Year 1556
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer was burned alive as a punishment for preaching Christianity.
MARCH 21
Daily Historical Chronicle
UPSC CSE • State PSC • SSC CGL Matrix
21 March: 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 March.
Observances & Special Days
International Day of Forests
World Poetry Day: This day was declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999. The purpose of the day is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world.
Australia's Harmony Day
Mother's Day (Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan)
Namibia's Independence Day
Human Rights Day (South Africa)
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Year 1858
Sir Hugh Rose besieged Zanzibar.
Year 1871
Otto von Bismarck became Chancellor of Germany.
Year 1935
Shah Raza Pahlavi called for Persia to be renamed Iran.
Year 1960
Police in the South African city of Sharpeville shot down 69 people by firing a group of blacks peacefully protesting against apartheid.
Year 1977
End of the National Emergency in India.
Year 1990
Namibia became independent after 75 years of South African rule.
Year 2006
Social media site Twitter launched.
Year 2010
The Indian Navy successfully test-fired a vertical launch version of the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile from the Indian Army warship Ranveer in the Bay of Bengal off Odisha coast.
Equinox: An equinox is a moment in which the plane of Earth's equator passes through the centre of the Sun, which occurs twice each year, around 20 March and 23 September. On an equinox, day and night are of approximately equal duration all over the planet.
Born 1768
Joseph Fourier, a French mathematician, and physicist.
Born 1887
M. N. Roy, an Indian revolutionary, radical activist, and political theorist.
Born 1916
Ustad Bismillah Khan, an Indian musician credited with popularizing the Shehnai.
Born 1923
Nirmala Srivastava, the Indian religious leader, founded Sahaja Yoga (d. 2011)
Born 1944
Iftikhar Arif, a Pakistani Urdu poet.
Born 1970
Shobana, an Indian film actress and Bharatanatyam dancer.
Born 1978
Rani Mukerji, an Indian film actress.
Died 1556
Thomas Cranmer, a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop.
Died 1985
Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, an English stage and film actor.
Died 2001
Chung Ju-Yung, a South Korean entrepreneur, businessman, and the founder of Hyundai Groups of South Korea.
Died 2003
Shivani, Indian author (b. 1923)