April 21

### Up to 1900

- 753 BC – Romulus founds Rome (traditional).
- 1506 – End of the three–day Lisbon massacre, in which 1,900 people were slaughtered.
- 1509 – Henry VIII of England becomes King of England after the death of his father, Henry VII of England.
- 1526 – The last ruler of the Lodi Dynasty in Northern India, Ibrahim Lodi, is defeated and killed by Babur in the First Battle of Panipat.
- 1734 – The shorter of the two Golden Horns of Gallehus, Denmark's most famous archaeological finds, is discovered. The longer one had been discovered in 1639.
- 1782 – The city now known as Krung Thep, or Bangkok, is founded in Siam, present–day Thailand.
- 1792 – Tiradentes, a revolutionary who was leading a movement for Brazil's independence, is hanged.
- 1836 – Texas Revolution: Battle of San Jacinto – Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
- 1863 – Bahá'u'lláh is proclaimed as the head of the Bahá'í Faith.
- 1863 – Quantrill's Raiders launch a reprisal raid Lawrence, Kansas in the Battle of Lawrence, killing a number of civilians.
- 1889 – Giacomo Puccini's opera _Edgar_ is first performed in Milan.
- 1894 – Norway formally adopts the Krag-Jørgensen rifle as the main weapon of its armed forces. It remained in service for almost 50 years.
- 1898 – Spanish-American War: The U.S. Congress, on April 25, recognizes that a state of war exists between the United States and Spain as of this date.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1908 – North Pole dispute: Frederick Cook claims to have reached the North Pole on this date, almost a year before Robert Peary claims to have reached it, on April 6, 1909.
- 1912 – The New York Giants and New York Yankees play an exhibition game to benefit survivors of the RMS _Titanic_.
- 1914 – Ypiranga Incident: A German arms shipment to Mexico is intercepted by the United States Navy near Veracruz.
- 1918 – World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, known as "The Red Baron," is shot down and killed by Allied over Vaux sur Somme in France.
- 1926 – Future Queen, Elizabeth II, is born in London. At the time of her birth she is not expected to become Queen.
- 1930 – A fire at a Columbus, Ohio,  USA, penitentiary kills 320 people.
- 1934 – The "Surgeon's Photograph", allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, appears in the Daily Mail. It is revealed to be a hoax in 1999.
- 1935 – A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hits Taiwan, killing 3,276 people.
- 1944 – Women in France receive the right to vote.
- 1945 – World War II: Soviet Union forces south of Berlin at Zossen attack the German High Command headquarters.
- 1952 – Secretaries Day (now Administrative Professionals' Day) is first celebrated.
- 1955 – Bob Hope's radio program airs its last segment.
- 1956 – Elvis Presley's song "Heartbreak Hotel" becomes the "King's" first song to reach the top of the Cash Box magazine music charts.
- 1960 – Brasília, Brazil's capital, is officially inaugurated. At 9:30 am the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.
- 1960 – Founding of the Orthodox Baha'i faith in Washington, DC.
- 1961 – Dirk Stikker succeeds Paul-Henri Spaak as Secretary–General of NATO.
- 1962 – The Seattle World's Fair opens. The Space Needle, now a symbol of the city, was completed just before the event.
- 1965 – The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair opens for its second and final season.
- 1966 – Rastafari movement: Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Jamaica, an event now celebrated as Grounation Day.
- 1967 – A few days before the general election in Greece, Colonel George Papadopoulos leads a coup d'état, establishing a military regime that lasts for seven years.
- 1970 – The Principality of Hutt River declares itself independent from Australia, and is one of world's most famous micronations. It is 517 kilometers (354 miles) north of Perth, Western Australia.
- 1971 – Siaka Stevens becomes the 1st President of Sierra Leone.
- 1971 – Haitian leader François Duvalier (Papa Doc) dies. His then–19–year–old son, Jean-Claude Duvalier, takes over from him.
- 1975 – Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyen Van Thieu flees Saigon, as Xuan Loc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.
- 1977 – The musical _Annie_ has its Broadway premiere.
- 1982 – Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers becomes the first pitcher in baseball to record 300 saves.
- 1985 – In Brazil, President–elect Tancredo Neves dies before he can take office. José Sarney becomes President instead.
- 1985 – Ayrton Senna wins the first of 41 Formula One championship races at the Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril.
- 1986 – Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone's vault on live television and finds nothing.
- 1987 – The Tamil Tigers is blamed for a car bomb that explodes in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, killing 106 people.
- 1989 – Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate the late Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.
- 1989 – Nintendo releases the Game Boy, an idea of Gunpei Yokoi.
- 1992 – U.S. death penalty: After 13 years on death row, convicted murderer Robert Alton Harris is executed in California's gas chamber.
- 1994 – The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan.

