April 21st is

Easter

Bulldogs are Beautiful Day

Chocolate-Covered Cashews Day

National John Muir Day *

National Kindergarten Day *

World Curlew Day

National Day *

World Creativity and Innovation Day *

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MORE! Charlotte Brontë, John Muir and Hilda Hilst, click

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WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Bahá’i – First of 12 days of Ridván: celebration of Bahaullah Declaration that he is a Manifestation of God)
Christianity – Easter Sunday
Rastafari – Grounation Day: Haile Selassie visits Jamaica, arriving on April 21, 1966 

Brazil – Tiradentes Day
(Joaquim da Silva Xavier/independence hero)

India – Civil Service Day

Indonesia – Kartini Day *
(Raden Ayu Kartini, women’s rights pioneer)

Kenya – National Tree Planting Day

Mexico – Heroica Defensa de Veracruz
(Naval Cadets 1914 Defense of Veracruz)

North Korea – Kang Pan-sok’s birthday
(Kim Il-sung’s mother)

Russia – Local Self-Government Day

United States – Texas: San Jacinto Day
(1836 Texas Independence battle)

United Kingdom – National Tea Day

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On This Day in HISTORY

753 BC (traditional date) Romulus founds the city of Rome, makes a sacrifice to the gods and begins fortifying the Palatine, the most central of Rome’s Seven Hills

Ruins on top of Palatine Hill in Rome

900 – The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (the earliest known written document found in what is now the Philippines): ‘the Commander-in-Chief of the Kingdom of Tondo, as represented by the Honourable Jayadewa, Lord Minister of Pailah, pardons from all debt the Honourable Namwaran and his relations’

1092 – The Diocese of Pisa is elevated to the rank of metropolitan archdiocese  by Pope Urban II

1506 – The three-day Lisbon Massacre comes to an end after the slaughter of over 1,900 suspected Jews by Portuguese Catholics

1509 – Henry VIII becomes king of England

1649 – The Maryland Toleration Act, providing freedom of worship for all Christians, was passed by the Maryland assembly

1782 – Rattanakosin, now known internationally as Bangkok, is founded on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River by King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke

1782 – Kindergarten Day * – Friedrich Wilhelm Frobel born, German teacher credited with starting the first Kindergarten in 1837

1792 – Tiradentes Day * in Brazil – Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, called ‘Tiradentes,’ revolutionary leader of Brazil’s independence movement, is hanged, drawn and quartered by the Portuguese on this day, after a trial lasting almost three years

1802 –12,000 Wahhabis (Islamic sect) under Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad of the First Saudi State invade the city of Karbala, Iraq, kill over 3,000 Shia Muslim inhabitants, destroy the dome of the tomb of Husayn ibn Ali, the third Shia Imam, and sack the city. They need 4,000 camels to carry away all their plunder

1814 – Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts born, “the richest heiress in England” was a philanthropist who spent the majority of her wealth on scholarships, endowments and such projects as Urania Cottage, a home to reform young women who had turned to theft or prostitution, which she co-founded with Charles Dickens; improving conditions among the poor, both in England and abroad; she paid for the famous statue of Greyfriars Bobby, and was a notable supporter of the both Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the Church of England

1816 – Charlotte Brontë born, English novelist and poet, eldest of the three Brontë sisters who were authors; author of Jane Eyre

1836 – The Battle of San Jacinto: Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna

1838 – John Muir born in Scotland, American naturalist, environmental philosopher, glaciologist, author, and pioneering advocate for wilderness preservation in the U.S. He was a co-founder of the Sierra Club, and the author of over 300 magazine and newspaper articles and 12 books, including The Yosemite; Our National Parks; and Rediscovering America (see also 1988 entry)

1856 – Stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne march from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight-hour day

1859 – Belle Case LaFollette born, American lawyer, suffragist and women’s rights activist primarily in Wisconsin

