Notable people who died on May 21 include: Sun Quan, Feng Dao, Louis V, Richeza of Poland, Wang Anshi.

Notable Deaths on May 21

Q: What is Olaf the Black known for?

Olaf the Black, Manx son of Godred II Olafsson

1237 — Olaf the Black

Manx son of Godred II Olafsson

May 21 has seen 116 notable figures pass away throughout recorded history — from 252 – 2026. Below are the most significant names who died on this date.

By thisDay.info Editorial Team · May 21 — Wikipedia

Notable Deaths 116 people 252 – 2026

Did you know

Whether or not this is the case, after Guðrøðr's death in 1187 the Islesmen instead appointed Rǫgnvaldr as king, as he was a capable adult and Óláfr was a mere child

Did you know

Óláfr Guðrøðarson, also known as Olaf the Black, was a thirteenth-century King of the Isles, and a member of the Crovan dynasty

Did you know

According to the Chronicle of Mann, Guðrøðr appointed Óláfr as heir since he had been born "in lawful wedlock"

Did you know

Óláfr was a younger son of his father; Óláfr's elder brother, Rǫgnvaldr, probably had a different mother

Did you know

Rǫgnvaldr ruled the island-kingdom for almost forty years, during which time the half-brothers vied for the kingship.

Sun Quan

Chinese emperor of Eastern Wu (born 182)

Sun Quan, courtesy name Zhongmou (仲謀), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by his elder…

252

Feng Dao

Chinese prince and chancellor (born 882)

Feng Dao, courtesy name Kedao, posthumous title the Wenyi Prince of Ying, was a Chinese inventor, printer, and official. He was a government official during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, who served Jie Yan…

954

Louis V

king of West Francia (born c. 966)

Louis V, also known as Louis the Lazy, was a king of West Francia from 979 to his early death in 987. During his reign, the nobility essentially ruled the country. Dying childless, Louis V was the last Carolingian…

987

Richeza of Poland

queen of Hungary (born 1013)

Richeza of Poland was Queen of Hungary by marriage to Béla I, King of Hungary.

1075

Wang Anshi

Chinese statesman and poet (born 1021)

Wang Anshi, courtesy name Jiefu, was a Chinese economist, philosopher, poet, and politician during the Song dynasty. He served as chancellor and attempted major and controversial socioeconomic reforms known as the New…

1086

Conrad IV

king of Germany (born 1228)

Conrad, a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was the only son of Emperor Frederick II from his second marriage with Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem. He inherited the title of King of Jerusalem upon the death of his…

1254

Anna of Celje

queen consort of Poland (born 1386)

Anna of Cilli or Anne of Celje was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania from 1402 to 1416. She was the second wife of Jogaila, King of Poland and Supreme Duke of Lithuania. Their marriage was…

1416

Henry VI

king of England (born 1421)

Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and claimant to the French throne from 1422 to 1453 under the terms of the Treaty of Troyes. He became king of England at the age of nine…

1471

Christian I

king of Denmark (born 1426)

Christian I (Christiern I) was a German noble and Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He was king of Denmark (1448–1481), Norway (1450–1481) and Sweden (1457–1464). From 1460 to 1481, he was also duke of…

1481

Pandolfo Petrucci

Italian ruler (born 1452)

Pandolfo Petrucci was the lord of Siena during the Renaissance.

1512

Thomas Howard

2nd Duke of Norfolk, English soldier and politician, Lord High Treasurer (born 1443)

Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, styled Earl of Surrey from 1483 to 1485 and again from 1489 to 1514, was an English nobleman, soldier and statesman who served four monarchs. He was the eldest son of John Howard, 1st…

1524

Hernando de Soto

Spanish-American explorer (born 1496)

Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador, who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru,…

1542

Martynas Mažvydas

Lithuanian writer (born 1510)

Martynas Mažvydas was a Protestant author who edited the first printed book in the Lithuanian language.

1563

John Rainolds

English scholar and academic (born 1549)

John Rainolds was an English academic and churchman, of Puritan views. He is remembered for his role in the Authorized Version of the Bible, a project of which he was initiator.