### From 2001

- 2002 – French Presidential Election: In the first round Jacques Chirac comes through, along with National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.
- 2004 – Suicide bombers target police stations in Basra, Iraq, killing 74 people.
- 2005 – John Negroponte becomes the first United States Director of National Intelligence.
- 2010 – After a week of being shut down due to the Eyjafjallajokull eruption, UK airspace reopens.
- 2014 – The Boston Marathon is held for the first time since it was targeted by bombers in 2013. Rita Jeptoo wins the women's race, while Meb Keflezighi wins the men's race, becoming the first US citizen to win it in over 30 years.
- 2019 – Sri Lanka Easter bombings: More than 350 people are killed in bomb attacks on Easter Sunday targeting churches and hotels across Sri Lanka, most of them in or near Colombo.
- 2019 – Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky is elected President of Ukraine, defeating Petro Poroshenko.

### Up to 1900

- 1488 – Ulrich von Hutten, German humanist (d. 1523)
- 1555 – Ludovico Carracci, Italian painter (d. 1619)
- 1652 – Michel Rolle, French mathematician (d. 1719)
- 1671 – John Law, Scottish economist (d. 1729)
- 1673 – Wilhelmina of Brunswick, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1742)
- 1713 – Louis, 4th duc de Noailles, Marshal of France (d. 1793)
- 1730 – Antonin Kammel, Czech composer and violinist (d. 1788)
- 1774 – Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist and mathematician (d. 1862)
- 1782 – Friedrich Froebel, German educator (d. 1852)
- 1790 – Manuel Blanco Encalada, Chilean officer and politician (d. 1876)
- 1801 – Robert Francis Withers Allston, Governor of South Carolina (d. 1864)
- 1806 – George Cornewall Lewis, British statesman (d. 1863)
- 1809 – Robert M. T. Hunter, American politician (d. 1887)
- 1810 – John Putnam Chapin, 10th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1864)
- 1811 – Alson Sherman, 8th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1903)
- 1816 – Charlotte Brontë, English writer (d. 1855)
- 1825 – Louise Rasmussen, Danish ballet dancer (d. 1874)
- 1837 – Fredrik Bajer, Danish politician (d. 1922)
- 1838 – John Muir, Scottish conservationist, environmentalist and writer (d. 1914)
- 1843 – Walther Flemming, German biologist (d. 1905)
- 1851 – Alexander Macfarlane, Scottish logician, physicist and mathematician (d. 1913)
- 1864 – Max Weber, German sociologist (d. 1920)
- 1870 – Edwin Stanton Porter, American director, producer and screenwriter (d. 1941)
- 1873 – Philip Collier, 14th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1948)
- 1879 – Kartini, Indonesian national heroine (d. 1904)
- 1882 – Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist (d. 1961)
- 1885 – Tatu Kolehmainen, Finnish athlete (d. 1967)
- 1887 – Joe McCarthy, American baseball player (d. 1978)
- 1889 – Paul Karrer, Swiss chemist (d. 1971)
- 1889 – Efrem Zimbalist, Russian–American violinist, composer, teacher and conductor (d. 1985)
- 1889 – Manuel Prado Ugarteche, President of Peru (d. 1967)
- 1889 – Pietro Calamandrei, Italian lawyer, professor and politician (d. 1956)
- 1893 – Walter Christaller, German geographer (d. 1969)
- 1898 – Maurice Wilson, English soldier, mystic, mountaineer and pilot (d. 1934)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1904 – Odilo Globocnik, Austrian SS officer (d. 1945)
- 1905 – Pat Brown, Governor of California (d. 1996)
- 1911 – Ivan Combe, American entrepreneur (d. 2000)
- 1912 – Marcel Camus, French movie director (d. 1982)
- 1912 – Eve Arnold, American photographer (d. 2012)
- 1913 – Norman Parkinson, English photographer (d. 1990)
- 1913 – Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching, English engineer and Head of British Railways (d. 1985)
