September 21

### Up to 1900

- 1217 – Livonian Crusade: Estonian tribal leader Lembitu and Livonian tribal leader Kaupo are killed in the Battle of St. Matthew's Day.
- 1327 – After rejecting the throne, King Edward II of England is murdered in Berkeley, Gloucester.
- 1435 – An agreement between Charles VII of France and Philip the Good ends the partnership between the English and Burgundy in the Hundred Years' War.
- 1745 – A Hanoverian army is defeated at the Battle of Prestonpans by the Jacobites under Charles Edward Stuart.
- 1776 – Parts of New York City are burned shortly after being occupied by British forces.
- 1780 – Benedict Arnold gives the British the plans to West Point.
- 1792 – The National Convention in France abolishes the monarchy.
- 1843 – John Williams Wilson takes control of the Strait of Magellan, representing the newly independent Chilean government.
- 1846 – Mexican-American War: The Battle of Monterrey begins.
- 1860 – In the Second Opium War, an Anglo–French force defeats Chinese troops at the Battle of Palikao.
- 1896 – A British force under Horatio Kitchener takes Dongola, Sudan.
- 1898 – Empress Dowager Cixi seizes power and ends the Hundred Days' Reform in China.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1921 – A storage silo in Oppau, Germany, explodes, killing 561 people.
- 1934 – A large typhoon hits western Honshu, Japan, killing 3,036 people.
- 1937 – J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is published.
- 1938 – The Great Hurricane of 1938 makes landfall on Long Island, killing between 500 and 700 people.
- 1939 – Romanian Prime Minister Armand Calinescu is killed by ultranationalist members of the Iron Guard.
- 1942 – In Dunaivtski, Ukraine, the Nazis murder 2,588 Jews.
- 1949 – The People's Republic of China established in Beijing.
- 1960 – The Flag of Panama is flown next to the Flag of the United States at the Panama Canal for the first time.
- 1961 – First flight of the CH–47 Chinook transportation helicopter.
- 1964 – Malta becomes independent.
- 1965 – Gambia, the Maldives and Singapore join the UN.
- 1971 – Bahrain, Bhutan and Qatar join the UN.
- 1972 – Ferdinand Marcos declares Martial Law in the Philippines.
- 1976 – The Seychelles join the UN.
- 1981 – Belize is granted independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1984 – Sandra Day O'Connor is unanimously approved by the United States Senate to become the first female Justice on the United States Supreme Court.
- 1984 – Brunei joins the UN.
- 1989 – Hurricane Hugo hits the US state of South Carolina.
- 1991 – Armenia declares independence from the Soviet Union.
- 1993 – The Russian Constitutional Crisis of 1993 begins, as President Boris Yeltsin suspends parliament and scraps the then–functioning constitution.
- 1993 – A Tupolev Tu–134 aircraft is shot down by Abkhazian separatists near Sokhumi, Georgia.
- 1999 – An earthquake in Taiwan leaves 2,400 people dead.

### From 2001

- 2001 – 31 people are killed in a chemical explosion in Toulouse, France.
- 2003 – The Galileo mission is ended by sending the probe into Jupiter's atmosphere, where it is crushed by the pressure at the lower altitudes.
- 2004 – In Dubai, building work begins on what would become the Burj Khalifa. It was opened on January 4, 2010 as the world's tallest building, at a height of 828 metres.
- 2013 – Westgate shopping mall shooting: A shooting attack on a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, kills at least 68 people, and many people are taken hostage. Somali militant group Al-Shabaab claims responsibility.
- 2013 – An attack at a funeral in Sadr City, Iraq, kills at least 60 people.
- 2016 – A boat estimated to be carrying hundreds of people sinks off Alexandria, Egypt, and is believed to have killed most of those on board.

