Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/September 21
This is a list of selected September 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 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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A B-29 Superfortress -
Empress Dowager Cixi -
Great Fire of New York -
No Kum-Sok -
Armand Călinescu -
Virginia O'Hanlon
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Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| Oktoberfest begins (2012); | refimprove section, needs cleanup |
| Independence Day in Armenia (1991), Belize (1981) and Malta (1964) | Armenia: refimprove section; Belize: outdated; Malta: refimprove section |
| 454 – Roman emperor Valentinian III killed Aetius in Ravenna. | unreferenced section |
| 1745 – Jacobite risings: Jacobite troops led by Charles Edward Stuart defeated the Hanoverians in Prestonpans, East Lothian, Scotland. | refimprove |
| 1860 – Second Opium War: Anglo-French forces earned a decisive victory against Qing dynasty troops in the Battle of Palikao, allowing them to capture Beijing. | lots of CN tags |
| 1898 – The Hundred Days' Reform in China was abruptly terminated when Empress Dowager Cixi forced the reform-minded Guangxu Emperor into seclusion and took over the government as regent. | needs more footnotes |
| 1921 – A tower silo storing 4,500 tonnes of a mixture of ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded at a BASF plant in Oppau, Germany, killing at least 500 people. | refimprove |
| 1942 – The prototype model of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, a four-engine heavy bomber that became one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II, flew for the first time. | refimprove section |
| 1976 – Chilean political figure Orlando Letelier was assassinated in Washington, D.C., by DINA agents. | refimprove section |
| 2005 – Hurricane Rita, the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico, achieved Category 5 status, and left up to 125 dead over the following days. | refimprove section |
Eligible
- 1170 – Combined English and Irish forces seized Dublin, forcing Ascall mac Ragnaill, King of Dublin, into exile.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Great Fire of New York broke out during British occupation of New York City, destroying up to 1,000 buildings.
- 1897 – In response to a letter written by eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon, The New York Sun published an editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church stating, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus".
- 1933 – Salvador Lutteroth ran the first Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre event in Mexico City, the world's oldest continuously operating professional wrestling promotion.
- 1937 – J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy children's novel The Hobbit, which later served as a prelude to The Lord of the Rings, was first published.
- 1939 – Romanian Prime Minister Armand Călinescu was assassinated in Bucharest by pro-Nazi members of the Iron Guard.
- 1953 – North Korean No Kum-sok defected with his MiG-15, inadvertently making Operation Moolah, an American effort to bribe communist pilots, a success.
- 1981 – Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
- 1993 – Nirvana released their third and final studio album, In Utero, which went on to sell 15 million copies.
- 1996 – The Defense of Marriage Act was passed by the United States Congress prohibiting federal recognition of same-sex marriage, while allowing states to adopt any marital definition of their choosing.
- 1999 – A 7.6 Mw earthquake struck Jiji, Nantou County, Taiwan, killing 2,416 people, injuring over 11,000 others and causing about NT$300 billion in damage.
- 2001 – With racial tensions high after the September 11 attacks, a gang of British Muslim youths in Peterborough, England, murdered 17-year-old Ross Parker.
- Born/died: Barbara Longhi (b. 1552) · H. G. Wells (b. 1866) · Leonard Cohen (b. 1934) · Faith Hill (b. 1967)
September 21: International Day of Peace
- 1823 – According to Joseph Smith Jr., he was first visited by the Angel Moroni (pictured), who would guide him to the golden plates that became the basis of the Book of Mormon.
- 1938 – The Great New England Hurricane made landfall on Long Island, New York, killing an estimated 682 people and injuring 1,754 others.
- 1943 – Second World War: The German Army began the Massacre of the Acqui Division on the Greek island of Cephalonia, executing 5,155 Italian soldiers by 26 September.
- 1965 – Portugal accepted a Rhodesian mission in Lisbon despite objections by Britain, which had required its colony to implement democratic majority rule as a condition of independence.
- 2013 – Unidentified gunmen began a three-day attack on the upmarket Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, resulting in the deaths of 67 people with at least another 175 wounded.
Arthur Schopenhauer (d. 1860) · Helen Foster Snow (b. 1907) · Kareena Kapoor (b. 1980)