1607

Luis Fajardo

Spanish admiral and nobleman (born c. 1556)

Luis Fajardo y Ruíz de Avendaño,, known simply as Luis Fajardo, was a Spanish admiral and nobleman who had an outstanding naval career in the Spanish Navy. He is considered one of the most reputable Spanish militaries…

1617

Hieronymus Fabricius

Italian anatomist (born 1537)

Girolamo Fabrici d'Acquapendente, also known as Girolamo Fabrizio or Hieronymus Fabricius, was a pioneering anatomist and surgeon known in medical science as "The Father of Embryology".

1619

Tommaso Campanella

Italian astrologer, theologian, and poet (born 1568)

Tommaso Campanella, baptized Giovanni Domenico Campanella, was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, theologian, astrologer, and poet.

1639

Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft

Dutch poet and playwright (born 1581)

Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft - Knight in the Order of Saint Michael - was a Dutch historian, poet and playwright who lived during the Dutch Golden Age in literature.

1647

James Graham

1st Marquess of Montrose, Scottish general and politician (born 1612)

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose was a Scottish nobleman, poet, soldier and later viceroy and captain general of Scotland. Montrose initially joined the Covenanters in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but…

1650

Elizabeth Poole

English settler, founded Taunton, Massachusetts (born 1588)

Elizabeth Poole or Pole was an English settler in Plymouth Colony who founded the town of Taunton, Massachusetts. She was the first woman known to have founded a town in the Americas.

1664

Niccolò Zucchi

Italian astronomer and physicist (born 1586)

Niccolò Zucchi was an Italian Jesuit, astronomer, and physicist.

1670

Otto von Guericke

German physicist and inventor of the Magdeburg Hemispheres (born 1602)

Otto von Guericke was a German scientist, inventor, mathematician, and physicist. His pioneering scientific work, the development of experimental methods and repeatable demonstrations on the physics of the vacuum,…

1686

John Eliot

English-American minister and missionary (born 1604)

John Eliot was a Puritan missionary to Native Americans who some called "the apostle to the Indians", and the founder of Roxbury Latin School in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1645. In 1660 he completed the enormous…

1690

Pierre Poiret

French mystic and philosopher (born 1646)

Pierre Poiret Naudé was a prominent French mystic and Christian philosopher. He was born in Metz and died in Rijnsburg.

1719

Robert Harley

1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1661)

Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, KG, PC, FRS was a British statesman of the late Stuart and early Georgian periods. He began his career as a Whig, before defecting to a new Tory ministry. He was…

1724

Lars Roberg

Swedish physician and academic (born 1664)

Lars Roberg was a Swedish physician and natural science researcher. He served as a professor of anatomy and medicine at Uppsala University.

1742

Alexander Joseph Sulkowski

Polish and Saxon general (born 1695)

Aleksander Józef Sułkowski was a Polish general and the progenitor of the Sułkowski noble line. He was politically active in Poland, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and in the Electorate of Saxony.

1762

Christopher Smart

English actor, playwright, and poet (born 1722)

Christopher Smart was an English poet. He was a major contributor to two popular magazines, The Midwife and The Student, and a friend to influential cultural icons like Samuel Johnson and Henry Fielding. Smart, a high…

1771

Carl Wilhelm Scheele

German-Swedish chemist and pharmacist (born 1742)

Carl Wilhelm Scheele was a German-Swedish pharmaceutical chemist.

1786

Thomas Warton

English poet and critic (born 1728)

Thomas Warton was an English literary historian, critic, and poet. He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1785, following the death of William Whitehead.

1790

Chevalier d'Eon

French diplomat and spy (born 1728)

Charlotte d'Éon de Beaumont, usually known as the Chevalière d'Éon or the Chevalier d'Éon, was a French diplomat, spy, and soldier. D'Éon fought in the Seven Years' War, and spied for France while in Russia and England.…

1810

Sikandar Jah

3rd Nizam (born 1768)

Sikander Jah, Asaf Jah III Mir Akbar Ali Khan Siddiqi, was the 3rd Nizam of Hyderabad, India from 1803 to 1829. He was born in Chowmahalla Palace in the Khilwath, the second son of Asaf Jah II and Tahniat un-nisa Begum.

