WHAT HAPPENED ON 21. MAY
Want to find out what all happened on 21. May

Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Galerius as Caesar to Diocletian, beginning the period of four rulers known as the Tetrarchy. (21. May 293)

Syracuse, Italy, is captured by the Muslim sultan of Sicily. (21. May 878)

Pope John VIII gives blessings to Branimir of Croatia and to the Croatian people, considered to be international recognition of the Croatian state. (21. May 879)

Sixteen-year-old Otto III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. (21. May 996)

The Swedish town of Helsingborg is founded. (21. May 1085)

Dušan's Code, the constitution of the Serbian Empire, is enacted by Dušan the Mighty. (21. May 1349)

Henry III of Castile sends Ruy González de Clavijo as ambassador to Timur to discuss the possibility of an alliance between Timur and Castile against the Ottoman Empire. (21. May 1403)

The island of Saint Helena is discovered by the Portuguese explorer João da Nova. (21. May 1502)

Queen Mary I grants a royal Charter to Derby School, as a grammar school for boys in Derby, England. (21. May 1554)

The nobility elect John Sobieski King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. (21. May 1674)

The Order of St. Alexander Nevsky is instituted in Russia by Empress Catherine I. It would later be discontinued and then reinstated by the Soviet government in 1942 as the Order of Alexander Nevsky. (21. May 1725)

Ten-year-old Mary Campbell is abducted in Pennsylvania by Lenape during the French and Indian War. She is returned some six and a half years later. (21. May 1758)

The first day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling between the Austrian army led by Archduke Charles and the French army led by Napoleon I of France sees the French attack across the Danube held. (21. May 1809)

Slavery is abolished in Colombia, South America. (21. May 1851)

Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces. (21. May 1856)

American Civil War: The Union Army succeeds in closing off the last escape route from Port Hudson, Louisiana, in preparation for the coming siege. (21. May 1863)

Organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan. (21. May 1863)

Russia declares an end to the Russian-Circassian War and many Circassians are forced into exile. The day is designated the Circassian Day of Mourning. (21. May 1864)

French troops invade the Paris Commune and engage its residents in street fighting. By the close of "Bloody Week", some 20,000 communards have been killed and 38,000 arrested. (21. May 1871)

Opening of the first rack railway in Europe, the Rigi-Bahnen on Mount Rigi. (21. May 1871)