### Up to 1800

- 1051 – Bertha of Savoy, German queen and Empress of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1087)
- 1154 – Sancha of Castile, Queen of Aragon (d. 1208)
- 1328 – Hongwu, Emperor of China (d. 1398)
- 1371 – Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1440)
- 1411 – Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, pretender to the English throne (d. 1460)
- 1415 – Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1493)
- 1428 – Jingtai, Emperor of China (d. 1457)
- 1452 – Girolamo Savonarola, Italian philosopher and priest (d. 1498)
- 1457 – Hedwig Jagiellon, Duchess of Bavaria (d. 1502)
- 1559 – Cigoli, Florentine painter, architect and sculptor (d. 1613)
- 1629 – Philip Howard, English cardinal (d. 1594)
- 1640 – Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (d. 1701)
- 1645 – Louis Jolliet, French–Canadian explorer (d. 1700)
- 1705 – Dick Turpin, English outlaw (d. 1739)
- 1706 – Polyxena of Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenburg, Queen of Sardinia (d. 1735)
- 1752 – Princess Louise of Stolberg-Gedern, wife of Charles Eduard Stuart (d. 1824)
- 1756 – John Loudon McAdam, Scottish engineer and road builder (d. 1836)
- 1757 – James Jackson, American politician, Governor of Georgia (d. 1806)
- 1758 – Christopher Gore, 8th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1827)
- 1760 – Ivan Dimitriev, Russian statesman (d. 1837)
- 1788 – Margaret Taylor, First Lady of the United States (d. 1852)
- 1791 – Istvan Szechenyi, Hungarian entrepreneur and state reformer (d. 1860)
- 1792 – Johann Peter Eckermann, German poet (d. 1854)

### 1801 – 1900

- 1801 – Moritz Hermann von Jacobi, German–Russian physicist and engineer (d. 1874)
- 1817 – John Allan Broun, Scottish scientist (d. 1879)
- 1819 – Princess Louise Marie Thérèse of France (d. 1864)
- 1840 – Murad V, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1904)
- 1842 – Abd-ul-Hamid, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1918)
- 1845 – Prince Ernest Augustus, 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale (d. 1923)
- 1846 – Mihaly Kolossa, Hungarian–Slovenian writer (d. 1906)
- 1849 – Maurice Barrymore, Indian–American actor (d. 1905)
- 1853 – Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics 1913 (d. 1926)
- 1859 – Francesc Macia i Llussa, Catalan army officer and politician (d. 1933)
- 1863 – John Bunny, American movie comedian (d. 1915)
- 1864 – Elena Vacarescu, Romanian writer (d. 1947)
- 1866 – H. G. Wells, English writer (d. 1946)
- 1866 – Charles Nicolle, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1928 (d. 1936)
- 1867 – Henry L. Stimson, American politician (d. 1950)
- 1869 – Carlo Airoldi, Italian marathon runner (d. 1929)
- 1872 – Henry Tingle Wilde, British chief officer of the RMS Titanic (d. 1912)
- 1873 – Papa Jack Laine, American musician (d. 1966)
- 1874 – Gustav Holst, English composer (d. 1934)
- 1890 – Max Immelmann, German fighter pilot (d. 1918)
- 1896 – Walter Breuning, American supercentenarian (d. 2011)
- 1899 – Frederick Coutts, 8th General of the Salvation Army (d. 1986)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1902 – Luis Cernuda, Spanish poet (d. 1963)
- 1902 – E. E. Evans-Pritchard, British ethnologist (d. 1973)
- 1902 – Toyen, Czech painter (d. 1980)
- 1909 – Kwame Nkrumah, 1st President of Ghana (d. 1972)
- 1912 – Chuck Jones, American animator (d. 2002)
- 1912 – Gyorgy Sandor, Hungarian pianist (d. 2005)
- 1916 – Françoise Giroud, French feminist journalist and writer (d. 2003)
- 1918 – John Gofman, American scientist (d. 2007)
- 1919 – Mario Bunge, Argentine philosopher and physicist
- 1924 – Hermann Buhl, Austrian mountaineer (d. 1957)
- 1926 – Donald A. Glaser, American physicist (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Don Dunstan, 35th Premier of South Australia (d. 1999)
- 1926 – Noor Jehan, Pakistani singer and actress (d. 2000)
- 1928 – Edouard Glissant, French writer (d. 2011)
- 1929 – Sándor Kocsis, Hungarian footballer (d. 1979)
- 1929 – Bernard Williams, English philosopher (d. 2003)
- 1931 – Larry Hagman, American actor (d. 2012)
- 1932 – Don Preston, American musician and movie score composer
- 1932 – Shirley Conran, English journalist and writer
- 1934 – Leonard Cohen, Canadian singer, musician, poet and writer (d. 2016)
- 1934 – David J. Thouless, Scottish–American physicist (d. 2019)
- 1935 – Jimmy Armfield, English footballer (d. 2018)
- 1936 – Sunny Murray, American jazz drummer (d. 2017)
- 1936 – Yury Luzhkov, Russian politician, former Mayor of Moscow
- 1939 – Agnivesh, Indian activist and politician
- 1940 – Rick May, Canadian–American actor and voice actor (d. 2020)
- 1941 – R. James Woolsey, Jr., American 16th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
- 1944 – Fannie Flagg, American actress, comedienne and author
- 1944 – Steve Beshear, American politician, Governor of Kentucky
- 1945 – Bjarni Tryggvason, Iceland–born Canadian engineer and astronaut
- 1945 – Jerry Bruckheimer, American movie and television producer
- 1945 – Shaw Clifton, 18th General of the Salvation Army
- 1946 – Moritz Leuenberger, Swiss Federal Councillor
- 1946 – Mart Siimann, former Prime Minister of Estonia
- 1947 – Stephen King, American writer
- 1947 – Don Felder, American rock music guitarist
- 1947 – Nick Castle, American actor
- 1947 – Ed Nimmervoll, Austrian–Australian rock musician, journalist, author and historian (d. 2014)
- 1947 – Keith Harris, English ventriloquist (d. 2015)
- 1947 – Rói Patursson, Faroese writer and philosopher
- 1949 – Odilo Scherer, Brazilian cardinal
- 1950 – Charles Clarke, British politician
- 1950 – Bill Murray, American actor