- 1914 – Angelo Savoldi, Italian–American professional wrestler
- 1915 – Anthony Quinn, Mexican–American actor (d. 2001)
- 1919 – Don Cornell, American singer (d. 2004)
- 1919 – Licio Gelli, Italian financier (d. 2015)
- 1920 – Bruno Maderna, Italian composer and conductor (d. 1973)
- 1920 – Edmund Adamkiewicz, German footballer (d. 1991)
- 1922 – Alistair MacLean, Scottish writer (d. 1987)
- 1922 – Nazim Al-Haqqani, Turkish Cypriot spiritual leader (d. 2014)
- 1923 – John Mortimer, English barrister and writer (d. 2009)
- 1924 – Ira Louvin, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1965)
- 1925 – Anthony Mason, 9th Chief Justice of Australia
- 1925 – Alfred Kelbassa, German footballer (d. 1988)
- 1926 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth realms
- 1928 – Georg Kronawitter, German politician (d. 2016)
- 1930 – Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (d. 1989)
- 1930 – Jack Taylor, English football referee (d. 2012)
- 1930 – Mario Covas, Brazilian politician (d. 2001)
- 1930 – Dieter Roth, German artist (d. 1998)
- 1931 – Gabriel de Broglie, French historian
- 1931 – Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Iraqi–Syrian Orthodox Church leader (d. 2014)
- 1932 – Angela Mortimer, English tennis player
- 1932 – Elaine May, American comedienne
- 1935 – Charles Grodin, American actor
- 1935 – Thomas Kean, 48th Governor of New Jersey
- 1941 – David L. Boren, 21st Governor of Oklahoma
- 1942 – Geoffrey Palmer, 33rd Prime Minister of New Zealand
- 1943 – Jan de Graaff, Dutch television journalist (d. 2014)
- 1944 – Russell Boyd, Australian cameraman
- 1944 – Paul Geremia, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1944 – Guity Novin, Iranian–Canadian artist
- 1947 – Iggy Pop, American musician (The Stooges)
- 1947 – John Weider, English musician
- 1948 – Gary Condit, American politician

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Tony Danza, American actor
- 1951 – David Mallett, American singer–songwriter
- 1951 – Michael Hartley Freedman, American mathematician
- 1951 – Kim Young-ae, South Korean actress (d. 2017)
- 1952 – Cheryl Gillan, British politician
- 1954 – James Morrison, American actor
- 1955 – Murathan Mungan, Turkish writer, short story writer, playwright and poet
- 1956 – Peter Kosminsky, English director, producer and screenwriter
- 1957 – Herbert Wetterauer, German painter, sculptor and writer
- 1958 – Yoshito Usui, Japanese manga artist (d. 2009)
- 1958 – Andie MacDowell, American actress
- 1959 – Jerry Only, American singer and musician
- 1959 – Robert Smith, English singer-songwriter and musician
- 1959 – Arno Pijpers, Dutch football coach
- 1960 – Julius Korir, Kenyan athlete
- 1961 – Carey Hayes, American screenwriter and producer
- 1961 – Chad Hayes, American actor, screenwriter and producer
- 1961 – Cathy Cavadini, American voice actress and singer
- 1962 – Craig Robinson, American basketball coach and brother of Michelle Obama
- 1962 – Sergei Zalyotin, Russian cosmonaut
- 1963 – Roy Dupuis, Canadian actor
- 1964 – Ludmila Engquist, Russian–Swedish athlete
- 1965 – Thomas Helmer, German footballer
- 1968 – Peter van Vossen, Dutch footballer
- 1969 – Toby Stephens, British actor
- 1969 – Robin Meade, American news anchor
- 1970 – Nicole Sullivan, American actress
- 1971 – Alexander Kravchenko, Russian poker player
- 1971 – Eric Mabius, American actor
- 1971 – Axl Rotten, American professional wrestler (d. 2016)
- 1972 – Narges Mohammadi, Iranian human rights activist
- 1972 – José Luis Munuera, Spanish comic artist
- 1972 – Vidar Riseth, Norwegian footballer
- 1973 – Steve Backshall, English television presenter
- 1974 – John Hasler, English actor and voice actor

