March 21

2024 Calendar

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