavo Bandaranaike is sworn in as prime minister of Ceylon, becoming the world's first democratically elected female head of government.

Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was a Sri Lankan politician who served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1960 to 1965, from 1970 to 1977, and from 1994 to 2000. A chairperson of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), she was the first woman in the world to be elected prime minister in 1960.

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21/07/1959

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 was the first nuclear-powered merchant ship, launched on July 21, 1959, two years after the Soviet ice-breaker Lenin, the first nuclear-powered civilian vessel. A demonstration project for the potential peacetime uses of nuclear energy, she was built in the late 1950s at a cost of $46.9 million. Savannah was given the new designation "NS" for "Nuclear Ship", replacing the traditional commercial vessel prefix "SS" for "Screw Steamer", and was named after SS Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic ocean. She was funded by United States government agencies as part of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1955 "Atoms for Peace" program, and was in service between 1962 and 1972 as one of only four nuclear-powered cargo ships ever built.

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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.

Elijah Jerry "Pumpsie" Green was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) infielder who played with the Boston Red Sox (1959–62) and New York Mets (1963). A switch-hitter who threw right-handed, he was listed as 6 ft (1.83 m) tall and 175 lb (79 kg).

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21/07/1954

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

The First Indochina War, known alternatively internationally as the French Indochina War, was fought in French Indochina between France and the Viet Minh and their respective allies, from 19 December 1946 until 11 August 1954. Most of the engagements of this conflict occurred in Vietnam.

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21/07/1952

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

The 1952 Kern County earthquake occurred on July 21 in the southern San Joaquin Valley and measured 7.3 on the moment magnitude scale. The main shock occurred at 4:52 am Pacific Daylight Time, killed 12 people, injured hundreds more and caused an estimated $60 million in property damage. A small sector of damage near Bealville corresponded to a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), though this intensity rating was not representative of the majority of damage. The earthquake occurred on the White Wolf Fault near the community of Wheeler Ridge and was the strongest to occur in California since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

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21/07/1951

Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 3505 disappears while flying from Vancouver to Tokyo. The aircraft and its 37 occupants are never found.

Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 3505 was a scheduled flight operated by Canadian Pacific Air Lines for the United Nations from Vancouver, Canada, to Tokyo, Japan. On 21 July 1951, the Douglas C-54 Skymaster, registered CF-CPC, disappeared with 31 passengers and six crew onboard. The incident marked the first aircraft loss during the Korean Airlift.

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21/07/1949

The United States Senate ratifies the North Atlantic Treaty.

The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, and the U.S. House of Representatives is the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the Constitution to make and pass or defeat federal legislation.

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21/07/1944

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

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

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World War II: Claus von Stauffenberg and four fellow conspirators are executed for the July 20 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was a German army officer who is best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair, part of Operation Valkyrie, a plan that would have seen the arrest of the Nazi leadership in the wake of Hitler's death and an earlier end to World War II.

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21/07/1936

Spanish Civil War: The Central Committee of Antifascist Militias of Catalonia is constituted, establishing an anarcho-syndicalist economy in Catalonia.

The Spanish Civil War was fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalist rebels. Republicans were loyal to the left-leaning Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic and included socialists, anarchists, communists, and separatists, supported by the Soviet Union. The opposing Nationalists were an alliance of fascist Falangists, monarchists, conservatives, and traditionalists, supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy and initially led by a military junta, until General Francisco Franco was appointed supreme leader on 1 October 1936 for what he called the Spanish State. Due to the international political climate at the time, the war was variously viewed as class struggle, religious struggle, or struggle between republican democracy and dictatorship, revolution and counterrevolution, or fascism and communism. The Nationalists won the war in early 1939, and ruled Spain until Franco's death in November 1975.

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21/07/1925

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

The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, commonly known as the Scopes trial or Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case from July 10 to July 21, 1925, in which a high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating the Butler Act, a Tennessee state law which outlawed the teaching of human evolution in public schools. The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he incriminated himself deliberately so the case could have a defendant. Scopes was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, which had offered to defend anyone accused of violating the Butler Act in an effort to challenge the constitutionality of the law.

