21 February in history

6 events that happened on 21 February, from 1613 to 1972.

  1. ✦ Anniversary of the day

    1613 CE 413 years ago

    Mikhail Romanov elected Tsar of Russia

    An assembly of the land chose sixteen-year-old Mikhail Romanov as tsar (21 February Old Style), ending the Time of Troubles. His dynasty ruled Russia until the revolution of 1917.

  2. 1804 CE 222 years ago

    Trevithick's steam locomotive makes the first railway journey

    Richard Trevithick's locomotive hauled ten tons of iron and some 70 men along the Penydarren tramway in South Wales. It was the first working railway journey by a steam locomotive.

  3. 1848 CE 178 years ago

    Marx and Engels publish 'The Communist Manifesto'

    Commissioned by the Communist League, the pamphlet appeared in German in London just as revolution swept Europe. Its call 'Workers of the world, unite!' inspired socialist movements for generations.

    London

  4. 1916 CE 110 years ago

    Battle of Verdun begins

    After a massive bombardment, the German army attacked the French fortress city of Verdun. The battle lasted ten months and caused some 700,000 casualties, becoming a symbol of French endurance.

    German EmpireBattle of Verdun

  5. 1965 CE 61 years ago

    Malcolm X assassinated in Harlem

    Malcolm X was shot dead as he began speaking at the Audubon Ballroom in New York. A year after leaving the Nation of Islam, he had been moving towards a broader vision of human rights.

    New York

  6. 1972 CE 54 years ago

    Richard Nixon arrives in Beijing

    Nixon became the first US President to visit the People's Republic of China, meeting Mao Zedong. His week-long trip ended more than two decades of hostility and reshaped Cold War diplomacy.

    People's Republic of ChinaBeijing

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