21 April in history

9 events that happened on 21 April, from 753 BCE to 1960.

1. ✦ Anniversary of the day

   

   753 BCE 2,778 years ago

   Romulus founds Rome, according to Roman tradition

   Roman writers placed the city's foundation by Romulus on the Palatine on 21 April 753 BCE, a date fixed by the scholar Varro. Romans celebrated it each year as the Parilia.

2. 43 BCE 2,068 years ago

   Mark Antony fights Senate forces at the Battle of Mutina

   At Mutina in Cisalpine Gaul, Senate forces under the consuls Pansa and Hirtius, with Octavian, fought Mark Antony, who was besieging Caesar's assassin Decimus Brutus there. Brutus was relieved, but later deserted by his troops and killed.

   Mark AntonyDecimus Junius Brutus Albinus

3. 900 CE 1,126 years ago

   A debt pardon is recorded on the Laguna Copperplate Inscription

   A copper plate dated to the Saka year 822 recorded the cancellation of a debt and named a leader of Tundun, usually identified with Tondo on Luzon. Found in 1989, it is the oldest known document from the Philippines.

   Laguna Copperplate InscriptionLuzon

4. 1092 CE 934 years ago

   Pope Urban II raises Pisa to an archdiocese

   Pope Urban II elevated the Diocese of Pisa, founded in the 4th century, to the dignity of a metropolitan archdiocese, with its seat in the cathedral of the Assumption.

   Pope Urban II

5. 1506 CE 520 years ago

   Three days of massacre in Lisbon come to an end

   Rioting stirred up by Dominican friars killed between 1,000 and 4,000 New Christians, Jews forcibly converted in 1497. King Manuel I punished the city and had two of the friars executed.

   New ChristiansLisbon

6. 1782 CE 244 years ago

   Rama I founds Bangkok as Siam's new capital

   The city pillar of Bangkok was erected on the east bank of the Chao Phraya, marking the official founding of the new royal capital. It replaced Thonburi across the river.

7. 1836 CE 190 years ago

   Texans defeat Santa Anna at San Jacinto

   Sam Houston's army surprised the Mexican camp and won in about eighteen minutes. Santa Anna was captured the next day and forced to order his troops out of Texas, securing its independence.

8. 1918 CE 108 years ago

   The Red Baron is shot down and killed near Amiens

   Manfred von Richthofen, credited with 80 victories, was killed while pursuing an enemy aircraft over the Somme. Whether a Canadian pilot or Australian ground gunners fired the fatal shot is still debated.

9. 1960 CE 66 years ago

   Brasília is inaugurated as Brazil's capital

   Built in under four years to plans by Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer, Brasília replaced Rio de Janeiro as capital. It was meant to draw development into Brazil's interior.

   Rio de JaneiroBrazil

Born on 21 April 4

• Sancho VI of Navarre1132–1194
• Marco Antonio Bragadin1523–1571
• Jan van Riebeeck1619–1677
• Elizabeth II1926–2022

Died on 21 April 12

• Emperor Xian of Han181–234
• Anselm of Canterburyc. 1033–1109
• Marie of Montpellierc. 1182–1213
• Henry VII of England1457–1509
• Cosimo I de' Medici1519–1574
• Sen no Rikyū1522–1591
• Prince Eugene of Savoy1663–1736
• Mark Twain1835–1910
• John Maynard Keynes1883–1946
• François Duvalier1907–1971
• Tancredo Neves1910–1985
• Pope Francis1936–2025

Dates as the sources give them: in the Julian calendar before 1582, and in some countries for longer (Britain until 1752, Russia until 1918). Only people whose day of birth or death the records agree on are listed.

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