On This Day
This Day in History: (21-May)
Aurelia Cotta, mother of Gaius Julius Caesar (d. 54 BC)
Albrecht Dürer, German painter, engraver, and mathematician (d. 1528)
Al-Hattab, Muslim jurist (d. 1547)
Philip II of Spain (d. 1598)
Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Poland (d. 1697)
Alexander Pope, English poet, essayist, and translator (d. 1744)
Alfred Moore, American lawyer and judge (d. 1810)
Joseph Fouché, French lawyer and politician (d. 1820)
Lucien Bonaparte, French soldier and politician (d. 1840)
Elizabeth Fry, English philanthropist and reformer (d. 1845)
William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire, English politician, Lord Chamberlain of the Household (d. 1858)
Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis, French mathematician and engineer (d. 1843)
Mary Anning, English paleontologist (d. 1847)
František Chvostek, Czech-Austrian physician and academic (d. 1884)
Itagaki Taisuke, Japanese soldier and politician (d. 1919)
Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss lawyer and politician, and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1914)
Louis Renault, French jurist, educator, and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1918)
Henri Rousseau, French painter (d. 1910)
Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian priest and volcanologist (d. 1914)
Léon Bourgeois, French police officer and politician, 64th Prime Minister of France, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1925)
Jacques Marie Eugène Godefroy Cavaignac, French politician (d. 1905)
José Batlle y Ordóñez, Uruguayan journalist and politician, President of Uruguay (d. 1929)
Willem Einthoven, Indonesian-Dutch physician, physiologist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1927)
Abel Ayerza, Argentinian physician and academic (d. 1918)
Archduke Eugen of Austria (d. 1954)
Princess Stéphanie of Belgium (d. 1945)
Hans Berger, German neurologist and academic (d. 1941)
Tudor Arghezi, Romanian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1967)
Manuel Pérez y Curis, Uruguayan poet and publisher (d. 1920)
Armand Hammer, American physician and businessman, founded Occidental Petroleum (d. 1990)
Charles Léon Hammes, Luxembourgian lawyer and judge (d. 1967)
Carl Johnson, American long jumper (d. 1932)
John McLaughlin, American painter and translator (d. 1976)
Horace Heidt, American pianist, bandleader, and radio host (d. 1986)
Sam Jaffe, American film producer and agent (d. 2000)
Suzanne Lilar, Belgian author and playwright (d. 1992)
Earl Averill, American baseball player (d. 1983)
Marcel Breuer, Hungarian-American architect and academic, designed the Ameritrust Tower (d. 1981)
Anatole Litvak, Ukrainian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1974)
Manly Wade Wellman, American author (d. 1986)
Robert Montgomery, American actor and director (d. 1981)
Fats Waller, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1943)
John C. Allen, American roller coaster designer (d. 1979)
Chen Dayu, Chinese painter and calligrapher (d. 2001)
John Curtis Gowan, American psychologist and academic (d. 1986)
Monty Stratton, American baseball player and coach (d. 1982)
Gina Bachauer, Greek pianist and composer (d. 1976)
Tinus Osendarp, Dutch sprinter and police officer (d. 2002)
Harold Robbins, American author and screenwriter (d. 1997)
Raymond Burr, Canadian-American actor and director (d. 1993)
Dennis Day, American singer and actor (d. 1988)
George P. Mitchell, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
Bill Barber, American tuba player and educator (d. 2007)
Sandy Douglas, English computer scientist and academic, designed OXO (d. 2010)
Andrei Sakharov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
Armand Borel, Swiss-American mathematician and academic (d. 2003)
Ara Parseghian, American football player and coach
Dorothy Hewett, Australian feminist poet, novelist and playwright (d. 2002)
Peggy Cass, American actress, comedian, and game show panelist (d. 1999)
Robert Creeley, American novelist, essayist, and poet (d. 2005)
Kay Kendall, English actress and comedian (d. 1959)
Alice Drummond, American actress (d. 2016)
Robert Welch, English silversmith and industrial designer (d. 2000)
Keith Davis, New Zealand rugby player
Malcolm Fraser, Australian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 2015)
Inese Jaunzeme, Latvian javelin thrower and surgeon (d. 2011)
Maurice André, French trumpet player (d. 2012)
Yevgeny Minayev, Russian weightlifter (d. 1993)
Bob Northern, American horn player and bandleader
Bengt I. Samuelsson, Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
Terry Lightfoot, English clarinet player and bandleader (d. 2013)
Günter Blobel, Polish-American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
Heinz Holliger, Swiss oboist, composer, and conductor
Tony Sheridan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
Martin Carthy, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
Bobby Cox, American baseball player and manager
Ambrose Greenway, 4th Baron Greenway, English photographer and politician
Ronald Isley, American singer-songwriter and producer
David Hunt, Baron Hunt of Wirral, English politician, Secretary of State for Wales
John Konrads, Australian swimmer
