March 21
March 21 is the 80th day of the year (81st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 285 days remaining until the end of the year. It is the traditional date of the March equinox, although it often falls on March 20.
Events
Up to 1900
- 547 – Benedict of Nursia, Italian monk (b. 480)
- 1063 - Richeza Lotharingia, Queen of Poland
- 1076 – Robert I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1011)
- 1181 - Taira Kiromori, Japanese general (b. 1118)
- 1306 – Robert II, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1248)
- 1487 - Nicholas of Flue, Swiss patron saint (b. 1417)
- 1556 – Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1489)
- 1617 – Pocahontas, Native American, daughter of Powhatan (b. 1595)
- 1653 - Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha, Albanian statesman and Grand Vizier
- 1729 - John Law, Scottish economist (b. 1671)
- 1734 - Robert Wodrow, Scottish historian (b. 1679)
- 1762 – Nicholas Louis de Lacaille, French astronomer (b. 1713)
- 1772 - Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, French cartographer (b. 1703)
- 1795 - Giovanni Arduino, Italian geologist (b. 1714)
- 1801 – Andrea Luchesi, Italian composer (b. 1741)
- 1843 – Guadalupe Victoria, 1st President of Mexico (b. 1786)
- 1843 - Robert Southey, English poet (b. 1774)
- 1857 – William Scoresby, British explorer (b. 1789)
- 1884 - Ezra Abbot, American scholar (b. 1819)
1901 – 2000
- 1910 – Nadar, French photographer (b. 1820)
- 1915 – Frederick Winslow Taylor, American inventor (b. 1856)
- 1920 - Federigo Tozzi, Italian writer (b. 1883)
- 1932 - Frantz Reichel, French athlete and rugby player (b. 1871)
- 1936 – Alexander Glazunov, Russian composer (b. 1865)
- 1943 - Cornelia Fort, American pilot (b. 1919)
- 1957 – C. K. Ogden, English writer (b. 1889)
- 1961 - Morgan Foster Larson, Governor of New Jersey (b. 1882)
- 1980 - Peter Stoner, American mathematician, astronomer and Christian apologist (b. 1888)
- 1985 – Michael Redgrave, British actor (b. 1908)
- 1987 - Dean Paul Martin, American tennis player, singer, actor and military pilot (b. 1951)
- 1987 - Robert Preston, American actor (b. 1918)
- 1991 – Leo Fender, American guitar maker (b. 1909)
- 1992 – John Ireland, Canadian movie actor and director (b. 1914)
- 1993 - Sebastiano Baggio, Italian cardinal (b. 1913)
- 1997 - Wilbert Awdry, English writer (Thomas the Tank Engine) (b. 1911)
- 1998 – Galina Ulanova, Russian ballerina (b. 1910)
- 1999 - Jean Guitton, French philosopher, writer and theologian (b. 1905)
- 1999 – Ernie Wise, British comedian (b. 1925)
From 2001
- 2001 – Anthony Steel, British actor (b. 1920)
- 2001 - Chung Ju-young, South Korean entrepreneur and businessman, founder of Hyundai (b. 1915)
- 2002 - Herman Talmadge, American politician (b. 1913)
- 2002 - Milly Dowler, British teenager (murdered) (b. 1988)
- 2003 - Umar Wirahadikusumah, 4th Vice President of Indonesia (b. 1924)
- 2004 - Ludmila Tchérina, French actress, dancer and choreographer (b. 1924)
- 2009 - Walt Poddubny, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1960)
- 2010 – Wolfgang Wagner, German opera director and festival organiser (b. 1919)
- 2011 – Nikolai Andrianov, Soviet-Russian gymnast (b. 1952)
- 2011 – Pinetop Perkins, American musician (b. 1913)
- 2012 – Tonino Guerra, Italian poet, writer and screenwriter (b. 1920)
- 2013 - Pietro Mennea, Italian sprinter and politician (b. 1952)
- 2013 - Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist, poet and academic (b. 1930)
- 2013 - Elsie Thompson, American supercentenarian (b. 1899)
- 2014 - Jack Fleck, American golfer (b. 1921)
- 2014 - Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Iraqi patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church (b. 1933)