1829

Giuseppe Baini

Italian priest and composer (born 1775)

Abbate Giuseppe Baini was an Italian priest, music critic, conductor, and composer of church music.

1844

José de la Riva Agüero

Peruvian soldier and politician, 1st President of Peru and 2nd President of North Peru (born 1783)

José Mariano de la Cruz de la Riva Agüero y Sánchez Boquete was a Peruvian soldier and politician who was the first president of Peru and the second president of North Peru, a constituent country of the Peru–Bolivian…

1858

John Drew

Irish-American actor and manager (born 1827)

John Drew was an Irish-American stage actor and theatre manager. Drew is a part of the multi-generational Drew acting family and the great-great-grandfather of actress Drew Barrymore.

1862

Arturo Prat

Chilean lawyer and commander (born 1848)

Agustín Arturo Prat Chacón was a Chilean Navy officer and lawyer. He was killed in the Battle of Iquique, during the War of the Pacific. During his career, Prat had taken part in several naval engagements, including…

1879

Émile Henry

French anarchist (born 1872)

Émile Henry, nicknamed 'the Saint-Just of Anarchy', was an individualist and illegalist anarchist militant and terrorist. He is best known for his terrorist actions and is considered one of the main founders of modern…

1894

August Kundt

German physicist and academic (born 1839)

August Adolf Eduard Eberhard Kundt was a German physicist known for developing Kundt's tube, an appartus used to measure the speed of sound in gases and solids.

1894

Franz von Suppé

Austrian composer and conductor (born 1819)

Franz von Suppé, born Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo de Suppé was an Austrian composer of light operas and other theatre music. He came from the Kingdom of Dalmatia, Austro-Hungarian Empire. A composer and conductor of…

1895

Joseph Olivier

French rugby player (born 1874)

Joseph Adolphe Théophile Olivier was a French rugby union player who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was a member of the French rugby union team, which won the gold medal.

1901

Williamina Fleming

Scottish-American astronomer and academic (born 1857)

Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming was a Scottish astronomer. At the Harvard College Observatory, she contributed to the photographic classification of stellar spectra, helping to develop a common designation system for…

1911

Leonid Gobyato

Russian general and engineer (born 1875)

Leonid Nikolaevich Gobyato was a lieutenant-general in the Imperial Russian Army and designer of the modern, man-portable mortar.

1915

Evgraf Fedorov

Russian mathematician, crystallographer, and mineralogist (born 1853)

Evgraf Stepanovich Fedorov was a Russian mathematician, crystallographer and mineralogist.

1919

Venustiano Carranza

Mexican politician, 54th President of Mexico (born 1859)

José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza, known as Venustiano Carranza, was a Mexican land owner, revolutionary, and politician who served as the 44th President of Mexico from 1917 until his assassination in 1920, during…

1920

Hidesaburō Ueno

Japanese agriculturalist, guardian of Hachikō (born 1871)

Hidesaburō Ueno was a Japanese agricultural scientist, well-known as the guardian of Hachikō, a devoted Akita dog.

1925

Ronald Firbank

English-Italian author (born 1886)

Arthur Annesley Ronald Firbank was an English novelist. His eight short novels, partly inspired by the London aesthetes of the 1890s, especially Oscar Wilde, consist largely of dialogue, with references to religion,…

1926

Archibald Primrose

5th Earl of Rosebery, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1847)

Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of his…

1929

Marcel Boulenger

French fencer and author (born 1873)

Marcel Jacques Amand Romain Boulenger was a French novelist and fiction writer. He was awarded the Prix Nee of the Académie Française in 1918 and the Prix Stendhal in 1919. He was also a fencer of international…

1932

Jane Addams

American activist and author, co-founded Hull House, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1860)

Laura Jane Addams was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, philosopher, and author. She was a leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage. In 1889,…

1935

Hugo de Vries

Dutch botanist and geneticist (born 1848)

