On This Day for May 21 - First nonstop solo transatlantic flight made by Charles Lindbergh, Malcolm Fraser is featured, and more

Created: 2020-05-21 10:03 Updated: 2020-05-21 10:03 Notebook: On this Day in History

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May 21

FEATURED BIOGRAPHY

Malcolm Fraser

FEATURED EVENT

1927

First nonstop solo transatlantic flight made by Charles Lindbergh

MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY

2017: After years of declining attendance—in part due to animal rights protests—the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus gave its final performance. [Take our quiz about clowns.]

2000: British author Dame Barbara Cartland—who wrote more than 700 books, mostly formulaic novels of romantic love set in the 19th century—died. [Test your knowledge of famous authors.]

1991: Indian politician Rajiv Gandhi , who served as the country's prime minister (1984–89), was assassinated in a suicide bombing attack. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about India.]

1972: Michelangelo's Pietà, a sculpture depicting the Virgin Mary supporting the body of the dead Christ, was attacked and badly damaged in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. [How much do you know about Italian Renaissance art?]

1932: American aviator Amelia Earhart became the first woman to pilot an airplane solo across the Atlantic Ocean. [ Take our quiz about early aviation.]

1921: Soviet nuclear theoretical physicist and human rights advocate Andrey Sakharov, who won the 1975 Nobel Prize for Peace, was born in Moscow. [Test your knowledge of Nobel laureates in literature .]

SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY

ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY

1960

Jeffrey Dahmer
American serial killer

1527

Philip II
king of Spain and Portugal

1471

Albrecht Dürer
German artist

1904

Fats Waller
American musician

1959

Loretta Lynch
American lawyer and official