1863 –  Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, declares his mission as “He whom God shall make manifest”

1879 – Kartini Day * in Indonesia – Ayu Kartini born, Javanese and Indonesian national heroine, women’s rights activist, pioneer in education for women and girls

1891 – Georgia Harkness born, American Christian theologian, first woman to become a full professor in a United States theological seminary, leader in the ecumenical movement and the movement to gain ordination for women in American Methodism

1899 – Randall Thompson born, American composer of choral works

1912 – Eve C. Arnold born, American photojournalist; documented migrant workers, South African Apartheid protesters, disabled Vietnam veterans and Mongolian herdsmen; also photographed iconic figures from Marilyn Monroe to Malcolm X to Queen Elizabeth II, including a series of portraits of American First Ladies

Marilyn Monroe on The Misfits set, 1954 Bar girl in brothel, and Eve Arnold

1916 – Estella Diggs born, African-American businesswoman, author, philanthropist and politician; New York State Assemblywoman (1973-1980) representing the Morrisania section of the Bronx; responsible for the first Women’s, Infants, and Children’s program in the state

1923 – John Mortimer born, English barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author; best remembered for Rumpole of the Bailey, which was a popular Thames Television series, as well as a series of novels and short stories

1925 – The Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals is published in Il Mondo, establishing the political and ideological foundations of Italian Fascism

1926 – Elizabeth II born, Queen regnant of The United Kingdom and head of the Commonwealth of Nations

1930 – Hilda Hilst born, influential Brazilian author, poet, and playwright; noted for her poetry collection, Presságio (Omen), and her novels, Com meus olhos de cão (With My Dog Eyes) and A obscena senhora D (The Obscene Madame D)

1932 – Elaine May born, American actress, director, and screenwriter, two time Academy Award nominee and recipient of the National Medal of Arts

1939 – Sister Helen Prejean born, Roman Catholic sister, leading American advocate for abolishing the death penalty, and author of Dead Man Walking. Chair of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (1993-1995), and helped to establish the Moratorium Campaign

1944 – The French provisional government gives the vote to Frenchwomen

1952 – BOAC begins passenger service on jet aircraft on their London-Rome route

1960 – Brasília, Brazil’s capital, is officially inaugurated. At 09:30, the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro

1962 – The Seattle World’s Fair opens, the first World’s Fair in the U.S. since WWII

1965 – Fiona Kelleghan born, American critic, academic and metadata librarian; expert in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres

1967 – National Yellow Bat Day * commemorates the activation of the 265^thArmy Security Agency at Fort Campbell KY, part of the 101^st Airborne; their insignia is a bat on a yellow ground symbolizing their motto “Through the Night”

1969 – Simon & Garfunkel’s single “The Boxer” is released

1977 – The musical Annie opens on Broadway

1980 – In South Africa, the Coloured schools boycott is joined by students of Indian Schools in Pretoria and Natal. Black Consciousness groups also pledge support. Approximately 100,000 students from 70 schools participate in the boycott

1988 – John Muir Day * proclaimed on the 150^th anniversary of his birth (see also 1838 entry)

2001 – World Creativity and Innovation Day * is launched as the culmination of World Creativity and Innovation Week, which begins April 15 (Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday) with World Art Day

2008 – The U.S. Air Force announces it will begin retiring the F-117 Nighthawk, which first saw combat in 1989

2014 – The Boy Scouts of America revoked the charter of a Seattle church for standing by Scoutmaster Geoff McGrath, after the BSA learned of his sexual orientation and kicked him out. Reverend Monica Corsaro of Rainier Beach Methodist Church said her church welcomed everybody

2014 – In a national poll in the U.S., 51% of those polled were “not confident” in the Big Bang theory, and only 21% were “confident” that it happened. 40% of those responding said they deny or question Global Warming. Nobel Prize-winning biologist Randy Schekman said, “Science ignorance is pervasive in our society.”

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