July 21

### Up to 1900

- 356 BC – The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus (present–day Turkey), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is destroyed in an arson attack.
- 230 – Pope Pontian succeeds Pope Urban I.
- 285 – Diocletian appoints Maximian as Roman Caesar and co–ruler.
- 365 – After a magnitude 8 earthquake, and a tsunami, around 50,000 people are killed in and around Alexandria, Egypt.
- 1342 – The St. Mary Magdalene's flood leads to several rivers in central Europe bursting their banks. It is Europe's worst flood of the second millennium.
- 1403 – Battle of Shrewsbury: King Henry IV of England defeats rebels in the north of the county of Shropshire.
- 1418 – Qara Qoyunlu-Ottoman Wars#Qarahisar expedition (1418) Qara Qoyunlu’s leader Qara Yusuf, defeat to Ottoman sultan Mehmed I.
- 1545 – The first landing of French troops on the coast of the Isle of Wight, during the island's French invasion.
- 1645 – Qing Dynasty regent Dorgon issues an edict ordering all male subjects of the Qing to shave their forehead and braid the rest of their hair into a queue identical to those of the Manchus. However another source says Salars wore the queue.
- 1656 – The Raid on Malaga takes place during the Anglo-Spanish War.
- 1718 – The Treaty of Passarowitz between the Ottoman Empire, Austria and the Republic of Venice is signed.
- 1774 – The First Russo-Turkish War ends.
- 1795 – Mungo Park becomes the first European to reach the River Niger.
- 1798 – Battle of the Pyramids: Napoleon Bonaparte's army defeats the army of the Mamluks under the leadership of Mourad Bey.
- 1822 – Agustin de Iturbide becomes Emperor of Mexico.
- 1831 – The British Guyana colony is created.
- 1831 – Leopold I, King of the Belgians becomes Belgium's first king.
- 1843 – Antwerp Zoo is founded, becoming the first zoo in Belgium.
- 1847 – Spain recognizes Bolivia's independence.
- 1861 – American Civil War: The First Battle of Bull Run at Manassas ends in Confederate victory.
- 1865 – Wild Bill Hickok shoots Davis Tutt in one of the first Western showdowns.
- 1873 – At Adair, Iowa Jesse James and the James Younger Gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the Old American West.
- 1897 – London's Tate Gallery opens.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1902 – The steamer _Primus_ sinks in the Elbe River near Hamburg, killing 101 people.
- 1904 – Louis Rigolly, a Frenchman, becomes the first man to break the  barrier on land. He drove a 15–litre Gobron–Brille in Ostend, Belgium.
- 1907 – The passenger steamer SS _Columbia_ collides with the steam schooner _San Pedro_ off Shelter Cove, California. The _Columbia_ sinks, killing 88 people.
- 1914 – Romania, it is decided, is neutral in World War I, after a decision by the country's crown council.
- 1925 – Tennessee high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching the theory of evolution. He is fined 100 dollars.
- 1925 – Malcolm Campbell becomes the first man to break the  land barrier at Pendine Sands, Wales. He drove a Sunbeam at a two–way average speed of .
- 1938 – In a peace deal at the end of the Chaco War, Bolivia loses part of its territory to Paraguay. That makes Paraguay twice as big.
- 1944 – Leaders of the July 20 plot to kill Adolf Hitler are executed.
- 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Guam begins.
- 1949 – The United States Senate ratifies the North Atlantic Treaty.
- 1951 – The Dalai Lama returns to Tibet from exile.
- 1954 – Publication of the first part of the novel _The Lord of the Rings_ by J. R. R. Tolkien.
- 1954 – The Geneva Conference decides to split Vietnam into North and South.
- 1959 – Pumpsie Green becomes the first African American to play for the Boston Red Sox baseball team.
- 1961 – Gus Grissom becomes the second American in space.
- 1962 – British band the Rolling Stones play their first show, at the Marquee Club in London.
- 1969 – At 2:56 am on this day (July 20 in the US), Apollo 11 lands, leading to Neil Armstrong becoming the first person to walk on the Moon.
- 1970 – In Egypt, the Aswan Dam is completed.
- 1972 – The Troubles: Bloody Friday – Provisional IRA members detonate 22 bombs in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the space of 80 minutes.
- 1973 – Lillehammer affair: The Mossad kills waiter Ahmed Bouchiki in Norway, mistakenly thinking he was terrorist leader Ali Hassan Salameh.
- 1974 – Eddy Merckx wins his 5th Tour de France.
- 1977 – Start of the four–day Libyan-Egyptian War.
- 1983 – The lowest–measured temperature is recorded as  at the Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica.
- 1992 – Russia and Moldova enter into a peace agreement.
- 1994 – Tony Blair becomes leader of the British Labour Party.
- 1994 – Jacques Santer is elected President of the European Commission.
- 1996 – Bjarne Riis becomes the first Scandinavian to win the Tour de France.

