Malcolm X in Front Of Connecticut Capitol Building

1965

Malcolm X assassinated

Born on This Day

Portrait Of Nina Simone

Nina Simone

1933 - 2003

Singer-songwriter and pianist who blended various musical genres with civil rights activism on songs like "Mississippi Goddam."

Author David Foster Wallace.(Photo by BRUCE BISPING/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

David Foster Wallace

1962 - 2008

Novelist and essayist whose groundbreaking work "Infinite Jest" explored the complexities of modern life.

90th Annual Academy Awards - Press Room

Jordan Peele

1979 -

Actor, director and producer who starred in "Key & Peele" and created horror films "Get Out" and "Us."

Nina Simone

Getty Images

David Foster Wallace

Star Tribune via Getty Images

Jordan Peele

Getty Images

2016

FEB

21

Quadruple amputee Kyle Maynard summits Mt. Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in South America, after bear-crawling up the nearly 23,000-foot peak without prosthetics. Four years earlier, he had climbed Africa's Mt. Kilimanjaro the same way.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on February 21st

1848

Karl Marx publishes Communist Manifesto

On February 21, 1848, The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx with the assistance of Friedrich Engels, is published in London by the Communist League.

1862

Battle of Valverde

On February 21, 1862, at the Battle of Valverde, Confederate troops under General Henry Hopkins Sibley attack Union troops commanded by Colonel Edward R. S. Canby near Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory. The first major engagement of the Civil War in the far West, the battle produced heavy casualties but no decisive result. This […]

2:04m read read

1885

Washington Monument dedicated

The Washington Monument, built in honor of America’s revolutionary hero and first president, is dedicated in Washington, D.C. The 555-foot-high marble obelisk was first proposed in 1783, and Pierre L’Enfant left room for it in his designs for the new U.S. capital. After George Washington’s death in 1799, plans for a memorial for the “father […]

1:14m read read

1916

Battle of Verdun begins

At 7:12 a.m. on the morning of February 21, 1916, a shot from a German Krupp 38-centimeter long-barreled gun—one of over 1,200 such weapons set to bombard French forces along a 20-kilometer front stretching across the Meuse River—strikes a cathedral in Verdun, France, beginning the Battle of Verdun, which would stretch on for 10 months […]

3:10m read read

1918

Allied troops capture Jericho

On the morning of February 21, 1918, combined Allied forces of British troops and the Australian mounted cavalry capture the city of Jericho in Palestine after a three-day battle with Turkish troops. Commanded by British General Edmund Allenby, the Allied troops began the offensive on Tuesday, February 19, on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Despite battling […]

1944

Japanese prime minister Hideki Tojo makes himself “military czar”

On February 21, 1944, Hideki Tojo, prime minister of Japan, grabs even more power as he takes over as army chief of staff, a position that gives him direct control of the Japanese military. After graduating from the Imperial Military Academy and the Military Staff College, Tojo was sent to Berlin as Japan’s military attache […]

2:14m read read

1948

NASCAR founded

On February 21, 1948, the National Association for Stock Car Racing—or NASCAR, as it will come to be widely known—is officially incorporated. NASCAR racing will go on to become one of America’s most popular spectator sports, as well as a multi-billion-dollar industry. The driving force behind the establishment of NASCAR was William “Bill” France Sr. […]

2:18m read read

1952

Dick Button wins second Olympic figure skating gold

On February 21, 1952, men’s figure skater Dick Button wins his second Olympic gold medal. Button captured his first gold prize at the 1948 Olympics, becoming the first American to ever take home the men’s title. After dominating men’s figure skating at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics, Button retired from amateur competition and later became […]

1:18m read read

1961

Rockefeller imposter and convicted felon born

On February 21, 1961, Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, a con man who went by the alias Clark Rockefeller and passed himself off as an American blueblood, is born in Germany. Gerhartsreiter gained the public spotlight in 2008, when he kidnapped his young daughter and became the target of an international manhunt. The attention the case sparked […]

2:48m read read

1970

Henry Kissinger begins secret negotiations with North Vietnamese

National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger begins secret peace talks with North Vietnamese representative Le Duc Tho, the fifth-ranking member of the Hanoi Politburo, at a villa outside Paris. Le Duc Tho stated that the North Vietnamese position continued to require an unconditional U.S. withdrawal on a fixed date and the abandonment of the Thieu government […]

1972

President Nixon arrives in China for talks

In an amazing turn of events, President Richard Nixon takes a dramatic first step toward normalizing relations with the communist People’s Republic of China (PRC) by traveling to Beijing for a week of talks. Nixon’s historic visit began the slow process of the re-establishing diplomatic relations between the United States and communist China. Still mired […]

2:28m read read

1981

Dolly Parton cements her crossover success as “9 to 5” hits #1

On February 21, 1981, Dolly Parton notches the biggest hit of her career, when the song “9 to 5” reaches #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song, a soundtrack to the movie of the same name, would cement her crossover from country music to mainstream superstardom. Parton brought the full range of her […]

2:12m read read

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