Hugo Marie de Vries was a Dutch botanist and one of the first geneticists. He is known chiefly for suggesting the concept of genes, rediscovering the laws of heredity in the 1890s while apparently unaware of Gregor…

1935

Billy Minter

English footballer and manager (born 1888)

William James Minter, was a footballer, trainer, manager and assistant secretary at Tottenham Hotspur. He scored 101 goals for Tottenham, and was for a time the top scorer for the club. He also managed the club for…

1940

Klaus Mann

German-American novelist, playwright, and critic (born 1906)

Klaus Heinrich Thomas Mann was a German writer and anti-fascist activist. He was the son of Thomas Mann, a nephew of Heinrich Mann and brother of Erika Mann and Golo Mann.

1949

John Garfield

American actor (born 1913)

John Garfield was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of the Group Theatre. In 1937, he moved to…

1952

Harry Bensley

English businessman and adventurer (born 1877)

Harry Bensley was an English rake and adventurer, best remembered as the subject of an extraordinary wager between John Pierpont Morgan and Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale. How much of his story is based on…

1956

Alexander Vertinsky

Ukrainian-Russian singer-songwriter, actor, and poet (born 1889)

Alexander Nikolayevich Vertinsky was a Russian and Soviet artist, poet, singer, composer, cabaret artist and actor who exerted seminal influence on the Russian tradition of artistic singing.

1957

James Franck

German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1882)

James Franck was a German–American physicist who shared the 1925 Nobel Prize in Physics with Gustav Hertz "for their discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom."

1964

Marguerite Bise

French chef (born 1898)

Marguerite Valentine Bise was a French chef and restaurateur at her restaurant Auberge du Père Bise in Talloires, Haute-Savoie, France. In 1951, she became the third woman to win three Michelin stars.

1965

Geoffrey de Havilland

English pilot and engineer, designed the de Havilland Mosquito (born 1882)

Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, was an English aviation pioneer and aerospace engineer who founded the aircraft company de Havilland. The company produced the Mosquito, which has been considered the most versatile warplane…

1965

Doris Lloyd

English actress (born 1896)

Hessy Doris Lloyd was a British actress. She appeared in The Time Machine (1960) and The Sound of Music (1965).

1968

E. L. Grant Watson

English-Australian biologist and author (born 1885)

Elliot Lovegood Grant Watson was a writer and biologist. Among some 40 books and many essays and short stories he wrote six 'Australian' novels and several scientific-philosophical works that challenge Darwinism, or the…

1970

Vaughn Monroe

American singer, trumpet player, bandleader, and actor (born 1911)

Vaughn Wilton Monroe was an American baritone singer, trumpeter and big band leader who was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for recording and another for radio…

1973

Ivan Konev

Soviet Marshal and general (born 1897)

Ivan Stepanovich Konev was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union who led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front during World War II, responsible for taking much of Axis-occupied Eastern Europe.

1973

Raymond McCreesh

PIRA volunteer and Hunger Striker (born 1957)

Raymond McCreesh was an Irish volunteer in the South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). In 1976, he and two other IRA volunteers were captured while attempting to ambush a British Army…

1981

Patsy O'Hara

INLA volunteer and Hunger Striker (born 1957)

Patsy O'Hara was an Irish republican hunger striker and member of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). O'Hara was one of 10 Irish republicans who died in the 1981 hunger strike.

1981

Kenneth Clark

English historian and author (born 1903)

Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark was a British art historian, museum director and broadcaster. His expertise covered a wide range of artists and periods, but he is particularly associated with Italian Renaissance…

1983

Ann Little

American actress (born 1891)

Ann Little, also known as Anna Little, was an American film actress whose career was most prolific during the silent film era of the early 1910s through the early 1920s. Today, most of her films are lost, with only 12…

1984

Sammy Davis Sr.

American actor and dancer (born 1900)

Samuel George Davis Sr. was an American dancer and the father of entertainer Sammy Davis Jr.

