What Happened On
Gorillas in the Crossfire
May 21, 1992
Mrithi, the Rwandan mountain gorilla who starred in the movie Gorillas in the Mist (1988) is shot and killed by a government patrol during the war between the Rwandan government and the Rwandan Patriotic Front. It appeared Mrithi was sleeping when awakened by the patrol and sounded the alarm for the other gorillas in the group. The blood-curdling screams frightened the soldiers who panicked and began firing. Mrithi was the only gorilla in the group killed.
First Woman to Graduate from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy
May 21, 1980
Ensign Jean Marie Butler and 13 other women graduate from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
LST-353 the previous year
LST-353 the previous year
Top Secret Pearl Harbor Disaster
May 21, 1944
While everyone is familiar with the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese in 1941, few have heard about the Pearl Harbor disaster in 1944. That's because it was classified top secret until 1960.
On May 21, 1944 an explosion aboard the USS LST-353 while it was moored at Pearl Harbor naval base set off a chain reaction of explosions causing the ship to sink and spread fire to the surrounding ships. In all, six LSTs sank and 163 men were killed. It is believed that the incident was caused by a mortar round explosion during an unloading operation.
First Solo Transatlantic Flight
May 21, 1927
Charles Lindbergh, in The Spirit of St. Louis, arrives in Paris. He had departed from New York the previous day.
The damaged statue
The damaged statue
Michelangelo's Pieta Attacked
May 21, 1972
Michelangelo's Pieta (statue of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus in her lap) is attacked by a man with a hammer screaming "I am Jesus Christ! I have risen from the dead!" He smashed her face and broke off her left arm below the elbow. Many of the broken pieces were taken by onlookers, including Mary's nose which was never recovered. Her nose was reconstructed from a block cut out of her back.
Plucked Alive
May 21, 1950
A tornado passing over a chicken coop in Linslade, England causes a sudden drop in pressure so severe it plucks the feathers off the chickens. The chickens survived.
Photo Credit: Bundesarchiv
Photo Credit: Bundesarchiv
World War II - Himmler Captured
May 21, 1945
German Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler is captured by the British. He committed suicide two days later by biting down on a cyanide capsule. Himmler was Adolf Hitler's second in command and organized and led the S.S. (1929), headed the Gestapo (1936), and was the German interior minister (1943).
Clara Barton
Clara Barton
American Red Cross
May 21, 1881
The American Red Cross society is founded, with Clara Barton as president.
Methodist Church
May 21, 1738
Charles Wesley experiences his evangelical conversion. He and his brother John Wesley founded the Methodist Church.
Birthdays
Jeffrey Dahmer
Born May 21, 1960 d. 1994
American serial killer. He killed 17 young men and cannibalized their bodies (1978-91). He was beaten to death in prison.
Curtiss flying the June Bug to win his first Scientific American prize
Curtiss flying the June Bug to win his first Scientific American prize
Fastest Man in the World
Glenn Curtiss
Born May 21, 1878 d. 1930
American aviation and motorcycle pioneer. He won the Scientific American prize for an airplane flight of one kilometer (1908), opened the first U.S. flying school (1909), and invented the flying boat (1912). In 1906, Curtiss set an unofficial world record of 136.36 miles per hour (219.45 km/h), on a 40 horsepower (30 kW) 269 cu in (4,410 cc) V-8-powered motorcycle of his own design and construction in Ormond Beach, Florida, making him "the fastest man in the world", a title he held until 1911.
Judge Reinhold (Edward Ernest Reinhold, Jr.)
Born May 21, 1957
American actor. Film: Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), and Ruthless People (1986).
Mr. T with First Lady Nancy Reagan
Mr. T (Laurence Tureaud)
Born May 21, 1952
American actor, wrestler, bodyguard, bouncer. "I pity the fool." He won the TV game show "America's Toughest Bouncer" (1980) and was Hulk Hogan's tag-team partner at the World Wrestling Federation's first WrestleMania (1985), which he won. TV: The A-Team (1983-87, B.A. Baracus). Film: Rocky III (1982, Clubber Lang).
Leo Sayer (Gerard Hugh Sayer)
Born May 21, 1948
British singer. Music: The Show Must Go On (1973, #1), You Make Me Feel Like Dancing (1976, #1), and When I Need You (1976, #1).
Richard Hatch
Born May 21, 1945 d. 2017
American actor. TV: Battlestar Galactica (1978-80, Captain Apollo) and in Battlestar Galactica (2004 reboot series, Tom Zarek).
Rudolph Isley (left) with Ronald Isley (middle) and O'Kelly Isley Jr. (right)
Rudolph Isley (left) with Ronald Isley (middle) and O'Kelly Isley Jr. (right)
Ronald Isley
Born May 21, 1941
American Grammy-winning singer, with the Isley Brothers. Music: Twist and Shout (1962), This Old Heart of Mine (1966), and It's Your Thing (1970, Grammy).
Rick Jason
Born May 21, 1923 d. 2000
American actor. TV: Combat! (1962-67, Lt. Gil Hanley).
Raymond Burr (William Stacey Burr)
Born May 21, 1917 d. 1993
Canadian-born American Emmy-winning actor. Film: Godzilla (1954, the American reporter) and Rear Window (1954, the suspected murderer). TV: Perry Mason (1957-66, 1985-93, title role) and Ironside (1967-75, title role). Radio: Fort Laramie (1956, Cavalry Captain Lee Quince).