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Bruce Arena, American soccer coach
- 1951 – Aslan Maskhadov, President of Chechnya (d. 2005)
- 1952 – Anneliese Michel, German exorcism victim (d. 1976)
- 1953 – Reinhard Marx, German archbishop and cardinal
- 1954 – Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2022)
- 1954 – Phil Taylor, British musician (Motorhead) (d. 2015)
- 1955 – Richard Hieb, American astronaut
- 1955 – Mika Kaurismaki, Finnish director
- 1957 – Ethan Coen, American movie director
- 1957 – Sidney Moncrief, American basketball player
- 1957 – Kevin Rudd, 26th Prime Minister of Australia
- 1958 – Rick Mahorn, American basketball player
- 1959 – Crin Antonescu, Romanian politician
- 1959 – Dave Coullier, American actor
- 1961 – Nancy Travis, American actress
- 1961 – Dan Borislow, American entrepreneur, sports team owner and inventor (d. 2014)
- 1962 – Rob Morrow, American actor
- 1963 – Curtly Ambrose, Antiguan-Barbudan cricketer
- 1964 – Carlos Aguilera, Uruguayan footballer
- 1965 – Cheryl Hines, American actress
- 1965 – David Wenham, Australian actor
- 1967 – Faith Hill, American singer
- 1967 – Suman Pokhrel, Nepalese poet
- 1967 – Tyler Stewart, Canadian drummer (Barenaked Ladies)
- 1968 – Ricki Lake, American actress and talk show hostess
- 1970 – Rob Benedict, American actor
- 1970 – Samantha Power, Irish–born 28th United States Ambassador to the United Nations
- 1971 – Alfonso Ribeiro, American actor
- 1971 – Luke Wilson, American actor
- 1972 – David Silveria, American musician
- 1972 – Liam Gallagher, English singer (Oasis)
- 1973 – Oswaldo Sánchez, Mexican footballer
- 1974 – Henning Fritz, German handball player
- 1975 – Ronny Deila, Norwegian football manager

### From 1976

- 1978 – Doug Howlett, New Zealand rugby player
- 1978 – Mario Miranda, Brazilian mixed martial artist
- 1979 – Chris Gayle, Jamaican cricketer
- 1979 – Richard Dunne, Irish footballer
- 1979 – James Allan, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1980 – Kareena Kapoor, Indian actress
- 1980 – Autumn Reeser, American actress
- 1980 – Tomas Scheckter, South African racing driver
- 1980 – Nyree Kindred, Welsh swimmer
- 1981 – Rimi Sen, Indian actress
- 1981 – Nicole Richie, American socialite
- 1982 – Marat Izmailov, Russian footballer
- 1983 – Anna Meares, Australian cyclist
- 1983 – Fernando Cavenaghi, Argentine footballer
- 1983 – Maggie Grace, American actress
- 1983 – Greg Jennings, American football player
- 1987 – Ryan Guzman, American actor
- 1987 – Ashley Paris, American basketball player
- 1987 – Courtney Paris, American basketball player
- 1988 – Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Pakistani politician
- 1989 – Jason Derulo, American singer
- 1989 – Emma Watkins, Australian musician (The Wiggles)
- 1990 – Al-Farouq Aminu, Nigerian–American basketball player
- 1990 – Christian Serratos, American actress
- 1990 – Allison Scagliotti, American actress
- 1992 – Chen, South Korean singer
- 1994 – Ben Proud, English swimmer