1988

Rajiv Gandhi

Indian politician, 6th Prime Minister of India (born 1944)

Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was an Indian politician and pilot who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989 for two terms. He took office after the assassination of his mother, then–prime minister Indira Gandhi,…

1991

Les Aspin

American captain and politician, 18th United States Secretary of Defense (born 1938)

Leslie Aspin Jr. was an American Democratic Party politician and economist who served as the U.S. representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district from 1971 to 1993 and as the 18th United States Secretary of…

1995

Paul Delph

American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1957)

Paul Delph was a Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, producer, engineer, and studio musician whose catalog includes work with many well-known recording artists from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s. Delph died…

1996

Lash LaRue

American actor and producer (born 1917)

Alfred "Lash" LaRue was a Western motion picture star of the 1940s and 1950s.

1996

Villem Raam

Estonian art historian, art critic and conservator (born 1910)

Villem Raam was an Estonian art historian, art critic and conservator-restorer. His work in documenting and preserving the cultural heritage of Estonia, not least during the Soviet occupation of Estonia, contributed…

1996

Robert Gist

American actor and director (born 1917)

Robert Marion Gist was an American actor and film director.

1998

Barbara Cartland

English author (born 1901)

Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland was an English writer who published both contemporary and historical romance novels, the latter set primarily during the Victorian or Edwardian period. Cartland is one of the…

2000

John Gielgud

English actor (born 1904)

Sir Arthur John Gielgud was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the British stage for…

2000

Mark R. Hughes

American businessman, founded Herbalife (born 1956)

Mark R. Hughes was an American entrepreneur who was the founder, chairman, and CEO of Herbalife, a multi-level marketing company.

2000

Niki de Saint Phalle

French-American sculptor and painter (born 1930)

Niki de Saint Phalle was a French American sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and author of colorful hand-illustrated books. Widely noted as one of the few female monumental sculptors, Saint Phalle was also known for her…

2002

Alejandro de Tomaso

Argentinian-Italian race car driver and businessman, founded De Tomaso (born 1928)

Alejandro de Tomaso was an Argentine racing driver and businessman. His name is sometimes seen in an Italianised form as Alessandro de Tomaso. He participated in two Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting…

2003

Frank D. White

American captain, banker, and politician, 41st Governor of Arkansas (born 1933)

Frank Durward White was an American banker and politician who served as the 41st governor of Arkansas. He served a single two-year term from 1981 to 1983.

2003

Deborah Berger

American outsider artist (born 1956)

Deborah Berger was an American artist noted for her oeuvre of brightly colored textile works created in knitting and crochet. She is considered an outsider artist and a prodigy.

2005

Stephen Elliott

American actor (born 1918)

Elliott Pershing Stitzel, better known by his stage name Stephen Elliott, was an American actor. His best known roles were that of the prospective father-in-law, Burt Johnson, in the hit 1981 film Arthur and as Chief…

2005

Howard Morris

American actor and director (born 1919)

Howard Jerome Morris was an American actor, comedian, and director. He was best known for his role in The Andy Griffith Show as Ernest T. Bass, and as "Uncle Goopy" in a celebrated comedy sketch on Sid Caesar's Your…

2005

Spencer Clark

American race car driver (born 1987)

Spencer Clark was an American stock car racing driver.

2006

Katherine Dunham

American dancer, choreographer, and author (born 1909)

Katherine Mary Dunham was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. One of the most renowned modern dance artists of the 20th century, she has been called the "matriarch and queen mother…

2006

Cherd Songsri

Thai director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1931)

Cherd Songsri was a Thai film director, screenwriter and film producer. A maker of period films that sought to introduce international audiences to his vision of Thai culture, his best-known work is the 1977 romance…

2006

Billy Walker

American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1929)

William Marvin Walker was an American country music singer and guitarist best known for his 1962 hit, "Charlie's Shoes". Nicknamed The Tall Texan, Walker had more than 30 charting records during a nearly 60-year career,…

2006

Eddie Blazonczyk

American singer-songwriter (born 1941)

Eddie Blazonczyk, Sr. was an American polka musician and founder of the band The Versatones. He was inducted into the International Polka Hall of Fame in 1970, and was a 1998 National Heritage Fellowship recipient. He…