### From 1976

- 1976 – Abir Goswami, Indian actor (d. 2013)
- 1978 – Jukka Nevalainen, Finnish drummer
- 1979 – Tobias Linderoth, Swedish footballer
- 1979 – James McAvoy, Scottish actor
- 1980 – Vincent Lecavalier, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980 – Tony Romo, American football player
- 1983 – Pawel Brozek, Polish footballer
- 1983 – Marco Donadel, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Sebastian Ingrosso, Swedish DJ and producer (Swedish House Mafia)
- 1986 – Alexander Edler, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1986 – Rodney Stuckey, American basketball player
- 1987 – Nadif Chowdhury, Bangladeshi cricketer
- 1987 – Eric Devendorf, American basketball player
- 1987 – Anastasia Prikhodko, Ukrainian singer
- 1988 – Adam Rooney, Irish footballer
- 1989 – Tatyana McFadden, Russian–born American Paralympic athlete
- 1991 – Max Chilton, British racing driver
- 1992 – Deng Linlin, Chinese gymnast
- 1992 – Isco, Spanish footballer
- 2007 – Princess Isabella of Denmark

### Up to 1900

- 43 BC – Aulus Hirtius, Roman writer and politician (b. 90 BC)
- 1073 – Pope Alexander II
- 1109 – Anselm of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1033)
- 1142 – Peter Abelard, French philosopher and theologian (b. 1079)
- 1329 – Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1282)
- 1509 – King Henry VII of England (b. 1457)
- 1551 – Oba Nobuhide, Japanese warlord (b. 1510)
- 1557 – Petrus Apianus, German mathematician (b. 1495)
- 1574 – Cosimo de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1519)
- 1699 – Jean Racine, French writer (b. 1639)
- 1701 – Asano Naganori, Japanese warlord (b. 1667)
- 1719 – Philippe de la Hire, French mathematician and historian (b. 1640)
- 1736 – Prince Eugene of Savoy (b. 1663)
- 1792 – Tiradentes, Brazilian revolutionary (b. 1746)
- 1852 – Ivan Nabokov, Russian general (b. 1787)
- 1894 – James W. Throckmorton, Governor of Texas (b. 1825)
- 1900 – Vikramatji Khimojiraj, Indian Maharajah (b. 1819)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1910 – Mark Twain, American writer (b. 1835)
- 1918 – Manfred von Richthofen, German fighter pilot (b. 1892)
- 1922 – Alessandro Moreschi, Italian castrato singer (b. 1858)
- 1924 – Eleonora Duse, Italian actress (b. 1858)
- 1932 – Friedrich Gustav Piffl, Archbishop of Vienna (b. 1864)
- 1938 – Muhammad Iqbal, national poet of Pakistan (b. 1877)
- 1941 – Fritz Manteuffel, German gymnast (b. 1875)
- 1946 – John Maynard Keynes, English economist (b. 1883)
- 1952 – Stafford Cripps, British politician (b. 1889)
- 1965 – Edward Victor Appleton, English physicist (b. 1892)
- 1971 – Francois Duvalier (Papa Doc), dictator of Haiti (b. 1907)
- 1973 – Arthur Fadden, 13th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
- 1977 – Gummo Marx, American actor and comedian (b. 1892)
- 1980 – Aleksandr Oparin, Russian biochemist (b. 1894)
- 1983 – Walter Slezak, Austrian–born actor (b. 1902)
- 1984 – Marcel Janco, Romanian–Israeli artist, writer and architect (b. 1895)
- 1985 – Tancredo Neves, Brazilian politician, President–elect (b. 1910)
- 1990 – Romain de Tirtoff (Erte), Russian–born French artist (b. 1892)
- 1996 – Dzhokhar Dudaev, Chechen politician (b. 1944)