### Up to 1900

- 19 BC – Virgil, Roman poet (b. 70 BC)
- 454 – Flavius Aetius, Roman general (b. 396)
- 687 – Pope Conon (b. 630)
- 1217 – Lembitu, Estonian tribal leader
- 1217 – Kaupo, Livonian tribal leader
- 1327 – King Edward II of England (b. 1284)
- 1558 – Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1500)
- 1576 – Gerolamo Cardano, Italian doctor, philosopher and mathematician (b. 1501)
- 1643 – Huang Taiji, Chinese Emperor (b. 1592)
- 1743 – Jai Singh II, Indian King (b. 1688)
- 1798 – George Read, Signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1733)
- 1810 – Mir Taqi Mir, Urdu poet (b. 1723)
- 1832 – Walter Scott, Scottish writer (b. 1771)
- 1852 – William Badger, Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1779)
- 1860 – Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (b. 1788)
- 1880 – Manuel Montt, 6th President of Chile (b. 1809)
- 1895 – Viktor Rydberg, Swedish writer (b. 1828)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1904 – Chief Joseph, Nez Perce leader (b. 1840)
- 1906 – Samuel Arnold, American conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (b. 1838)
- 1926 – Léon Charles Thévenin, French engineer (b. 1857)
- 1929 – Nathaniel Edwin Harris, American politician (b. 1846)
- 1933 – Kenji Miyazawa, Japanese author and poet (b. 1896)
- 1939 – Armand Calinescu, Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1893)
- 1943 – Kingsley Wood, British politician (b. 1881)
- 1947 – Harry Carey, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1846)
- 1953 – Necmettin Sadak, Turkish politician (b. 1890)
- 1954 – Kokichi Mikimoto, Japanese inventor (b. 1858)
- 1957 – Haakon VII, King of Norway (b. 1872)
- 1963 – Paulino Masip, Spanish author, playwright and screenwriter (b. 1899)
- 1966 – Paul Reynaud, Prime Minister of France (b. 1878)
- 1971 – Bernardo Houssay, Argentinian doctor, won the 1947 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, (b. 1887)
- 1974 – Walter Brennan, American actor (b. 1894)
- 1976 – Orlando Letelier, Chilean economist, politician and diplomat (b. 1932)
- 1982 – Hovhannes Bagramyan, Soviet general (b. 1897)
- 1985 – Gu Long, Chinese author and screenwriter (b. 1937)
- 1987 – Jaco Pastorius, American musician (b. 1951)
- 1990 – Takis Kanellopoulos, Greek movie director and screenwriter (b. 1933)
- 1995 – Rudy Perpich, American politician (b. 1928)
- 1997 – Jennifer Holt, American actress (b. 1920)
- 1998 – Florence Griffith-Joyner, American athlete (b. 1959)

### From 2001

- 2007 – Hallgeir Brenden, Norwegian skier (b. 1929)
- 2011 – Paulette Dubost, French actress (b. 1910)
- 2011 – Troy Davis, American high–profile death row inmate (b. 1968)
- 2012 – Henry Bauchau, Belgian psychoanalyst and author (b. 1913)
- 2012 – Sven Hassel, Danish–German soldier and author (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Michael Rye, American actor (b. 1918)
- 2014 – Linda Griffiths, Canadian actress and playwright (b. 1953)
- 2014 – Caldwell Jones, American basketball player (b. 1950)
- 2014 – Cecilia Cenci, Argentine actress (b. 1942)
- 2014 – Frieda Szwillus, German supercentenarian (b. 1902)
- 2014 – Mike Harari, Israeli intelligence officer (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Armen Movsisyan, Armenian politician (b. 1962)
- 2015 – Yoram Gross, Polish–born Australian animation producer and director (b. 1926)
- 2017 – Liliane Bettencourt, French businesswoman, socialite and heiress (b. 1922)
- 2017 – William G. Stewart, British game show host (b. 1933)
- 2018 – Vitaliy Masol, former Prime minister of Ukraine (b. 1928)
- 2018 – Tran Dai Quang, President of Vietnam (b. 1956)
- 2019 – Aron Eisenberg, American actor (b. 1969)
- 2019 – Sid Haig, American actor (b. 1939)
- 2019 – Sigmund Jaehn, German cosmonaut (b. 1937)
- 2019 – Günter Kunert, German writer (b. 1929)
- 2019 – Carl Ruiz, American chef and television personality (b. 1975)
- 2019 – Jevan Snead, American football player (b. 1987)
- 2019 – Woo Hye-mi, South Korean pop singer (b. 1988)

## Observances

- Independence Day (Belize and Malta)
- International Day of Peace
- Spring day in some South American countries