What Happened On This Day – June 21
2009 Greenland assumes self-rule
The island had been administered by Denmark (earlier Denmark-Norway) for centuries. The Self-Government Act grants Greenland full responsibility for its inner affairs, while Denmark retains control of foreign policy.
2004 SpaceShipOne completes the world's first manned private spaceflight
The privately funded spaceplane reached an altitude of just over 100 kilometers (62 miles). Mike Melvill was the pilot and only occupant.
1985 The body of Josef Mengele is identified
An international team of scientists confirmed that the skeletal remains found in a cemetery in Embu, Brazil are those of the Nazi war criminal. Mengele was a physician in the Auschwitz concentration camp and conducted horrific experiments on some of the inmates.
1963 Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini becomes Pope Paul VI
The Italian pontiff is known for completing the Second Vatican Council, addressing the Roman Catholic Church's relationship with the modern world.
1895 The Kiel Canal is opened by German Emperor Wilhelm II
The 98 km (61 mi) long canal in Northern Germany is one of the world's busiest artificial waterways. It connects the North Sea with the Baltic Sea.
Births On This Day – June 21
1986 Lana Del Rey
American singer-songwriter, model
1982 Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
1964 David Morrissey
English actor
1953 Benazir Bhutto
Pakistani politician, first female Prime Minister of Pakistan
1905 Jean-Paul Sartre
French philosopher, writer
Deaths On This Day – June 21
1970 Sukarno
Indonesian politician, 1st President of Indonesia
1940 Smedley Butler
American marine general
1908 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Russian composer
1527 Niccolò Machiavelli
Italian historian, philosopher
1377 Edward III of England