### From 2001

- 2003 – Nina Simone, American singer (b. 1933)
- 2005 – Gerry Marshall, British racing driver (b. 1941)
- 2005 – Gwynfor Evans, Welsh politician, leader of Plaid Cymru (b. 1912)
- 2005 – Feroze Khan, Pakistani field hockey player (b. 1904)
- 2008 – Al Wilson, American singer (b. 1939)
- 2010 – Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish Olympic official (b. 1920)
- 2011 – Harold Garfinkel, American sociologist (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Charles Colson, American Watergate scandal figure (b. 1931)
- 2013 – Shakuntala Devi, Indian mathematician (b. 1929)
- 2013 – Leopold Engleitner, Austrian Holocaust survivor, writer and educator (b. 1905)
- 2013 – Chrissy Amphlett, American singer and actress (b. 1959)
- 2014 – Alexander Lenkov, Russian actor (b. 1943)
- 2014 – Win Tin, Burmese journalist and former political prisoner (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Janet Gray Hayes, American politician, 60th Mayor of San Jose, California (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Herb Gray, Canadian politician and former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Arlene McQuade, American actress (b. 1936)
- 2014 – Mundo Earwood, American country music singer-songwriter (b. 1952)
- 2014 – George H. Heilmeier, American engineer (b. 1936)
- 2015 – Janaki Ballabh Patnaik, Indian politician, Chief Minister of Odisha (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi, Egyptian poet (b. 1938)
- 2015 – Steve Byrnes, American sports announcer (b. 1959)
- 2015 – Roy Mason, British politician (b. 1924)
- 2015 – Mary Doyle Keefe, American model (b. 1922)
- 2015 – Gideon Eilat, German–Israeli soldier (b. 1924)
- 2015 – Cindy Yang, Taiwanese model and actress (b. 1990)
- 2015 – Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov, Russian movie director (b. 1965)
- 2015 – M. H. Abrams, American literary critic (b. 1912)
- 2016 – Prince, American singer, songwriter and musician (b. 1958)
- 2016 – Hans Koschnick, German politician (b. 1929)
- 2016 – Marco Leto, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1931)
- 2016 – Lonnie Mack, American singer and guitarist (b. 1941)
- 2017 – Ugo Ehiogu, English footballer (b. 1972)
- 2017 – Cecilia Alvear, Ecuadorean–American journalist (b. 1939)
- 2017 – Carl Christ, American economist (b. 1923)
- 2018 – Firmin Le Bourhis, French writer (b. 1950)
- 2018 – Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Brazilian film director (b. 1928)
- 2018 – Nabi Tajima, Japanese supercentenarian (b. 1900)
- 2018 – Verne Troyer, American actor (b. 1969)
- 2018 – Huguette Tourangeau, Canadian mezzo–soprano (b. 1940)
- 2019 – Peter Colotka, Slovakian academic, lawyer and politician (b. 1925)
- 2019 – Hannelore Elsner, German actress (b. 1942)
- 2019 – Steve Golin, American film producer (b. 1955)
- 2019 – Aminul Haque, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1943)
- 2019 – Ken Kercheval, American actor (b. 1935)
- 2019 – Shantha Mayadunne, Sri Lankan chef (b. 1968)
- 2019 – Amelia Vargas, Cuban actress (b. 1925)
- 2025 – Pope Francis, pope of the Roman Catholic Church (b. 1936)

## Observances

- John Muir Day (California)
- San Jacinto Day (Texas)
- Kartini Day (Indonesia)
- National Tree Planting Day (Kenya)
- First Day of Ridvan (Baha'i faith)
- Grounation Day (Rastafari movement)
- Tiradentes Day (Brazil)