On This Day in History

February 21

Historical Events

1173 Pope Alexander III canonizes Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury.

1613 Michael Romanov, son of the Patriarch of Moscow, is elected the first Russian Tsar of the House of Romanov.

1804 The world’s first steam locomotive, built by Richard Trevithick, runs for the first time along the tramway of the Penydarren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.

1916 Battle of Verdun begins with a German offensive, leads to an estimated 1 million casualties and becomes the longest battle of the entire war (9 months).

Richard Nixon meets Chairman Mao in Beijing

1972 Richard Nixon becomes the first US President to visit China, normalizing relations between the countries in a meeting with Chinese leader Mao Zedong in Beijing

More Historical Events

Famous Birthdays

Santa Anna 1794 - 1876 Hubert de Givenchy 1927 - 2018

John Lewis 1940 - 2020 Scott Kelly 60th Birthday

Also Nina Simone, Jennifer Love Hewitt (45) and Elliot Page (37).

More Famous Birthdays

Famous Deaths

Anne Frank 1929 - 1945 Malcolm X 1925 - 1965

Also James I, Frederick Banting and Tim Horton.

More Famous Deaths

Billy Graham, The Peerless Preacher

Billy Graham, one of the most influential Christian leaders of the 20th century and friend to a line of presidents including Obama and Bush, died on this day.

Learn about Billy Graham