- 2014 - James Rebhorn, American actor (b. 1948)
- 2015 - Perro Aguayo Jr., Mexican professional wrestler (b. 1979)
- 2015 - Chuck Bednarik, American football player (b. 1925)
- 2015 - Hans Erni, Swiss painter, designer and sculptor (b. 1909)
- 2015 - James C. Binnicker, American air force officer (b. 1938)
- 2015 - Alberta Watson, Canadian actress (b. 1955)
- 2016 - Joseph Mercieca, Maltese archbishop (b. 1928)
- 2016 - Andrew Grove, Hungarian-born American businessman, engineer and author (b. 1926)
- 2017 - Martin McGuinness, Northern Irish politician (b. 1950)
- 2017 - Colin Dexter, English writer (b. 1930)
- 2017 - Henri Emmanuelli, French politician (b. 1945)
- 2017 - Chuck Barris, American television host, producer and game show creator (b. 1929)
- 2017 - August Englas, Estonian wrestler (b. 1925)
- 2017 - Roy Fisher, British poet and jazz pianist (b. 1930)
- 2018 - Anna-Lisa, Norwegian-American actress (b. 1933)
- 2018 - Tom Higgins, American rock climber (b. 1944)
- 2018 - Rolf Leeser, German-Dutch footballer (b. 1929)
- 2018 - James C. Irwin, American military officer (b. 1929)
- 2018 - John W. Vogt, American engineer and politician (b. 1936)
- 2018 - Leo C. Zeferetti, American politician (b. 1927)
Births
1901 – 1950
- 1901 – Karl Arnold, German politician (d. 1958)
- 1904 - Nikos Skalkottas, Greek composer (d. 1949)
- 1906 - John D. Rockefeller III, American philanthropist (d. 1978)
- 1910 – Mohammad Siddiq S Khan, Bangladeshi intellectual (d. 1978)
- 1913 – George Abecassis, British racing driver (d. 1991)
- 1914 - Paul Tortelier, French cellist (d. 1990)
- 1916 - Bismillah Khan, Indian musician (d. 2006)
- 1917 - Yigael Yadin, Israeli archaeologist, general and politician (d. 1984)
- 1918 - Patrick Lucey, 38th Governor of Wisconsin (d. 2014)
- 1919 - R. M. Hare, British philosopher (d. 2002)
- 1920 - Georg Ots, Estonian opera singer (d. 1975)
- 1920 – Eric Rohmer, French director (d. 2010)
- 1921 - Antony Hopkins, English composer, conductor and pianist (d. 2014)
- 1922 - Russ Meyer, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter (d. 2004)
- 1923 – Nirmala Srivastava, Indian religious figure (d. 2011)
- 1925 - Harold Ashby, American saxophonist (d. 2003)
- 1925 - Peter Brook, English theatre and movie director
- 1927 – Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German politician and diplomat (d. 2016)
- 1927 - Halton Arp, American astronomer (d. 2013)
- 1928 - Surya Bahadur Thapa, Prime Minister of Nepal (d. 2015)
- 1929 - Jimmy Wardhaugh, Scottish footballer (d. 1978)
- 1931 - Alda Merini, Italian poet (d. 2009)
- 1931 – Richard Ratsimandrava, President of Madagascar (d. 1975)
- 1932 – Walter Gilbert, American chemist
- 1932 - Joseph Silverstein, American violinist and conductor (d. 2015)
- 1933 – Michael Heseltine, British politician
- 1933 - Antonio Pica, Spanish footballer (d. 2014)
- 1934 - Al Freeman, Jr., American actor (d. 2012)
- 1935 – Brian Clough, English footballer and manager (d. 2004)
- 1935 - Erich Kunzel, American conductor (d. 2009)
- 1937 - Ann Clwyd, Welsh politician
- 1938 - Luigi Tenco, Italian singer (d. 1967)
- 1940 – Solomon Burke, American singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
- 1942 – Fradique de Menezes, former President of São Tomé and Príncipe
- 1942 – Ali Abdullah Saleh, former President of Yemen (d. 2017)
- 1942 - Kostas Politis, Greek basketball player and coach
- 1943 – Vivian Stanshall, English musician (d. 1995)
- 1944 - Marie-Christine Barrault, French actress
- 1944 - Hideki Ishima, Japanese guitarist
- 1944 - Cox Habbema, Dutch actress (d. 2016)
- 1944 - Mike Jackson, British general
- 1946 – Timothy Dalton, British actor
