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. 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, featured list 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
A B-29 Superfortress
The Angel Moroni delivers the golden plates to Joseph Smith, Jr.
Empress Dowager Cixi
Great Fire of New York
No Kum-Sok- Great Fire of New York
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| Oktoberfest begins (2012); | unreferenced section, external links |
| Independence Day in Armenia (1991) | refimprove section |
| , Belize (1981) and Malta (1964) | Belize: outdated; Malta: unreferenced section |
| 454 – Roman emperor Valentinian III killed Aetius in Ravenna. | refimprove section |
| 1745 – Jacobite risings: Jacobite troops led by Charles Edward Stuart defeated the Hanoverians in Prestonpans, East Lothian, Scotland. | refimprove |
| 1823 – According to Joseph Smith, Jr., he was first visited by the angel Moroni, who would guide him to the golden plates that became the basis of the Book of Mormon. | Unreferenced section |
| 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 |
| 1937 – J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy children's novel The Hobbit, which later served as a predecessor to The Lord of the Rings, was first published. | |
| 1976 – Chilean political figure Orlando Letelier was assassinated in Washington, D.C., by DINA agents. | refimprove section |
| 1981 – Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. | {{Prose}} |
Eligible
- 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 – The New York Sun, a prominent New York City newspaper, published an editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church stating, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus", that has become a part of popular Christmas lore in the United States.
- 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.
- 1938 – The Great New England Hurricane made landfall on Long Island, New York, killing at least 500 people and injuring about 700 others.
- 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.
- 1965 – Portugal outraged the United Kingdom by announcing its acceptance of a mission in Lisbon independently representing Rhodesia (or Southern Rhodesia), a British colony.
- 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.
- 2005 – Hurricane Rita, the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico, left 120 dead.
- 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.
September 21: Eid al-Ghadeer (Shia Islam, 2016); International Day of Peace
Armand Călinescu
- 1170 – Combined English and Irish forces seized Norse-Gaelic Dublin, forcing Ascall mac Ragnaill, King of Dublin, into exile.
- 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.
- 1939 – Romanian Prime Minister Armand Călinescu (pictured) 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.
- 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.
More anniversaries: