Date·Lore

On This Day · The 141st day of the year

May 21

May 21's record stretches 321 years, from 1703 to 2024. Its center of gravity is the 20th century, and conflict is a recurring thread.

♊ZodiacGemini ◈BirthstoneEmerald ❀Birth flowerLily of the Valley

Gemini is the sign for May 21 — read more on the Gemini page, or see May's birthstone & birth flower.

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed September 6, 2026

What happened on May 21?

May 21 is the 141st day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1703 and 2024. Famous people born on May 21 include Andrei Sakharov, Sara Goller and Albrecht Dürer.

Released on May 21

Movies, games, albums & shows

2026

  • Game Luna Abyss
  • Game Psyvariar 3
  • Game Yoshi and the Mysterious Book
  • Movie Deool Band 2
  • Game Zero Parades: For Dead Spies
  • Game Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II
  • TV The Boroughs
  • Movie Ladies First
  • Movie Colony
  • Movie Drishyam 3
  • Movie Tuner

2025

  • Game Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
  • Game Monster Train 2
  • Game JDM: Japanese Drift Master

2024

  • Game Senua's Saga: Hellblade II
  • Game XDefiant

2022

  • Movie Top Gun: Maverick

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1703

    Daniel Defoe

  2. 1863

    American Civil War

  3. 1917

    Commonwealth War Graves Commission

  4. 1924

    University of Chicago

  5. 1925

    Doktor Faust

  6. 1927

    Charles Lindbergh

  7. 1998

    Suharto

  8. 2005

    Roller coaster

  9. 2014

    2014 Taipei Metro attack

  10. 2024

    Greenfield tornado

Famous birthday twins

Born on May 21

Andrei Sakharov

b. 1921

Sara Goller

b. 1984

Albrecht Dürer

b. 1471

Lucie Hradecká

b. 1985

José Batlle y Ordóñez

b. 1856

Eleonore of Austria, Queen of Poland

b. 1653

Philip II of Spain

b. 1527

Chris Benoit

b. 1967

Deaths

  • 2012Douglas Rodríguez (boxer)
  • 1991Rajiv Gandhi
  • 1964James Franck
  • 1932Marcel Boulenger
  • 1686Otto von Guericke
  • 1542Hernando de Soto

Holidays & observances

  • —Afro-Colombian Day (Colombia)
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Adílio Daronch and Manuel Gómez González
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Franz Jägerstätter
  • —Christian feast day: Earliest day on which Corpus Christi can fall, while June 24 is the latest; held on Thursday after Trinity Sunday (often locally moved to Sunday). (Roman Catholic Church)
  • —Christian feast day: Eugène de Mazenod
  • —Christian feast day: Helena of Constantinople, also known as "Feast of the Holy Great Sovereigns Constantine and Helen, Equal-to-the-Apostles." (Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion)
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Hemming of Turku
  • —Christian feast day: John Elliot (Episcopal Church)

The factual record above — event titles, dates, names, and observances — is drawn from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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