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.
Staging area
Images
Use only ONE image at a time
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A B-29 Superfortress -
The Angel Moroni delivers the golden plates to Joseph Smith Jr. -
Empress Dowager Cixi -
The Great Fire of New York -
No Kum-Sok -
Armand Călinescu -
Virginia O'Hanlon
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| Oktoberfest begins (2012); | refimprove section |
| Independence Day in Armenia (1991), Belize (1981) and Malta (1964) | Armenia: refimprove section; Belize: outdated; Malta: refimprove section |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 |
| 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 (5) |
| 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 |
| 1939 – Romanian prime minister Armand Călinescu was assassinated in Bucharest by pro-Nazi members of the Iron Guard. | incomplete citations |
| 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 |
| 1953 – North Korean No Kum-sok defected with his MiG-15, inadvertently making Operation Moolah, an American effort to bribe communist pilots, a success. | unreferenced 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
- 1675 – Led by Antonio de Vea, a Spanish naval expedition departed El Callao, Peru, for the fjords and channels of Patagonia to find whether rival colonial powers were in the region.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Great Fire of New York (depiction shown) broke out during the British occupation of New York City, destroying up to 1,000 buildings.
- 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.
- 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".
- 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.
- 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 in the next five days.
- 1968 – The Soviet Zond 5 landed in the Indian Ocean, becoming the first spacecraft to safely return to Earth after circling the Moon.
- 1981 – Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
- 1933 – Salvador Lutteroth ran the first Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre event, now the world's oldest professional wrestling promotion in existence, in Mexico City.
- 1999 – A 7.7 Mw earthquake struck Jiji, Taiwan, killing 2,415 people, injuring more than 11,000 others and causing about NT$300 billion (US$10 billion) in damage across the island.
- 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.
- 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.
- Born/died: | Andrew II of Hungary |d|1235| Barbara Longhi |b|1552| Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg |b|1706| Arthur Schopenhauer |d|1860| H. G. Wells |b|1866| Helen Foster Snow |b|1907| Leonard Cohen |b|1934| Faith Hill |b|1967| Kareena Kapoor |b|1980| Florence Griffith Joyner |d|1998
September 21: International Day of Peace
Charles Edward Stuart
- 1170 – Norman invasion of Ireland: English and Irish forces conquered Dublin, forcing Ascall mac Ragnaill, the last Norse–Gaelic king of Dublin, into exile.
- 1745 – Jacobite risings: Jacobite troops led by Charles Edward Stuart (pictured) defeated Hanoverian forces in Prestonpans, Scotland.
- 1965 – Portugal accepted a diplomatic mission from Southern Rhodesia despite objections by Britain, which had required the colony to implement black majority rule as a condition of independence.
- Abu Ishaq Ibrahim (b. 953)
- Emanuel Schikaneder (d. 1812)
- Kay Ryan (b. 1945)
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