### From 2001

- 2001 – At the end of a fireworks display in Okura Beach, Akashi, Hyogo, Japan, the footbridge connecting the beach to the JR Asagiri railway station becomes crowded, with the resulting crush killing 11 people and injuring 120.
- 2005 – Four suicide bombers fail to detonate their bombs on London's underground and bus systems.
- 2005 – Horst Koehler dissolves the Bundestag (German Parliament) ahead of an early election.
- 2007 – The last novel in the Harry Potter series goes on sale.
- 2008 – Former Bosnian–Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is arrested on war crimes charges in Belgrade, after several years in disguise.
- 2011 – The Space Shuttle program ends, as the Space Shuttle Atlantis returns safely to Earth on its last mission.
- 2013 – King Albert II of Belgium leaves the throne to his son, who becomes King Philippe of Belgium, and is therefore the 7th King of the Belgians.
- 2013 – British cyclist Chris Froome wins the 100th Tour de France.
- 2016 – Donald Trump accepts the Republican Party nomination for US president.

### Up to 1900

- 1414 – Pope Sixtus IV (d. 1484)
- 1515 – Philip Neri, Italian saint (d. 1595)
- 1620 – Jean Picard, French astronomer (d. 1682)
- 1664 – Matthew Prior, English poet and diplomat (d. 1721)
- 1693 – Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Prime Minister of Great Britain (d. 1768)
- 1766 – Thomas Charles Hope, Scottish physician and chemist (d. 1844)
- 1808 – Simion Barnutiu, Romanian philosopher, liberal politician, jurist and historian (d. 1864)
- 1810 – Henri Victor Regnault, French chemist and physicist (d. 1878)
- 1816 – Paul Reuter, German–British journalist (d. 1899)
- 1821 – Vasile Alecsandri, Romanian poet, dramatist and politician (d. 1890)
- 1843 – Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal (d. 1884)
- 1851 – Sam Bass, American train robber and outlaw (d. 1878)
- 1856 – Wilhelm Geiger, German indologist (d. 1943)
- 1858 – Maria Christina of Austria, Queen of Spain (d. 1929)
- 1858 – Lovis Corinth, German painter and graphic artist (d. 1925)
- 1864 – Frances Folsom Cleveland, First Lady of the United States (d. 1947)
- 1870 – Emil Orlik, Czech painter and graphic artist (d. 1932)
- 1873 – Charles Schlee, Danish–American cyclist (d. 1947)
- 1875 – Charles Gondouin, French rugby player (d. 1947)
- 1879 – Joseph A. A. Burnquist, Governor of Minnesota (d. 1961)
- 1880 – Milan Rastislav Stefanik, Slovakian politician and astronomer (d. 1919)
- 1882 – David Burliuk, Ukrainian illustrator, publicist and author (d. 1967)
- 1885 – Jacques Feyder, Belgian actor, screenwriter and movie director (d. 1948)
- 1891 – Julius Saaristo, Finnish javelin thrower (d. 1969)
- 1893 – Hans Fallada, German writer (d. 1947)
- 1893 – Margarete Sommer, German humanitarian (d. 1965)
- 1897 – Edmund Heines, German Nazi politician (d. 1934)
