# What happened on September 21 in history?

**Date:** September 21  
**Events recorded:** 52  
**Years spanned:** 455 – 2019  
**Full page:** https://thisday.info/events/september/21/

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## Featured Event

**2019** — A 5.6 Mw earthquake shakes the Albanian port of Durrës. Forty-nine people are injured in the capital, Tirana.

[Read more on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Albania_earthquake)

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## Events on this date

- **455** — Emperor Avitus enters Italy with a Gallic army and consolidates his power. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avitus))
- **1170** — Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland: The Kingdom of Dublin falls to Anglo-Norman invaders. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Norman_invasion_of_Ireland))
- **1217** — Livonian Crusade: The Estonian leader Lembitu and Livonian leader Caupo of Turaida are killed in the Battle of St. Matthew's Day. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livonian_Crusade))
- **1435** — The Treaty of Arras is promulgated, causing Burgundy to switch sides in the Hundred Years' War. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_of_Arras))
- **1745** — A British government army led by Sir John Cope is defeated in less than 15 minutes by the Jacobite forces of Prince Charles Edward Stuart. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cope_(British_Army_officer)))
- **1776** — Part of New York City is burned shortly after being occupied by British forces. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City))
- **1780** — American Revolutionary War: Benedict Arnold gives the British the plans to West Point. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War))
- **1792** — French Revolution: The National Convention abolishes the monarchy. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution))
- **1809** — British Secretary of War Lord Castlereagh and Foreign Secretary George Canning meet in a duel on Putney Heath, with Castlereagh wounding Canning in the thigh. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_of_State_for_War_and_the_Colonies))
- **1814** — War of 1812: British forces abandon their unsuccessful siege of Fort Erie. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812))
- **1843** — The crew of schooner Ancud, led by John Williams Wilson, takes possession of the Strait of Magellan on behalf of the Chilean government. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilean_schooner_Ancud))
- **1860** — Second Opium War: An Anglo-French force defeats Chinese troops at the Battle of Palikao. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Opium_War))
- **1862** — Taiping Rebellion: The Ever Victorious Army defeats Taiping forces at the Battle of Cixi. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion))
- **1896** — Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan: British forces under the command of Horatio Kitchener take Dongola. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Egyptian_conquest_of_Sudan))
- **1898** — Empress Dowager Cixi seizes power and ends the Hundred Days' Reform in China. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Dowager_Cixi))
- **1921** — A storage silo in Oppau, Germany, explodes, killing 500–600 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppau_explosion))
- **1933** — Salvador Lutteroth establishes Mexican professional wrestling. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Lutteroth))
- **1934** — A large typhoon hits western Honshū, Japan, killing more than 3,000 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1934_Muroto_typhoon))
- **1937** — J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is published for the first time. (September 22 is celebrated by some fans as Hobbit Day, however.) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien))
- **1938** — The Great Hurricane of 1938 makes landfall on Long Island in New York. The death toll is estimated at 500–700 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_New_England_hurricane))
- **1939** — Romanian prime minister Armand Călinescu is assassinated by the Iron Guard. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand_C%C4%83linescu))
- **1942** — The Holocaust in Ukraine: On the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, Nazis send over 1,000 Jews of Pidhaitsi to Bełżec extermination camp. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_Ukraine))
- **1942** — The Holocaust in Ukraine: In Dunaivtsi, Ukraine, Nazis murder 2,588 Jews. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunaivtsi))
- **1942** — The Holocaust in Poland: At the end of Yom Kippur, Germans order Jews to permanently move from Konstantynów to Biała Podlaska. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_Poland))
- **1942** — The Boeing B-29 Superfortress makes its maiden flight. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-29_Superfortress))
- **1953** — Lieutenant No Kum-sok, a North Korean pilot, defects to South Korea with his jet fighter. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Kum-sok))
- **1957** — Pamir, a four-masted barque, was shipwrecked and sank off the Azores during Hurricane Carrie. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamir_(ship)))
- **1964** — Malta gains independence from the United Kingdom, but remains in the Commonwealth. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta))
- **1964** — The North American XB-70 Valkyrie, the world's fastest bomber, makes its maiden flight from Palmdale, California. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_XB-70_Valkyrie))
- **1965** — The Gambia, Maldives and Singapore are admitted as members of the United Nations. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gambia))
- **1969** — Mexicana de Aviación Flight 801, a Boeing 727-100 passenger plane, crashes during a landing attempt in Mexico City, killing 27 of the 118 occupants. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexicana_de_Aviaci%C3%B3n_Flight_801))
- **1971** — Bahrain, Bhutan and Qatar join the United Nations. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahrain))
- **1972** — Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos begins authoritarian rule by declaring martial law. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Marcos))
- **1976** — Orlando Letelier is assassinated in Washington, D.C., at the order of Augusto Pinochet. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando_Letelier))
- **1976** — Seychelles joins the United Nations. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seychelles))
- **1981** — Belize is granted full independence from the United Kingdom. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belize))
- **1981** — Sandra Day O'Connor is unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate as the first female Supreme Court justice. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Day_O'Connor))
- **1984** — Brunei joins the United Nations. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunei))
- **1991** — Armenia gains independence from the Soviet Union. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia))
- **1993** — Russian president Boris Yeltsin triggers a constitutional crisis when he suspends parliament and scraps the constitution. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Yeltsin))
- **1993** — A Transair Georgian Airlines Tu-134 is shot down by a missile in the Black Sea near Sokhumi, Georgia. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Sukhumi_airliner_attacks))
- **1996** — The Defense of Marriage Act is passed by the United States Congress. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Marriage_Act))
- **1997** — St. Olaf's Church, a stone church from the 16th century in Tyrvää, Finland, is burnt down by a burglar. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Olaf's_Church%2C_Tyrv%C3%A4%C3%A4))
- **1999** — The 7.7-magnitude Chi-Chi earthquake strikes central Taiwan, killing 2,400 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Jiji_earthquake))
- **2001** — America: A Tribute to Heroes is broadcast by over 35 network and cable channels, raising over $200 million for the victims of the September 11 attacks. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%3A_A_Tribute_to_Heroes))
- **2001** — Ross Parker is murdered in Peterborough, England, by a gang of ten British Pakistani youths. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Ross_Parker))
- **2003** — The Galileo spacecraft is terminated by sending it into Jupiter's atmosphere. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_(spacecraft)))
- **2012** — Three Egyptian militants open fire on a group of Israeli soldiers in a southern Israel cross-border attack. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptians))
- **2013** — Al-Shabaab Islamic militants attack the Westgate shopping mall in Kenya, killing at least 67 people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shabaab_(militant_group)))
- **2015** — Adventist Health System agreed to pay $118.7 million to settle allegations of fraud. It was the largest a hospital network has ever paid. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AdventHealth))
- **2018** — LGBT rights activist Zak Kostopoulos is beaten to death on a busy street in Athens ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zak_Kostopoulos))
- **2019** — A 5.6 Mw earthquake shakes the Albanian port of Durrës. Forty-nine people are injured in the capital, Tirana. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Albania_earthquake))

