Year 1788
Sindhia arrested Gulam Qadir and killed him.
DECEMBER 21
Daily Historical Chronicle
UPSC CSE • State PSC • SSC CGL Matrix
21 December: What Happened On This Day in History
Curated historical timeline of momentous political pacts, freedom struggle uprisings, constitutional developments, scientific breakthroughs, and prominent birthdays recorded on 21 December.
Year 1881
Pundit Sunder Lal Sharma, freedom fighter and social reformer, was born at Rajim, M.P.
Year 1898
Chemists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium.
Year 1909
Anant Kanhere shot and killed Nashik District Collector Jackson.
Year 1911
Central Bank of India established.
Year 1913
The world’s first crossword puzzle, written by Arthur Wayne, was published in the New York World.
Year 1929
Indian National Congress convenes in Lahore.
Year 1937
The first cartoon film with colorful illustrations and voices, Disney’s Snow White, was screened.
Year 1952
Saifuddin Kitchlew became the first Indian to receive the Lenin Peace Prize of the then Soviet Union.
Year 1956
The Hindu Adoption Sub-Act 1956 was accepted.
Year 1971
Kurt Waldheim became the fourth Secretary-General of the United Nations Security Council.
Year 1974
INS Satavahana, the country’s first vessel for submarine training, was inducted into the ship fleet at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Year 1975
Madagascar adopted Constitution.
Year 1986
Raghunandan Swaroop Pathak became the 18th Chief Justice of India.
Year 1989
V. P. Singh wins vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha.
Year 1990
Former Union Finance Secretary S. Venkatramanan appointed Governor of RBI. B. Rachaiah and Dr. Sarup Singh sworn in as Governors of Kerala and Gujarat respectively.
Year 1991
Formation of Commonwealth by 11 Soviet republics in Alma Ata, capital of Kazakhstan.
Year 1992
BJP-sponsored no-trust motion against the Rao Government defeated 334-106 in the Lok Sabha; Vajpayee ends fast.
Year 1993
JPC indicts RBI and Finance Ministry in the multi-crore security scam.
Year 1994
The IAF return from peace keeping duties as part of the Indian contingent supporting UN operations in Somalia.
Year 1998
The Viswabharati University in Calcutta presents the 'Deshikottama' award to Nobel laureate Prof. Amartya Sen.
Year 1999
Kushabhau Thakre, BJP president, said that Ayodhya issue was a 'programme' and not an ideology of the party.
Year 1999
The Gujarat Government asks the Hindu Jagran March to go-ahead with the 'Shilanyas' for a Ram temple at Halmodi in Surat district.
Year 1999
The Manisana Wage Board for Journalists and Non-Journalists of Newspapers presents tentative proposals to the Government.
Year 2000
Central Zone and South Zone are declared joint winners after the game ends in a tie in the final of the Deodhar Trophy one day cricket tournament in Lucknow.
Year 2000
Women's Bill put off again.
Year 2007
First joint exercise between India and China begins at Kunming Military Academy in Southern Yunnan Province of China.
Year 2008
Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan were included in the list of 50 powerful people of the world by America magazine News Week.
Year 2012
Gangnam Style became the first video to be viewed one billion times on YouTube.
Born 1903
Bhalchandra Digambar Garware, famous industrailist, was born.
Born 1921
P. N. Bhagwati, the 17th Chief Justice of India.
Born 1932
Ameen Sayani, a popular former radio announcer from India.
Born 1932
U. R. Ananthamurthy, an Indian contemporary writer, and critic in the Kannada language.
Born 1948
Samuel Jackson, an American actor, and producer.
Born 1903
B. D. Garware, an Indian industrialist.
Born 1950
Jeffrey Katzenberg, an American film producer, and media proprietor.
Born 1959
Krishnamachari Srikkanth, an Indian cricketer, and former chairman of the selection committee.
Born 1959
Florence Delores Griffith Joyner, an American track and field athlete.
Born 1963
Govinda, an Indian film actor.
Born 1966
Rajiv Bajaj, an Indian businessman, and the managing director of Bajaj Auto.
Born 1972
Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, an Indian politician, and the 17th and current Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
Born 1984
Mahira Khan, a Pakistani actress.
Born 1989
Tamanna Bhatia, an Indian film actress.
Died 1375
Giovanni Boccaccio, an Italian writer.
Died 1824
James Parkinson, an English surgeon.
Died 1940
Francis Scott Fitzgerald, an American novelist.
Died 1963
Jack Hobbs, an English professional cricketer.
Died 1972
Paul Hausser, a German general.
Died 2004
Autar Singh Paintal, Indian physiologist and neurologist (b. 1925)