Ever-When
On this day

What happened on 21 May?

10 events from the Ever-When timeline, ranked by how much they mattered.

  1. 1527 Born: Philip II of Spain Habsburg king of Spain; Counter-Reformation champion; lost Armada vs England.
  2. 1998 Fall of Suharto Financial collapse and mass protests force Suharto to resign after 32 years, ending the New Order and opening Indonesia's Reformasi era of democratisation.
  3. 1991 Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi Former PM Rajiv Gandhi killed by an LTTE suicide bomber.
  4. 1420 Treaty of Troyes Henry V marries Catherine of Valois and is recognised as heir to Charles VI of France; the dual monarchy collapses on his early death.
  5. 1471 Henry VI dies in the Tower The night Edward IV returns to London in triumph from Tewkesbury, the twice-crowned, twice-deposed Henry VI dies in the Tower — of 'pure displeasure and melancholy', the official l
  6. 1871 Bloody Week (Semaine sanglante) French government troops crush the Paris Commune, killing an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Communards.
  7. 1981 Presidency of François Mitterrand Fourteen years, the longest presidency: nationalisations then the U-turn to austerity, abolition of the guillotine, Maastricht.
  8. 1930 Naidu leads the Dharasana Satyagraha After Gandhi's arrest, Naidu leads 2,500 marchers on the Dharasana salt works; police club the unresisting volunteers in a scene reported around the world.
  9. 1655 England takes Jamaica from Spain English invasion force seizes Jamaica during Cromwell's 'Western Design'; Spain formally cedes the island at the Treaty of Madrid (1670).
  10. 1382 Blackfriars Synod condemns Wycliffe Archbishop Courtenay's council in London condemns 24 of Wycliffe's propositions as heresy or error; an earthquake shakes the meeting, which both sides read as a sign from God.
Every event here sits on an interactive timeline of all of history — zoom from the Big Bang to today, side by side across countries and themes. Explore Ever-When · All timelines