Historical Events on July 21
- 1403: Rebels to the north of Shropshire, England are defeated by King Henry IV during the Battle of Shrewsbury.
- 1545: The first French troops for the French invasion on the Isle of Wight arrive.
- 1568: Louis of Nassau is defeated by the Duke of Alva – Fernando Álvarez de Toledo – at the Battle of Jemmingen during the 80 Years’ War.
- 1775: Little Brewster Island, located in Boston Harbor in Massachusetts, is raided by Patriot minutemen during the Battle of Brewster Island.
- 1861: The First Battle of Bull Run occurs on this day during the American Civil War at Manassas Junction in Virginia. The battle ends with a Confederate Army victory.
- 1865: Davis Tutt is shot and killed during a showdown in Springfield, Missouri. Many experts believe this is the first true showdown of the Wild West.
- 1873: The James-Younger Gang and Jesse James pull off a train robbery at Adair in Iowa. It’s one of the first successful train robberies of the Wild West in America.
- 1925: John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in his High School biology class in Dayton, Tennessee and is fined a $100 USD.
- 1944: For their failed July 20th plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Claus von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators are tortured and executed in Berlin, Germany during World War 2.
- 1949: The North Atlantic Treaty is ratified by the U.S Senate.
- 1952: A 7.3 earthquake hits Kern County is Southern California. It ends up injuring hundreds of people and killing over ten people.
- 1954: Vietnam is partitioned into North and South Vietnam by the Geneva Conference during the First Indochina War.
Famous Birthdays on July 21
- American poet Hart Crane is born in 1899.
- American novelist, journalist and Nobel Prize laureate, Ernest Hemingway is born in 1899.
- American cartoonist Garry Trudeau is born in 1948.
- English singer-songwriter and guitarist, Cat Stevens is born in 1948.
- American playwright and actress, Christina Hart is born in 1949.
- American comedian, actor and producer, Robin Williams is born in 1951.
- American author Michael Connelly is born in 1956.