2012

Otis Clark

American butler and preacher, survivor of the Tulsa race riot (born 1903)

Otis Clark was an American butler who was one of the last survivors of the May 31, 1921, Tulsa race massacre, considered to be the worst racial massacre in American history. He had worked for movie stars such as Clark…

2012

Constantine of Irinoupolis

Metropolitan of Irinoupolis and Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA (born 1936)

Metropolitan Constantine was the Metropolitan of Irinoupolis, and Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA and of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in Diaspora, which are jurisdictions of the…

2012

Roman Dumbadze

Georgian commander (born 1964)

Roman Dumbadze was a Georgian military commander, who led a mutiny during the 2004 crisis in Adjara. From 2008, he resided in Russia, where he was shot dead in 2012.

2012

Douglas Rodríguez

Cuban boxer (born 1950)

Douglas Rodríguez was an amateur boxer from Cuba, who represented his native country in the Men's Flyweight category at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany.

2012

Bill Stewart

American football player and coach (born 1952)

William L. Stewart, nicknamed "Stew", was an American football coach. He was named interim head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers after Rich Rodriguez left for Michigan in December 2007. After leading the…

2012

Alan Thorne

Australian anthropologist and academic (born 1939)

Alan Gordon Thorne was an Australian born anatomist who is considered an authority on interpretations of Aboriginal Australian origins and the human genome. Thorne first became interested in archaeology and human…

2012

Count Christian of Rosenborg

member of the Danish royal family (born 1942)

Count Christian of Rosenborg was a member of the Danish royal family. Born Prince Christian of Denmark, from 1947 he was third in the line of line of succession until the constitution was changed in 1953 to allow…

2013

Frank Comstock

American trombonist, composer, and conductor (born 1922)

Frank G. Comstock was an American composer, arranger, conductor, and trombonist. For television, Comstock wrote and arranged music for major situation comedies and variety shows. His theme and incidental music for Rocky…

2013

Cot Deal

American baseball player and coach (born 1923)

Ellis Ferguson "Cot" Deal was an American pitcher and coach in Major League Baseball. Listed at 5 ft 10.5 in (1.79 m), 185 lb (84 kg), Deal was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. A native of Arapaho, Oklahoma, he…

2013

Leonard Marsh

American businessman, co-founded Snapple (born 1933)

Leonard Marsh was an American businessman who co-founded the Snapple Beverage Corporation in 1972. Marsh co-founded Snapple, which was originally known as Unadulterated Food Products, with his brother-in-law, Hyman…

2013

Bob Thompson

American pianist and composer (born 1924)

Robert Lamar Thompson was a composer, arranger, and orchestra leader from the 1950s through the 1980s. Active in Los Angeles, Thompson was a recording artist for RCA Victor and Dot Records, scored film and television…

2013

Dominique Venner

French journalist and historian (born 1935)

Dominique Venner was a French journalist and essayist. Venner was a member of the Organisation armée secrète and later became a European nationalist, founding the neo-fascist Europe-Action, before withdrawing from…

2013

Tunku Annuar

Malaysian son of Badlishah of Kedah (born 1939)

Tunku Annuar ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah was a member of the Kedah royal family and the Chairman of the Regency Council of the Malaysian state of Kedah from December 2011 until his death in May 2014. He was the son…

2014

Johnny Gray

American baseball player (born 1926)

John Leonard Gray was an American professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics / Kansas City Athletics, Cleveland Indians, and Philadelphia Phillies in all or…

2014

Jaime Lusinchi

Venezuelan physician and politician, President of Venezuela (born 1924)

Jaime Ramón Lusinchi was the president of Venezuela from 1984 to 1989. His term was characterized by an economic crisis, growth of the external debt, populist policies, currency depreciation, inflation and corruption…

2014

Alireza Soleimani

Iranian wrestler (born 1956)

Alireza Soleimani Karbalaei was an Iranian heavyweight freestyle wrestler. He was the first Iranian to win the world superheavyweight title, which he achieved in 1989. He served as the flag bearer for Iran at the 1992…

2014

Annarita Sidoti

Italian race walker (born 1969)

Annarita Sidoti was an Italian race walker.