- 1899 – Hart Crane, American poet (d. 1932)
- 1899 – Ernest Hemingway, American writer (d. 1961)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1903 – Roy Neuberger, American financier and art collector (d. 2010)
- 1908 – Ljerko Spiller, Argentine conductor and violinist (d. 2008)
- 1908 – Harold "Jug" McSpaden, American golfer (d. 1996)
- 1911 – Marshall McLuhan, Canadian writer (d. 1980)
- 1914 – Suso Cecchi d'Amico, Italian screenwriter (d. 2010)
- 1919 – Nuto Revelli, Italian military, resistance activist, professor and writer (d. 2004)
- 1920 – John Horsley, English actor (d. 2014)
- 1920 – Isaac Stern, Ukrainian violinist (d. 2001)
- 1920 – Constant Nieuwenhuys, Dutch painter (d. 2005)
- 1920 – Mohammed Dib, Algerian journalist and writer (d. 2003)
- 1921 – James Cooke Brown, American sociologist (d. 2000)
- 1922 – Jay Hammond, Governor of Alaska (d. 2005)
- 1922 – Kay Starr, American entertainer (d. 2016)
- 1922 – Molly Sugden, British actress (d. 2009)
- 1923 – Rudolph A. Marcus, Canadian chemist
- 1924 – Rahimuddin Khan, Pakistani politician, 7th Governor of Balochistan
- 1924 – Don Knotts, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1925 – Anne Meacham, American actress (d. 2006)
- 1926 – Norman Jewison, Canadian movie director
- 1926 – Bill Pertwee, English actor (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Karel Reisz, Czech–English director (d. 2002)
- 1930 – Helen Merrill, American jazz singer
- 1933 – John Gardner, American writer (d. 1982)
- 1934 – Jonathan Miller, British director, actor and author
- 1935 – Norbert Blüm, German politician
- 1938 – Janet Reno, United States Attorney General (d. 2016)
- 1938 – Anton Kuerti, Austrian–Canadian pianist, composer and conductor
- 1939 – Helmut Haller, German footballer (d. 2012)
- 1939 – Kim Fowley, American record producer (d. 2015)
- 1941 – Martin Bandier, music publisher
- 1943 – Edward Herrmann, American actor (d. 2014)
- 1943 – Henry McCullough, Northern Irish guitarist, singer and songwriter (d. 2016)
- 1944 – Buchi Emecheta, Nigerian novelist (d. 2017)
- 1944 – John Atta Mills, President of Ghana (d. 2012)
- 1944 – Paul Wellstone, U.S. Senator from Minnesota (d. 2002)
- 1945 – Lydia Shum, Hong Kong actress and singer (d. 2008)
- 1945 – John Lowe, English darts player
- 1945 – Wendy Cope, English poet
- 1946 – Ken Starr, American lawyer and judge
- 1946 – Jüri Tarmak, Estonian high jumper
- 1947 – Chetan Chauan, Indian cricketer
- 1947 – Co Adriaanse, Dutch football manager
- 1948 – Beppe Grillo, Italian actor, comedian and political activist (Five Star Movement)
- 1948 – Ed Hinton, sportswriter
- 1948 – Yusuf Islam, English singer, formerly known as _Cat Stevens_
- 1948 – Garry Trudeau, American cartoonist
- 1948 – Litto Nebbia, Argentine tango and rock musician
- 1948 – Snooty, American manatee (d. 2017)
- 1950 – Susan Kramer, English politician