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## Notable births on September 21

- **2006** — **Alisha Palmowski** — British female racing driver ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alisha_Palmowski))
- **1999** — **Wang Junkai** — Chinese singer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Junkai))
- **1999** — **Alexander Isak** — Eritrean-Swedish professional footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Isak))
- **1998** — **Máscara de Bronce** — Mexican wrestler ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multibronce))
- **1998** — **Yainer Díaz** — Dominican baseball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yainer_D%C3%ADaz))
- **1995** — **Bruno Caboclo** — Brazilian basketball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Caboclo))
- **1994** — **Devin Williams** — American baseball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devin_Williams_(baseball)))
- **1993** — **Kirsty Gilmour** — Scottish badminton player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirsty_Gilmour))
- **1993** — **Kwon Mina** — South Korean singer and actress ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwon_Mina))
- **1993** — **Ante Rebić** — Croatian footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ante_Rebi%C4%87))

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## Notable deaths on September 21

- **2024** — **Raquel Blandón** — Guatemalan lawyer and activist, First Lady of Guatemala (born 1943) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raquel_Bland%C3%B3n))
- **2024** — **Benny Golson** — American saxophonist and composer (born 1929) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Golson))
- **2024** — **Eddie Low** — New Zealand country singer and musician (born 1943) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Low))
- **2024** — **Mercury Morris** — American football player (born 1947) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Morris))
- **2023** — **Walewska Oliveira** — Brazilian volleyball player and Olympic champion (born 1979) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walewska_Oliveira))
- **2022** — **Raju Srivastav** — Indian comedian, actor and politician (born 1963) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raju_Srivastav))
- **2021** — **Willie Garson** — American actor (born 1964) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Garson))
- **2020** — **Arthur Ashkin** — American scientist and Nobel laureate (born 1922) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Ashkin))
- **2018** — **Trần Đại Quang** — President of Vietnam (born 1956) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr%E1%BA%A7n_%C4%90%E1%BA%A1i_Quang))
- **2018** — **Vitaliy Masol** — Ukrainian Former Prime Minister (born 1928) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitaliy_Masol))

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## About this page

This is a machine-readable Markdown summary of [thisday.info/events/september/21/](https://thisday.info/events/september/21/).  
Historical data is sourced from [Wikipedia/Wikimedia](https://www.wikipedia.org) under [CC BY-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).  
Editorial framing and site content © thisday.info.