5 / 21 History Vault
Discover public domain milestones, art masterworks, and wisdom quotes. (13)
Famous Pioneer Born on 5/21
Born under Gemini (♊ Gemini), possessing unique vision and inspiration.
"We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once."
—— Gemini Pioneer
Impression, Sunrise
Impression, Sunrise is a world-class museum collection item preserved at Musée Marmottan Monet.
Claude Monet (Oil on canvas)
Historical Milestone of 5/21
On this day in history (5/21), significant global milestones and breakthroughs were recorded across science, culture, and human society.
Ivan_De_Santis Born
Ivan Francesco De Santis is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a defender. A centre-back, he made his professional debut on 2 November 2016, for Catania.
「Ivan Francesco De Santis is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a defende...」
—— Ivan_De_Santis
Sisca_Folkertsma Born
Sippie Catharine "Sisca" Folkertsma is a Dutch footballer who plays as a forward for Dutch Vrouwen Eredivisie club PSV and the Netherlands national team.
「Sippie Catharine "Sisca" Folkertsma is a Dutch footballer who plays as a forward for ...」
—— Sisca_Folkertsma
Viktoria_Petryk Born
Viktoria Ihorivna "Vika" Petryk is a Ukrainian singer and songwriter who represented Ukraine at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008, held in Limassol, Cyprus, with the song "Matrosy" ("Sailors"). She finished in second place.
「Viktoria Ihorivna "Vika" Petryk is a Ukrainian singer and songwriter who represented ...」
—— Viktoria_Petryk
Indonesian president Suharto resigned after a collapse of support for his presidency amid economic and political crises, ending 32 years in power.
Suharto was an Indonesian general and politician who served as the second and longest-serving president of Indonesia from 1967 to 1998.
Elena_Huelva Born
Elena Huelva Palomo was a Spanish cancer activist, influencer, and writer. Through her regular use of social media, she divulged information about Ewing sarcoma, the type of cancer she was suffering from, to a wider audience, and demanded more investment for cancer research. She was credited with increasing the visibility of childhood bone cancer while dispelling misconceptions and myths about the disease.
「Elena Huelva Palomo was a Spanish cancer activist, influencer, and writer. Through he...」
—— Elena_Huelva
The world's tallest roller coaster, Kingda Ka, opened at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, U.S.
A roller coaster is a type of amusement ride employing a form of elevated railroad track that carries passengers on a train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements. Roller coasters are usually designed to produce a thrilling experience, though some roller coasters aim to provide a more gentle experience. Trains consist of open cars connected in a single line, and tracks are typically built and designed as a complete circuit in which trains depart from and return to the same loading station. The rides are typically found in amusement parks around the world but can also be located in shopping malls and zoos. The Roller Coaster DataBase records over 6,000 extant roller coasters as of January 2026.
A Taiwanese man carried out a stabbing spree on a Taipei Metro train, killing four people and injuring 24 others.
On 21 May 2014, a Taiwanese man carried out a stabbing spree targeting random civilians on a Taipei Metro C321 train near Jiangzicui Station, resulting in four deaths and 24 injuries. It was the first fatal attack on the city's subway system since operations began in 1996. The attacker, 21-year-old Cheng Chieh, was arrested after the attack. He was sentenced to death, in addition to 144 years in prison, and was executed on 10 May 2016.
Islamic State militants entered the ancient city of Palmyra.
The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and by its Arabic acronym Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist militant organisation and internationally unrecognised quasi-state. IS occupied a significant amount of territory in Iraq and Syria from 2013 to 2016, but lost most of it between 2017 and 2019. In 2014, the group proclaimed itself to be a worldwide caliphate and claimed religious and political authority over all Muslims worldwide, a claim not accepted by the vast majority of Muslims. It is designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations and many countries around the world, including Muslim countries.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus perform their final show at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, or simply Ringling, is an American traveling circus company billed as The Greatest Show on Earth. It and its predecessors have run shows from 1871, with a hiatus from 2017 to 2023. The circus started in 1919 when the Barnum & Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth, a circus created by P. T. Barnum and James Anthony Bailey, was merged with the Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows. The Ringling brothers purchased Barnum & Bailey Ltd. in 1907 following Bailey's death in 1906, but ran the circuses separately until they were merged in 1919.
Ringling_Bros._and_Barnum_&_Bailey_Circus
The Greenfield tornado, estimated to have produced winds in excess of 309 miles per hour (497 km/h), moved across Iowa.
On the afternoon of May 21, 2024, a violent and destructive EF4 tornado tracked across southwestern Iowa, United States, devastating the city of Greenfield. The tornado, known most commonly as the Greenfield tornado, destroyed many buildings and wind turbines across its path that stretched through Page, Taylor, Adams, and Adair counties, while also causing more than $31 million in property damage, killing five people and injuring 35 more. The tornado reached peak intensity within Greenfield, where National Weather Service surveyors denoted maximum wind speeds estimated at 185 mph (298 km/h), or EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale. However, estimated winds of 309–318 mph (497–512 km/h) were briefly determined from inside the tornado by a Doppler on Wheels portable radar unit, one of only three times that wind speeds exceeding 300 miles per hour (480 km/h) have been determined in a tornado from radar observations.
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