- 1946 - Joseph Mitsuaki Takami, 9th Archbishop of Nagasaki
- 1946 - Ray Dorset, British musician
- 1947 - Michael Dibdin, British writer (d. 2007)
- 1949 - Eddie Money, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
- 1949 – Slavoj Zizek, Slovenian sociologist and cultural critic
- 1950 – Roger Hodgson, English musician
- 1950 - Sergey Lavrov, Russian politician and diplomat
1951 – 1975
- 1954 - Mike Dunleavy, American basketball coach
- 1955 - Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil
- 1956 – Ingrid Kristiansen, Norwegian athlete
- 1957 – Youssef Rzouga, Tunisian poet
- 1958 - Marlies Göhr, German athlete
- 1958 – Gary Oldman, British actor
- 1959 – Nobuo Uematsu, Japanese composer
- 1959 - Sarah Jane Morris, English singer-songwriter
- 1960 – Ayrton Senna, Brazilian Formula 1 driver (d. 1994)
- 1960 - Jim Matheson, American politician
- 1961 – Lothar Matthaus, German footballer
- 1961 - Kassie DePaiva, American actress
- 1962 – Rosie O'Donnell, American comedienne, actress, talk show host, and publisher
- 1962 – Matthew Broderick, American actor
- 1963 - Ronald Koeman, Dutch footballer
- 1963 – Shawn Lane, American musician
- 1964 - Ieuan Evans, Welsh rugby player
- 1964 - Jesper Skibby, Danish cyclist
- 1965 - Xavier Bertrand, French politician
- 1966 - Benito Archundia, Mexican football referee
- 1966 - DJ Premier, American DJ and producer
- 1967 – Jonas Berggren, Swedish musician (Ace of Base)
- 1967 – Carwyn Jones, Welsh politician and former First Minister of Wales
- 1967 – Adrian Chiles, English television presenter
- 1968 - Scott Williams, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1969 – Ali Daei, Iranian footballer
- 1972 - Chris Candido, American professional wrestler (d. 2005)
- 1974 - Laura Allen, American actress
- 1975 – Mark Williams, Welsh snooker player
- 1975 - Yacoub Al-Mohana, Kuwaiti producer and director
From 1976
- 1976 - Rachael MacFarlane, American voice actress
- 1978 – Nick Baines, English musician (Kaiser Chiefs)
- 1978 – Kevin Federline, American dancer
- 1978 – Rani Mukerji, Indian actress and model
- 1980 – Marit Bjorgen, Norwegian cross-country skier
- 1980 – Ronaldinho, Brazilian footballer
- 1980 - Deryck Whibley, Canadian singer and guitarist (Sum 41)
- 1980 - Lee Jin, South Korean actress
- 1982 – Antar Yahia, Algerian footballer
- 1982 – Aaron Hill, American baseball player
- 1982 - Ejegayehu Dibaba, Ethiopian long-distance runner
- 1982 - Colin Turkington, Northern Irish racing driver
- 1983 - Gonzalo Fierro, Chilean footballer
- 1984 - Guillermo Daniel Rodriguez, Uruguayan footballer
- 1986 - Michu, Spanish footballer
- 1988 – Lee Cattermole, English footballer
- 1989 - Jordi Alba, Spanish footballer
- 1989 – Rochelle Humes, English singer (The Saturdays)
- 1989 – Nicolas Lodeiro, Uruguayan footballer
- 1990 - Mandy Capristo, German singer-songwriter and producer
- 1991 - Luke Chapman, English footballer
- 1991 - Antoine Griezmann, French footballer
- 1993 - Jade Jones, Welsh taekwondoin
- 1993 - Jade Bidwell, English footballer
- 1993 - Suraj Sharma, Indian actor
- 1997 - Martina Stoessel, Argentine actress, singer, dancer and model
- 2004 - Count Claus-Casimir of Orange-Nassau, Jonkheer van Amsberg, Dutch royal
Deaths
Observances
- Independence Day (Namibia)
- Human Rights Day (South Africa)
- Benito Juarez' birthday (Mexico)
- Spring Equinox – Northern Hemisphere
- Autumn Equinox – Southern Hemisphere
- International Day against racial discrimination (after Sharpeville massacre)
- World Poetry Day
- Youth Day (Tunisia)
- Harmony Day (Australia)
- World Down syndrome Day
- Mother's Day (Most of the Arab World)
- World Puppetry Day
- International Colour Day
- International Day of Forests