Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/February 21
This is a list of selected February 21 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article, featured list or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
Images
Use only ONE image at a time
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Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament logo now recognised as the peace sign -
Friedrich Engels -
Karl Marx -
Kurt Eisner -
Malcolm X -
Carolina Parakeet -
Richard Trevithick
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| International Mother Language Day; | refimprove section |
| 1613 – Mikhail I was elected unanimously by the Zemsky Sobor to become Tsar, beginning the Romanov dynasty in Imperial Russia. | needs more footnotes |
| 1804 – Built by Cornish inventor Richard Trevithick, the first self-propelled steam locomotive ran in Wales. | refimprove |
| 1878 – The first telephone directory, consisting of a single page, was issued to fifty subscribers in New Haven, Connecticut. | Tagged with {{refimprove}} |
| 1918 – The Carolina parakeet, the only parrot species native to the eastern United States, became extinct when the last individual died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo. | refimprove |
| 1921 – Reza Khan seized Tehran to make himself the most powerful person in Iran, which eventually led to the establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty. | refimprove |
| 1948 – Bill France Sr. and several other race car drivers founded NASCAR, the governing body of stock car racing in the United States. | neutrality issues |
| 1971 – The Convention on Psychotropic Substances, a United Nations treaty designed to control psychoactive drugs, was signed at a conference of plenipotentiaries in Vienna. | refimprove section |
Eligible
- 1437 – King James I of Scotland was murdered at Perth in a failed coup by his uncle and former ally Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl.
- 1543 – Led by the Ethiopian Emperor Galawdewos, the combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeated a Muslim army led by Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi.
- 1848 – Communist theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Communist Manifesto, which became one of the world's most influential political tracts.
- 1862 – American Civil War: The Confederate Army began an attempt to gain control of the Southwest with a major victory in the Battle of Valverde.
- 1919 – Bavarian socialist Kurt Eisner, who had organized the German Revolution that overthrew the Wittelsbach monarchy and established Bavaria as a republic, was assassinated.
- 1958 – British artist Gerald Holtom designed a logo for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament that became internationally recognised as the peace sign.
- 1965 – Black nationalist Malcolm X was assassinated while giving a speech in New York City's Audubon Ballroom.
- 1973 – After accidentally having strayed into Israeli-occupied airspace, Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 was shot down by two Israeli fighter aircraft.
February 21: Language Movement Day in Bangladesh
- 1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, was granted resignation by Pope Innocent IV after having confessed to torture and forgery.
- 1828 – The inaugural issue of the Cherokee Phoenix, the first newspaper in a Native American language, was published.
- 1921 – The Constituent Assembly of Georgia adopted the nation's first constitution, shortly before being overthrown by the Soviet Union.
- 1947 – Edwin H. Land demonstrated the use of the first instant camera (pictured) to the Optical Society of America.
- 1952 – Protesters in Dhaka, East Pakistan, walked into military crossfire demanding the establishment of Bengali as an official language.
Nina Simone (b. 1933) · Baruch Spinoza (d. 1677)