21 March: On This Day In History | What Special Day Is Today?

- 1918 – The Second Battle of the Somme began during World War I.
- 1960 – About 70 black African demonstrators were killed by police in Sharpeville, Gauteng province, during a protest against South Africa’s pass laws.
- 1963 – Closing of Alcatraz prison: The U.S. federal prison on San Francisco Bay’s Alcatraz Island, which had held some of the most dangerous civilian prisoners—including Al Capone and Robert Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz”.
- 1980 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced that the United States was boycotting the Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Freedom

- 1990 – After 106 years of German and South African rule, Namibia became independent.

Technology

- 2006 – Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey sent the first public tweet, which read “just setting up my twttr.”

Birth Anniversaries (21 March)

- 1806 – Mexican national hero Benito Juárez was born in San Pablo Guelatao, Oaxaca.
- 1880 – German painter Hans Hofmann, an influential art teacher and a pioneer in the use of improvisatory techniques whose work paved the way for American painters to develop Abstract Expressionism, was born.
- 1923 – Nizar Qabbani, Syrian diplomat and poet.
- 1949 – Slavoj Žižek, Slovenian philosopher.
- 1980 – Ronaldinho, Brazilian former professional footballer.

Death Anniversaries (21 March)

- 1181 – Taira Kiyomori, first of the Japanese soldier-dictators, whose victories in the Hōgen and Heiji disturbances marked the ascendancy of the provincial warrior class to positions of supreme power.
- 1487 – Saint Nicholas of Flüe, the patron saint of Switzerland. He was canonized in 1947. His feast day in Switzerland and Germany is September 25, elsewhere it is March 21.
- 1556 – Thomas Cranmer, the first Protestant archbishop of Canterbury, was burned at the stake for violating heresy laws revised under the Roman Catholic queen Mary I, known as Bloody Mary.
- 1857 – William Scoresby, English explorer, scientist, and clergyman who pioneered in the scientific study of the Arctic and contributed to the knowledge of terrestrial magnetism.
- 1938 – John Bates Clark, American economist.
- 2005 – Bobby Short, American singer and pianist.

What Special Day is Today: 21 March

Today stands for so many causes. Here’s a rundown of some of the prominent causes.

- International Colour Day
- International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- International Day of Forests and the Tree
- International Day of Nowruz
- World Down Syndrome Day
- World Poetry Day
- World Puppetry Day

Conclusion

We hope this article was enlightening and you found out what special day is today. This day has been a notable one for so many causes and stands as memory for some of the most amazing things happened.

If you have any interesting facts to share or anything to add to the above list, please share it in the comments. We would love to hear from you.

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