This is a list of selected March 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. Before doing so, please review the selected anniversaries guidelines. If your suggestion is potentially controversial or relates to a day currently or soon to appear on the Main Page, post it on the talk page instead.
Please note:
- Events listed on the Main Page are selected based on article quality and to provide a diverse range of topics, rather than solely on the importance or significance of the events.
- Only four or five events are featured each day; therefore, not all important or significant events can be included.
- An event is generally excluded if it is already the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error in content currently on the Main Page, see Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors. If a listed event is inaccurate, please first seek consensus and update the corresponding article before making changes here.
Staging area
Images
Use only ONE image at a time
Flag of Namibia
Coat of Arms of Namibia
President Sam Nujoma of Namibia
Alcatraz Island
President Benito Juárez of Mexico
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer
Pope Pius VII
Rudolf Christoph von Gersdorff
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| Benito Juárez Day in Mexico; | refimprove section |
| World Poetry Day | stub |
| World Down Syndrome Day | needs more footnotes and cleanup |
| ; Mother's Day in the Arab world | refimprove sections |
| 1801 – French Revolutionary Wars: The Battle of Alexandria was fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis in Egypt. | refimprove |
| 1804 – The Napoleonic Code, the French civil code established under Napoleon, entered into force, eventually strongly influencing the law of many other countries. | unreferenced section, refimprove section |
| 1937 – A police squad, acting under orders from Governor of Puerto Rico Blanton Winship, opened fire on demonstrators protesting the arrest of Puerto Rican Nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos, killing 17 people and injuring over 200 others. | inappropriate tone |
| 1943 – World War II: Wehrmacht officer Rudolf Christoph von Gersdorff attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler by suicide bombing, but had to abort the plan at the last minute. | needs more footnotes |
| 1960 – Police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire on a group of unarmed black demonstrators who were protesting pass laws, killing almost 70 people and wounding about 180 others. | Tagged with {{expand}} |
| 1989 – An article in Sports Illustrated alleged that Pete Rose, the manager of the Major League Baseball team Cincinnati Reds, was involved in gambling. | refimprove section |
Eligible
- 1556 – Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer, one of the founders of Anglicanism, was burnt at the stake in Oxford, England, for heresy.
- 1913 – Over 360 were killed and 20,000 homes destroyed in the Great Dayton Flood in Dayton, Ohio.
- 1918 – First World War: The German Army opened the Spring Offensive with Operation Michael, attempting to break through the Allied lines and to seize ports on the English Channel.
- 1945 – World War II: Bulgaria and the Soviet Union successfully defended the north bank of the Drava River as the Battle of the Transdanubian Hills concluded.
- 1963 – Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, California—one of the world's most notorious and best known prisons—was closed.
- 1968 – War of Attrition: The Israel Defense Forces clashed with the combined forces of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Jordanian Army in the Battle of Karameh.
- 1980 – Dallas aired its "A House Divided" episode which led to eight months of international speculation regarding Who shot J.R.?
- 2002 – British schoolgirl Amanda Dowler was abducted on her way home from Heathside School in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey.
March 21: Independence Day in Namibia (1990)
Phra Phrom statue, Erawan Shrine
- 630 – Byzantine emperor Heraclius restored the True Cross to Jerusalem.
- 1800 – After being elected as a compromise candidate after several months of stalemate, Pope Pius VII was crowned in Venice with a temporary papal tiara made of papier-mâché.
- 1871 – Founder of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck was proclaimed as its first chancellor.
- 1946 – The Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League signed Kenny Washington, making him the first African American player in the league since 1933.
- 2006 – A man using a hammer smashed the statue of Phra Phrom (pictured) in the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, and was subsequently beaten to death by bystanders.