What Happened on November 21st in History
30 historical events on this date
The Birmingham pub bombings kill 21 people. The Birmingham Six are sentenced to life in prison for the crime but are later exonerated.
On 21 November 1974, bombs exploded in two pubs in Birmingham, England, killing 21 people and injuring 182 others.
Minister of Internal Affairs Allan Highet announces that the national anthems of New Zealand shall be the traditional anthem "God Save the Queen" and "God Defend New Zealand".
The Minister of Internal Affairs is a minister in the New Zealand Government with responsibility over the Department of Internal Affairs. The position of Minister of Internal Affairs has existed...
The United States Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, is attacked by a mob and set on fire, killing four.
Islamabad is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million; and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of...
A deadly fire breaks out at the MGM Grand Hotel in Paradise, Nevada (now Bally's Las Vegas). Eighty-five people are killed and more than 650 are injured in the worst disaster in Nevada history.
The MGM Grand fire occurred on Friday, November 21, 1980, at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The fire killed 85 people, most through smoke...
United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard is arrested for spying after being caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations. He is subsequently sentenced to life in prison.
Jonathan Jay Pollard is an American-born Israeli spy and former intelligence analyst who was jailed for spying for Israel.
National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents allegedly implicating them in the Iran–Contra affair.
Oliver Laurence North is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel.
Aeroflot Flight 37577 crashes on approach to Sovetsky Airport, killing 32.
Aeroflot Flight 37577 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Perm to Sovetsky. On November 21, 1989, the An-24B aircraft crashed near Sovetsky, killing 32 of the 40 people on board.
Bangkok Airways Flight 125 crashes on approach to Samui Airport, killing 38.
Bangkok Airways Flight 125 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Bangkok to Koh Samui, Thailand. On 21 November 1990, the de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 operating the flight was on approach...
A major tornado strikes the Houston, Texas area during the afternoon. Over the next two days the largest tornado outbreak ever to occur in the US during November spawns over 100 tornadoes.
A tornado, also known as a twister, is a rapidly rotating column of air that extends vertically from the surface of the Earth to the base of a cumulonimbus or cumulus cloud. Tornadoes are often...
The Dayton Agreement is initialed at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, ending three and a half years of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords, and colloquially known as the Dayton, is the peace agreement ending the...
Humberto Vidal explosion: Thirty-three people die when a Humberto Vidal shoe shop in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico explodes.
The Humberto Vidal explosion was a gas explosion that occurred on November 21, 1996 at the Humberto Vidal shoe store in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. The explosion killed 33 and wounded 69 others when...
Finnish satanist Jarno Elg kills a 23-year-old man and performs a ritual-like cutting and eating of body parts in Hyvinkää, Finland.
Satanism refers to a group of religious, ideological, or philosophical beliefs based on Satan—particularly his worship or veneration. Because of the ties to the historical Abrahamic religious...
NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance between 32 member states—30 in Europe and two in North America. Founded in the aftermath of World War II, NATO...
Arturo Guzmán Decena, founder of Los Zetas and high-member of the Gulf Cartel, is killed in a shoot-out with the Mexican Army and the police.
Arturo Guzmán Decena, also known by his code name Z-1, was a Mexican Army Special Forces officer and high-ranking member of Los Zetas, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas. He defected from the...
The second round of the Ukrainian presidential election is held, giving rise to massive protests and controversy over the election's integrity.
Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 October, 21 November, 26 December 2004 and 1 January 2005. This was the fourth presidential election in Ukraine following independence from the...
Dominica is hit by the most destructive earthquake in its history. The northern half of the island sustains the most damage, especially the town of Portsmouth. In neighboring Guadeloupe, one person is killed.
Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The...
The Paris Club agrees to write off 80% (up to $100 billion) of Iraq's external debt.
Paris Club is a group of major creditor countries aiming to provide a sustainable way to tackle debt problems in debtor countries. Its creation, which is the first informal meeting, dates back to...
China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210 crashes after takeoff from Baotou Donghe Airport, killing 55.
China Eastern Airlines Flight 5210 (CES5210/MU5210), also known as the Baotou Air Disaster, was a scheduled flight from Baotou in Inner Mongolia, China, to Shanghai, with a planned stopover at...
Anti-Syrian Lebanese politician and government minister Pierre Gemayel is assassinated in suburban Beirut.
Pierre Amine Gemayel was a Lebanese politician in the Kataeb Party, also known as the Phalange Party in English.
A mine explosion in Heilongjiang, China kills 108.
The 2009 Heilongjiang mine explosion was a mining accident that occurred on November 21, 2009, near Hegang in the Heilongjiang, northeastern China, which killed 108 people. A further 29 people were...
At least 28 are wounded after a bomb is thrown onto a bus in Tel Aviv.
The 2012 Tel Aviv bus bombing was a mass-injury terror attack carried out on November 21, 2012, on a crowded passenger bus driving in the center of Tel Aviv's business district. The attack was...
Fifty-four people are killed when the roof of a shopping center collapses in Riga, Latvia.
On 21 November 2013 the roof of a Maxima shopping centre in the Zolitūde neighbourhood of Riga, Latvia, collapsed at 17:44 local time, resulting in the deaths of 54 people, including three rescue...
Massive protests start in Ukraine after President Viktor Yanukovych suspended signing the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement.
Euromaidan, or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv. The protests were...
A stampede in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe caused by the police firing tear gas kills at least eleven people and injures 40 others.
On 21 November 2014, a stampede occurred at Mbizo Stadium in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe, killing 11 and injuring 40 people. Reuters reported that around 30,000 people attended a religious service officiated...
The government of Belgium imposes a security lockdown on Brussels, including the closure of shops, schools, and public transportation, due to potential terrorist attacks.
The Federal Government of Belgium exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretaries of state drawn from the political parties which form the governing...
Robert Mugabe formally resigns as President of Zimbabwe, after thirty-seven years in office.
Robert Gabriel Mugabe was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who led Zimbabwe from 1980 until he was deposed in a coup in 2017. He served as the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is indicted on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is an Israeli politician and diplomat who has served as Prime Minister of Israel since 2022. Having previously held office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021,...
Tesla launches the SUV Cybertruck. A gaffe occurs during the launch event when its "unbreakable" windows shatter during demonstration.
Tesla, Inc. is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it designs, manufactures, and sells battery electric vehicles (BEVs), stationary battery...
An SUV plows through a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, killing six and injuring 62.
On November 21, 2021, Darrell Edward Brooks Jr. drove a sport utility vehicle (SUV) through the annual Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States, killing six people and injuring 62...
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake on the Indonesian island of Java kills between 335 and 602 people.
On 21 November 2022, at 13:21 WIB (UTC+07:00), a Mww 5.6 earthquake struck near Cianjur in West Java, Indonesia. The strike-slip earthquake occurred with a focal depth of 11 km (6.8 mi). Between 335...