2015

Twinkle

English singer-songwriter (born 1948)

Lynn Annette Ripley, better known by the stage name Twinkle, was an English singer-songwriter. She had chart success in the 1960s with her songs "Terry" and "Golden Lights".

2015

Jassem Al-Kharafi

Kuwaiti businessman and politician, 8th Kuwaiti Speaker of the National Assembly (born 1940)

Jassem Al-Kharafi, was a Kuwaiti oligarch who was the speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assembly from 1999 to 2011. In his capacity as Speaker in 2006, Al-Kharafi played a critical role in the ascension of Sheikh Sabah…

2015

Fred Gladding

American baseball player and coach (born 1936)

Fred Earl Gladding was an American professional baseball player and coach. He was a right-handed pitcher for all or parts of 13 seasons (1961–1973) with the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros. He was born in Flat Rock,…

2015

Louis Johnson

American bass player and producer (born 1955)

Louis Johnson was an American bass guitarist. Johnson was best known for his work with the group the Brothers Johnson and his session playing on several hit albums of the 1970s and 1980s, including the best-selling…

2015

Nick Menza

American drummer and songwriter (born 1964)

Nicholas Menza was an American musician who was the drummer of the thrash metal band Megadeth from 1989 to 1998. He played drums on four of Megadeth's albums: Rust in Peace (1990), Countdown to Extinction (1992),…

2016

Rik Kuypers

Belgian film director (born 1925)

Rik Kuypers was a Belgian film director. He directed 29 films between 1947 and 1981. He co-directed the film Seagulls Die in the Harbour, which was entered into the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.

2019

Binyavanga Wainaina

Kenyan writer (born 1971)

Kenneth Binyavanga Wainaina was a Kenyan author, journalist and 2002 winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. In 2003, he became the founding editor of Kwani? literary magazine, launched in Kenya, East Africa. In…

2019

Alan Merten

fifth President of George Mason University (born 1941)

Alan Gilbert Merten was the fifth president of George Mason University.

2020

Jan A. P. Kaczmarek

Polish composer (born 1953)

Jan Andrzej Paweł Kaczmarek was a Polish composer. He wrote scores for more than 70 feature films and documentaries, including Finding Neverland (2004), for which he won an Oscar and a National Board of Review Award.…

2024

Gerry Connolly

American politician, U.S. Representative from Virginia's 11th congressional district (born 1950)

Gerald Edward Connolly was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 11th congressional district from 2009 until his death in 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first…

2025

Kyle Busch

American race car driver and owner (born 1985)

Kyle Thomas Busch was an American professional stock car racing driver and racing team owner who competed from 2001 until his death in 2026. Throughout his career, Busch raced under several car numbers, though he was…

2026

May 21 in the Blog

Witness Lindbergh's Historic Landing — May 21, 1927

Charles Lindbergh's 33.5-hour solo flight ended on May 21, 1927, at Le Bourget Field in Paris, France, with a historic landing.

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Notable deaths

Who died on May 21?

Olaf the Black — Thirteenth-century ruler of the Isle of Man and parts of the Hebrides

FeaturedOlaf the Black

Death year1237

Known forHe was a son of Guðrøðr Óláfsson, King of the Isles and Fionnghuala Nic Lochlainn

Deaths on this date116 (252 – 2026)

Explore May 21

Jump between the main pages for this date to compare events, people, and the daily quiz.

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Also on May 21 in History

2024

The Greenfield tornado kills five and injures 35 across rural Iowa, United States. Wind speeds in excess of 480 kilometres per hour (300 mph) are estimated from measurements for the third time in history. Wikipedia →

2024

A stabbing spree on the Green line of the Taichung MRT injures four people, including the perpetrator. Wikipedia →

2017

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus perform their final show at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Wikipedia →

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Notable Deaths on May 21

1237 — Olaf the Black

May 21 in the Blog

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