Danny Ongais, American race car driver
Vincent Crane, English pianist and composer (d. 1989)
John Dalton, English bass player (The Kinks)
Hilton Valentine, English guitarist and songwriter (The Animals)
Haleh Afshar, Baroness Afshar, Iranian-English academic and politician
Janet Dailey, American author and entrepreneur (d. 2013)
Mary Robinson, Irish lawyer and politician, 7th President of Ireland
Ernst Messerschmid, German physicist and astronaut
Richard Hatch, American actor, writer, and producer (d. 2017)
Wayne Roycroft, Australian equestrian rider and coach
Bill Champlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
Linda Laubenstein, American physician and academic (d. 1992)
İlber Ortaylı, Turkish historian and academic
Elizabeth Buchan, English author and critic
Joe Camilleri, Maltese-Australian singer-songwriter and saxophonist
Jonathan Hyde, Australian-English actor
Denis MacShane, Scottish journalist and politician, UK Minister of State for Europe
Leo Sayer, English-Australian singer-songwriter and musician
Andrew Neil, Scottish journalist and academic
Rosalind Plowright, English soprano
Will Hutton, English economist and journalist
Al Franken, American actor, screenwriter, and politician
Adrian Hardiman, Irish lawyer and judge (d. 2016)
Mr. T, American actor and wrestler
Nora Aunor, Filipino actress and recording artist
Marc Ribot, American guitarist and composer
Paul Barber, English field hockey player
Stan Lynch, American drummer, songwriter, and producer
James Bailey, American basketball player
Nadine Dorries, English nurse and politician
Judge Reinhold, American actor and producer
Renée Soutendijk, Dutch actress
Christian Audigier, French fashion designer (d. 2015)
Muffy Calder, Canadian-Scottish computer scientist and academic
Michael Crick, English journalist and author
Naeem Khan, Indian-American fashion designer
Jefery Levy, American director, producer, and screenwriter
Nick Cassavetes, American actor, director, and screenwriter
Abdulla Yameen, Maldivian politician, 6th President of the Maldives
Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (d. 1994)
Kent Hrbek, American baseball player and sportscaster
Mark Ridgway, Australian cricketer
Vladimir Salnikov, Russian swimmer
Jeffrey Toobin, American lawyer and essayist
Mohanlal, South Indian actor
David Crumb, American composer and educator
Richard Appel, American screenwriter and producer
Dave Specter, American guitarist
Laurie Spina, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
Lisa Edelstein, American actress and playwright
Tatyana Ledovskaya, Belarusian hurdler
Chris Benoit, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 2007)
Blake Schwarzenbach, American singer and guitarist
Ilmar Raag, Estonian director, producer, and screenwriter
Matthias Ungemach, German-Australian rower
Julie Vega, Filipino actress and singer (d. 1985)
Georgiy Gongadze, Georgian-Ukrainian journalist and director (d. 2000)
Masayo Kurata, Japanese voice actress and singer
George LeMieux, American lawyer and politician
Pete Sandoval, Salvadoran-born American drummer
Brian Statham, English footballer
Brigita Bukovec, Slovenian hurdler
Dorsey Levens, American football player and sportscaster
Pauline Menczer, Australian surfer
Carl Veart, Australian footballer and coach
The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper (d. 1997)
Stewart Cink, American golfer
Brad Arthur, Australian rugby league coach
Fairuza Balk, American actress
Havoc, American rapper and producer
Anthony Mundine, Australian rugby league player and boxer
Stuart Bingham, English snooker player
Quinton Fortune, South African footballer and coach
Jamaal Magloire, Canadian basketball player and coach
Damián Ariel Álvarez, Argentinian-Mexican footballer
Jamie Hepburn, Scottish politician, Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health
James Clancy Phelan, Australian author and academic
Scott Smith, American mixed martial artist
Sonja Vectomov, Czech musician/composer
Gotye, Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter
Craig Anderson, American ice hockey player
Edson Buddle, American soccer player
Josh Hamilton, American baseball player
Maximilian Mutzke, German singer-songwriter
Anna Rogowska, Polish pole vaulter
Mark Cavendish, Manx cyclist
Alexander Dale Oen, Norwegian swimmer (d. 2012)
Isa Guha, English cricketer
Lucie Hradecká, Czech tennis player
Kano, English rapper, producer, and actor
Dušan Kuciak, Slovak footballer
Heath L'Estrange, Australian rugby league player
Andrew Miller, American baseball player
Mario Mandžukić, Croatian footballer
Eder Sánchez, Mexican race walker
Park Sojin, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer
Beau Falloon, Australian rugby league player
Claire Cashmore, English swimmer
Park Gyu-ri, South Korean singer
Jonny Howson, English footballer
Emily Robins, New Zealand actress and singer
Hal Robson-Kanu, English footballer
Rene Krhin, Slovenian footballer
Guilherme, Brazilian footballer
Hutch Dano, American actor
Luke Garbutt, English footballer
Tom Daley, English diver
Indy de Vroome, Dutch tennis player
Ivan De Santis, Italian footballer
Sisca Folkertsma, Dutch footballer
Alex Gunning, Australian mathematician
Viktoria Petryk, Ukrainian singer-songwriter