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Robin Williams, American actor and comedian (d. 2014)
- 1953 – John Salazar, American politician
- 1953 – Jeff Fatt, Australian musician (The Wiggles)
- 1955 – Marcelo Bielsa, Argentine footballer and manager
- 1955 – Taco, Indonesian–born Dutch singer
- 1955 – Howie Epstein, American bass player, songwriter and producer (d. 2003)
- 1955 – Béla Tarr, Hungarian actor, director and screenwriter
- 1955 – Dannel Malloy, American politician, 88th Governor of Connecticut
- 1957 – Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden
- 1957 – Jon Lovitz, American comedian
- 1958 – Dave Henderson, American baseball player (d. 2015)
- 1960 – Lance Guest, American actor
- 1962 – Mokgweetsi Masisi, 5th President of Botswana
- 1964 – Ross Kemp, British actor
- 1964 – Jens Weissflog, German ski jumper
- 1965 – Gudni Bergsson, Icelandic footballer
- 1968 – Brandi Chastain, American soccer player
- 1968 – Lyle Odelein, hockey player
- 1969 – Emerson Hart, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
- 1970 – Angus MacNeil, Scottish politician
- 1971 – Charlotte Gainsbourg, French actress
- 1972 – Catherine Ndereba, Kenyan long–distance runner
- 1972 – Simon Reeve, English television presenter and writer
- 1973 – Roberto Bisconti, Belgian footballer
- 1973 – Ali Landry, American model and actress
- 1973 – Caroline Néron, Canadian singer, actress and fashion designer

### From 1976

- 1977 – Paul Casey, British golfer
- 1977 – Jaime Murray, British actress
- 1978 – Kyoko Iwasaki, Japanese swimmer
- 1978 – Gary Teale, Scottish footballer
- 1978 – Josh Hartnett, American actor
- 1978 – Damian Marley, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer
- 1979 – David Carr, American football player
- 1979 – Dorinel Gurbina, Romanian handball player
- 1979 – Andriy Voronin, Ukrainian footballer
- 1980 – CC Sabathia, American baseball player
- 1981 – Paloma Faith, English singer-songwriter and actress
- 1981 – Yushin Okami, Japanese mixed martial artist
- 1981 – Joaquín Sánchez, Spanish footballer
- 1982 – Mao Kobayashi, Japanese actress
- 1983 – Kellen Winslow Jr., American football player
- 1983 – Eivør Pálsdóttir, Faroese singer and composer
- 1984 – Liam Ridgewell, English footballer
- 1985 – Von Wafer, American basketball player
- 1986 – Anthony Annan, Ghanaian footballer
- 1986 – Livia Brito, Cuban–Mexican actress and model
- 1986 – Rebecca Ferguson, English singer
- 1988 – DeAndre Jordan, American basketball player
- 1989 – Rory Culkin, American actor
- 1989 – Ali Cobrin, American actress
- 1989 – Juno Temple, English actress
- 1989 – Marco Fabian, Mexican footballer
- 1989 – Chris Gunter, Welsh footballer
- 1990 – Chris Martin, English footballer
- 1992 – Rachael Flatt, American figure skater
- 1992 – Jessica Barden, English actress
- 1995 – Baekho, South Korean singer

### Up to 1950

- 1403 – Henry Percy, English nobleman and soldier (b. 1364)
- 1425 – Manuel II Palaeologus, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1350)
- 1552 – Antonio de Mendoza, 1st Viceroy of New Spain (b. 1495)
- 1793 – Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, French explorer (b. 1739)
- 1796 – Robert Burns, Scottish poet (b. 1759)
- 1796 – Philip Carteret, English explorer (b. 1733)
- 1859 – John Gayle, American politician (b. 1792)
- 1865 – Davis Tutt, American gambler and salloon drinker (b. 1836)
- 1878 – Sam Bass, American train robber and outlaw (b. 1851)
- 1880 – Hiram Walden, American politician (b. 1800)
- 1889 – Nelson Dewey, American politician (b. 1813)
- 1899 – Robert G. Ingersoll, American soldier and politician (b. 1833)
- 1907 – Nicolae Grigorescu, Romanian painter (b. 1838)
- 1938 – Owen Wister, American writer (b. 1860)
- 1941 – Bohdan Lepky, Ukrainian writer and poet (b. 1872)
- 1943 – Charley Paddock, American politician (b. 1900)
- 1944 – Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, leader of the July 20 plot to kill Hitler (b. 1907)
- 1944 – Ludwig Beck, German Chief of Staff (b. 1880)
- 1946 – Gualberto Villarroel, 45th President of Bolivia (b. 1908)
- 1948 – Arshile Gorky, Armenian–American painter and illustrator (b. 1904)