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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).

Major Sir Malcolm Campbell was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called Blue Bird, including a 1921 Grand Prix Sunbeam. His son, Donald Campbell, carried on the family tradition by holding both land speed and water speed records.

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21/07/1920

The "Belfast Pogrom" begins two years of violence with the expulsion of thousands of Catholic shipyard, factory and linen mill workers from their jobs.

The Troubles in Ulster of the 1920s was a period of conflict in the Irish province of Ulster, from June 1920 until June 1922, during and after the Irish War of Independence and the partition of Ireland. In Ulster, it was mainly a communal conflict between unionists, who wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom, and nationalists, who backed Irish independence: the unionists were mainly Ulster Protestants and the nationalists were mainly Irish Catholics. During this period, more than 500 people were killed in Belfast alone, 500 interned and 23,000 people were made homeless in the city, while approximately 50,000 people fled the province due to intimidation. Most of the victims were Nationalists (73%) with civilians being far more likely to be killed compared to the military, police or paramilitaries. In Belfast where Catholics made up only a third of the population, the disproportionate number of Catholic casualties combined with sustained attacks upon Catholic civilians involving police or special constabulary forces, led to the troubles being known as the 'Belfast Pogrom(s)'.

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21/07/1919

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

An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air to achieve the lift needed to stay airborne.

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21/07/1907

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

SS Columbia (1880–1907) was a cargo and passenger steamship that was owned by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company and later the San Francisco and Portland Steamship Company. Columbia was constructed in 1880 by the John Roach & Sons shipyard in Chester, Pennsylvania for the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company.

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21/07/1904

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 (1876–1958), a Frenchman, was the first man to drive a car at over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).

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21/07/1877

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.

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 until 1987, when it was merged into the Chessie System. Its lines are today controlled by CSX Transportation (CSX).

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21/07/1873

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

Adair is a city in Adair and Guthrie counties of Iowa in the United States. The population was 791 at the 2020 census.

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21/07/1865

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 is the third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 487,061 in 2022 and includes the counties of Christian, Dallas, Greene, Polk, and Webster. Springfield is the largest city in the Ozarks region, and sits on the Springfield Plateau, which ranges from nearly level to rolling hills.

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21/07/1861

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.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war lasted a little over four years, ending with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

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21/07/1831

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

Leopold I was the first king of the Belgians, reigning from 21 July 1831 until his death in 1865.

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21/07/1798

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

The French invasion of Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was a military expedition to Ottoman-held Egypt and Syria led by Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolutionary Wars. The campaign aimed to undermine British trade routes, expand French influence, and establish a scientific and administrative presence in Egypt. Napoleon also sought to sever Britain's connection to its colonial holdings in India, with the long-term ambition of challenging British dominance in the region. There is also a theory that it was to keep Napoleon's growing influence in check.

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21/07/1774

Russo-Turkish War (1768–74): Russia and the Ottoman Empire sign the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca ending the war.

The Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 was a major armed conflict that saw Russian arms victorious against the Ottoman Empire. Russia's victory brought the Yedisan between the rivers Bug and Dnieper, and Crimea into the Russian sphere of influence. Though a series of victories accrued by the Russian Empire led to substantial territorial conquests, including direct conquest over much of the Pontic–Caspian steppe, less Ottoman territory was directly annexed than might otherwise be expected due to a complex struggle within the European diplomatic system to maintain a balance of power that was acceptable to other European states and avoided direct Russian hegemony over Eastern Europe.

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21/07/1718

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

The Treaty of Passarowitz, or Treaty of Požarevac, was the peace treaty signed in Požarevac, a town that was in the Ottoman Empire but is now in Serbia, on 21 July 1718 between the Ottoman Empire and its adversaries, the Habsburg monarchy and the Republic of Venice.

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21/07/1674

A Dutch assault on the French island of Martinique is repulsed against all odds.

The invasion of Martinique in 1674 was an unsuccessful attempt by the Dutch Republic to conquer the Caribbean island of Martinique from France. In spite of overwhelming Dutch superiority in men and ships, the French won a decisive and unexpected victory.

