What Happened On This Day – July 21
2011 STS-135 lands
This space shuttle was the 135th and the last space shuttle flight of American Space Shuttle program.
1983 Lowest temperature ever measured on Earth
Vostok Station, a Russian station on Antarctica experienced the lowest temperatures ever measured in recorded human history. The temperatures fell to −128.6 °F (−89.2 °C)
1980 Mary Eugenia Charles is elected as PM of Dominica
Her election to office made her the first female and the longest PM of the Commonwealth of Dominica. She is also the first elected female head of state in the Americas.
1977 Libyan–Egyptian War begins
This short war between Libya and Egypt started with Libya striking Egyptian cities. The war lasted for 2 days with a ceasefire on July 24.
1969 First person walks on the Moon
Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon. He stepped on the Moon's surface almost 7 hours after Apollo 11, the space craft that carried them, landed on the Sea of Traquility on the Moon. After stepping on the Moon, Armstrong uttered his famous words, "one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."
Births On This Day – July 21
1948 Cat Stevens
English singer-songwriter, musician
1946 Ken Starr
American lawyer, judge
1911 Marshall McLuhan
Canadian author, theorist
1899 Ernest Hemingway
American writer, Nobel Prize laureate
1693 Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle
English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Deaths On This Day – July 21
2004 Jerry Goldsmith
American composer, conductor
2001 Sivaji Ganesan
Indian actor
1982 Dave Garroway
American journalist
1944 Claus von Stauffenberg
German army officer, member of the 20 July plot
1796 Robert Burns
Scottish poet