### 1951 – 2010

- 1967 – Albert Lutuli, South African political activist (b. 1898)
- 1967 – Basil Rathbone, British actor (b. 1892)
- 1968 – Ruth St. Denis, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1878)
- 1970 – Mikhail Gerasimov, Russian anthropologist and sculptor (b. 1907)
- 1972 – Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, King of Bhutan (b. 1928)
- 1972 – Ralph Craig, American sprinter (b. 1889)
- 1973 – Ahmed Bouchiki, Algerian–born victim of mistaken identity, killed by the Mossad in Norway (b. 1943)
- 1982 – Dave Garroway, American journalist (b. 1913)
- 1991 – Paul Warwick, English racing driver (b. 1969)
- 1998 – Robert Young, American actor (b. 1907)
- 1998 – Alan Shepard, the first American to travel into space (b. 1923)
- 2004 – Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist (b. 1918)
- 2010 – Anthony Rolfe Johnson, British operatic tenor (b. 1940)
- 2010 – Luis Corvalán, Chilean Communist politician (b. 1916)

### From 2011

- 2011 – Kazimierz Świątek, former Catholic Cardinal of Belarus, Gulag survivor (b. 1914)
- 2011 – Bruce Sundlum, Governor of Rhode Island (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Susanne Lothar, German actress (b. 1960)
- 2013 – Denys de La Patellière, French director (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Kevin Skinner, New Zealand rugby player (b. 1927)
- 2014 – John M. Coyne, American politician (b. 1916)
- 2014 – Hans-Peter Kaul, German judge (b. 1943)
- 2014 – Dan Borislow, American telecommunications executive (b. 1961)
- 2014 – Harald Hove, Norwegian politician (b. 1949)
- 2015 – Dick Nanninga, Dutch footballer (b. 1949)
- 2015 – Theodore Bikel, Austrian–American actor (b. 1924)
- 2015 – Robert Broberg, Swedish singer and songwriter (b. 1940)
- 2015 – E. L. Doctorow, American writer (b. 1931)
- 2015 – Luiz Paulo Conde, Brazilian politician and architect (b. 1934)
- 2017 – Howard Eichenbaum, American psychologist and neuroscientist (b. 1947)
- 2017 – John Heard, American actor (b. 1945)
- 2017 – Yami Lester, Australian activist (b. 1942)
- 2017 – Geoff Mack, Australian singer–songwriter (b. 1922)
- 2017 – Deborah Watling, English actress (b. 1948)
- 2017 – Stubbs, American cat, Honorary Mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska (b. 1997)
- 2017 – Jon van Rood, Dutch immunologist (b. 1926)
- 2018 – Jonathan Gold, American food critic (b. 1965)
- 2018 – Don McCarthy, British businessman and philanthropist (b. 1955)
- 2018 – Elmarie Wendel, American actress (b. 1928)
- 2018 – Alene Duerk, American admiral (b. 1920)
- 2019 – José Manuel Estepa Llaurens, Spanish cardinal (b. 1926)
- 2019 – Hugo Cóccaro, Argentine politician (b. 1954)
- 2019 – Antonino Cuffaro, Italian politician (b. 1932)
- 2019 – Francisco Grau, Spanish military officer and composer (b. 1947)
- 2019 – Paul Krassner, American writer and political activist (b. 1932)
- 2019 – Robert Morgenthau, American lawyer (b. 1919)

## Observances

- National Day of Belgium
- Liberation Day in Guam
- Racial Harmony Day (Singapore)