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21/07/1656

The Raid on Málaga takes place during the Anglo-Spanish War.

The Raid on Malaga was a military action by the English against the Spanish city of Málaga on 21 July 1656 as part of the Anglo–Spanish War (1654–1660).

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21/07/1645

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.

The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing, also known as the Qing Empire or Qing China, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia which existed from 1636/1644 to 1912. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. At its height of power, the empire stretched from the Sea of Japan in the east to the Pamir Mountains in the west, and from the Mongolian Plateau in the north to the South China Sea in the south. Originally emerging from the Later Jin dynasty founded in 1616 and proclaimed in Shenyang in 1636, the dynasty seized control of the Ming capital Beijing and North China in 1644, traditionally considered the start of the dynasty's rule. The dynasty lasted until the Xinhai Revolution of October 1911 led to the abdication of the last emperor in February 1912. The multi-ethnic Qing dynasty assembled the territorial base for modern China. The Qing controlled the most territory of any dynasty in Chinese history, and in 1790 was the fourth-largest empire in world history to that point. It was also the most populous state at the time, with over 426 million citizens in 1907.

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21/07/1568

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

The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Reformation, centralisation, excessive taxation, and the rights and privileges of the Dutch nobility and cities.

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21/07/1545

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

The Isle of Wight is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and skerries, is also a ceremonial county. The county is bordered by Hampshire across the Solent strait to the north, and is otherwise surrounded by the English Channel. Its largest settlement is Ryde, and the administrative centre is Newport.

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21/07/1403

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

The Battle of Shrewsbury was fought on 21 July 1403, waged between an army led by the Lancastrian King Henry IV and a rebel army led by Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy from Northumberland. The battle, the first in which English archers fought each other on English soil, reaffirmed the effectiveness of the longbow and ended the Percy challenge to King Henry IV of England.

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21/07/1242

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.

The Battle of Taillebourg, a major medieval battle fought in July 1242, was the decisive engagement of the Saintonge War. It pitted a French Capetian army under the command of King Louis IX, also known as Saint Louis, and his younger brother Alphonse of Poitiers, against forces led by King Henry III of England, his brother Richard of Cornwall and their stepfather Hugh X of Lusignan.

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21/07/0905

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 was King of Italy from 887 and Holy Roman Emperor from 915 until his death in 924. He is usually known as Berengar of Friuli, since he ruled the March of Friuli from 874 until at least 890, but he had lost control of the region by 896.

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21/07/0365

The 365 Crete earthquake affected 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 are killed.

Year 365 (CCCLXV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in the West as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Valens. The denomination 365 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

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21/07/0285

Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar and co-ruler.

Diocletian, nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia. As with other Illyrian soldiers of the period, Diocles rose through the ranks of the military early in his career, serving under Aurelian and Probus, and eventually becoming a cavalry commander for the army of Emperor Carus. After the deaths of Carus and his son Numerian on a campaign in Persia, Diocles was proclaimed emperor by the troops, taking the name "Diocletianus". The title was also claimed by Carus's surviving son, Carinus, but Diocletian defeated him in the Battle of the Margus.

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21/07/0230

Pope Pontian succeeds Urban I as the eighteenth pope. After being exiled to Sardinia, he became the first pope to resign his office.

Pope Pontian was the bishop of Rome from 21 July 230 to 28 September 235. In 235, during the persecution of Christians in the reign of the Emperor Maximinus Thrax, Pontian was arrested and sent to the island of Sardinia.

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01/01/1970

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

The Temple of Artemis or Artemision, also known as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to a localised form of the goddess Artemis. It was located in Ephesus, near modern day Selçuk in Turkey. The original temple was among the Seven Wonders of the World and was burnt down in 356 BCE by Herostratos on the eve of the birth of Alexander the Great. While it had been destroyed and rebuilt many times in ancient history, the last incarnation of the temple was destroyed in 401 CE. Only foundations and fragments of the last temple remain in the present day.

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