Hyatt Hotel Magnate
Hyatt Robert von Dehn
Born May 21, 1915 d. 1973
American hotel magnate, co-founder of the Hyatt hotel chain. He built the first airport hotel (Los Angeles International Airport, 1953).
Armand Hammer
Born May 21, 1898 d. 1990
American businessman, president of Occidental Petroleum Corporation. Some speculate that he was named after the "arm and hammer" symbol of the Soviet Labor Party of American. Known for his close ties to the Soviet Union, he bragged that he was the only man who was friends with both Vladimir Lenin and U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
Hans Berger
Born May 21, 1873 d. 1941
German psychiatrist. Coined the term electroencephalograph (EEG) for the device used to record brain waves. He was the first to record human brain waves and discovered the Alpha wave.
Willem Einthoven
Born May 21, 1860 d. 1927
Dutch physiologist. His work on the string galvanometer led to the invention of the electrocardiograph, for which he received the 1924 Nobel prize.
Philip II
Born May 21, 1527 d. 1598
King of Spain, Naples, and Sicily (1556-98), and King of Portugal (1580-98). His armada was destroyed after attacking England (1588), giving rule of the seas to England.
Albrecht Dürer
Born May 21, 1471 d. 1528
German Renaissance artist. His series of Apocalypse woodcuts became the first book published by an artist from their own work (1498).
Deaths
Clint Walker (Norman Eugene Walker)
Died May 21, 2018 b. 1927
American actor. TV: Cheyenne (1955-63, Cheyenne Bodie). He stood 6 feet, 6 inches (1.98 meters) tall with a 48-inch (122 cm) chest and a 32-inch (81 cm) waist. In 1971 he fell from a ski lift and was pierced through the heart with a ski pole. He was pronounced dead at the hospital, but a doctor detected faint signs of life and rushed him into surgery to repair his heart. He was working again two months later.
Ed Ames (Edmund Dantes Urick)
Died May 21, 2023 b. 1927
American singer, actor. Ed Ames performed with the Ames Brothers, known for their easy-listening hits. Music: Rag Mop (1950, #1), My Cup Runneth Over (1967), Time, Time (1967), and When the Snow Is on the Roses (1967). TV: Daniel Boone (1964-68, Mingo).
Howard Morris as Ernest T. Bass
Howard Morris as Ernest T. Bass
Howard Morris
Died May 21, 2005 b. 1919
American comedian, voice actor. TV: Your Show of Shows (1950-54, Sid Caesar's sidekick and Uncle Goopy), The Andy Griffith Show (1963-65, rock-throwing Ernest T. Bass and voice of the Mount Pilot radio station host, and director of six episodes), and The Archies (1968-77, voice of Jughead).
Joe Cobb
Died May 21, 2002 b. 1915
American actor, appeared in 86 Our Gang films as Fat Joe.
John Gielgud and as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (1959)
John Gielgud and as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (1959)
Sir John Gielgud
Died May 21, 2000 b. 1904
British Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Grammy-winning actor. He was noted for his Shakespearian roles and is considered the greatest Hamlet of his time. He broadcast more than a hundred radio and television dramas between 1929 and 1994.
In 1953, he was arrested and fined for homosexual activity after he was caught cruising in a public restroom. At the time, sexual activity between men was illegal in Britain. He was initially reluctant to continue performing as he was afraid that his career would be ruined by the incident. But, the first time he stepped back on stage he received a standing ovation from the audience. He had been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II just a few months prior to this incident.
Film: Julius Caesar (1953), Becket (1964), and Richard III (1955), and Arthur (1981, Oscar for his portray of acid-tongued Hobson).
Dame Barbara Cartland
Died May 21, 2000 b. 1901
British romance novelist. Her more than 700 books - sometimes written at a rate of one every two weeks - have sold over 750 million copies.
Les Aspin
Died May 21, 1995 b. 1938
American politician, U.S. Congressman (1971-93, Wisconsin), U.S. Secretary of Defense (1993-94). He established the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy on homosexuality in the military.
John Frost
Died May 21, 1993 b. 1912
British World War II hero. He was portrayed by Sir Anthony Hopkins in the 1977 movie A Bridge to Far.
Vaughn Monroe (Wilton Monroe)
Died May 21, 1973 b. 1911
American singer, bandleader. Music: Racing With the Moon and 
(Ghost) Riders in the Sky (1949, #1).
Eleanor Hodgman Porter
Died May 21, 1920 b. 1868
American author. Writings: Pollyanna (1913, with the name of the title character becoming synonymous with persistent optimism).
Carl Wilhelm Scheele
Died May 21, 1786 b. 1742
Swedish chemist. He discovered oxygen, chlorine (1774), molybdenum (1778), tungsten (1781), glycerin, and was the first to observe the effect of light on silver chloride (the basis for modern photography).
John Eliot
Died May 21, 1690 b. 1604
American Apostle to the Indians. He was the first Protestant minister to dedicate himself to converting American Indians. He also wrote the first book printed in an Indian language (1653), translated the Bible into the Indian Language (1661-63), and co-edited of the Bay Psalm Book (1640), the first book printed in America in English.
Hernando de Soto
Died May 21, 1542 b. circa 1496
Spanish explorer and conquistador. Led the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States, and the first documented European to have crossed the Mississippi River.
Henry VI
Died May 21, 1471 b. 1421
King of England (1422-61, 1470-71).