On This Day: May 21

Updated May 20, 2012, 2:28 pm

On May 21, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis near Paris, completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean

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On May 21, 1921, Andrei Sakharov, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Soviet scientist and dissident, was born. Following his death on Dec. 14, 1989, his obituary appeared in The Times.

Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »

On This Date

By The Associated Press

1832 The first Democratic National Convention got under way, in Baltimore.

1840 New Zealand was declared a British colony.

1881 Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross.

1892 The opera “I Pagliacci” by Ruggiero Leoncavallo was first performed, in Milan, Italy.

1924 Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb, two students at the University of Chicago, killed a 14-year-old boy in a “thrill killing.”

1956 The United States exploded the first airborne hydrogen bomb, over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.

1959 The musical “Gypsy” starring Ethel Merman opened on Broadway.

1979 Former San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting deaths of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.

1980 “The Empire Strikes Back,” the second movie in the “Star Wars” series, was released.

1991 Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber.

1999 Susan Lucci, star of the ABC soap opera “All My Children,” won her first Daytime Emmy Award for best actress in the 19th straight year she was nominated.

2008 David Cook won the seventh season of “American Idol.”

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Actress Lisa Edelstein (“House M.D.”) turns 46 years old today.

AP Photo/Evan Agostini

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., turns 61 years old today.

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

1941 Ron Isley, R&B singer (The Isley Brothers), turns 71

1948 Leo Sayer, Singer, turns 64

1952 Mr. T, Actor (“The A Team”), turns 60

1957 Judge Reinhold, Actor (“Beverly Hills cop” movies), turns 55

1959 Nick Cassavetes, Actor, director, turns 53

1977 Ricky Williams, Football player, turns 35

1981 Josh Hamilton, Baseball player, turns 31

1991 Sarah Ramos, Actress (“Parenthood”), turns 21

Historic Birthdays

Andrey Sakharov 5/21/1921 – 12/14/1989 Soviet physicist and advocate of human rights; awarded Nobel Prize for Peace in 1975.Go to obituary »

56 Alexander Pope 5/21/1688 – 5/30/1744
English poet and satirist

65 Elizabeth Fry 5/21/1780 – 10/12/1845
English philanthropist and social reformer

47 Edwin Christy 5/21/1815 – 5/21/1862
American minstrel show performer

66 Henri Rousseau 5/21/1844 – 9/2/1910
French painter

85 Gustav Lindenthal 5/21/1850 – 7/31/1935
Austrian-born American civil engineer; designed the Hell Gate Bridge

74 Leon Bourgeois 5/21/1851 – 9/29/1925
French statesman and promoter of the League of Nations; awared Nobel Prize for Peace (1920)

58 Grace Hoadley Dodge 5/21/1856 – 12/27/1914
American philanthropist

67 Willem Einthoven 5/21/1860 – 9/29/1927
Dutch physiologist and developer of the electrocardiograph; won Nobel Prize (1924)

52 Glenn Curtiss 5/21/1878 – 7/23/1930
American aviation pioneer

79 Marcel Breuer 5/21/1902 – 7/1/1981
Hungarian-born American architect

39 Fats Waller 5/21/1904 – 12/15/1943
American pianist and composer

1832	The first Democratic National Convention got under way, in Baltimore.
1840	New Zealand was declared a British colony.
1881	Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross.
1892	The opera “I Pagliacci” by Ruggiero Leoncavallo was first performed, in Milan, Italy.
1924	Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb, two students at the University of Chicago, killed a 14-year-old boy in a “thrill killing.”
1956	The United States exploded the first airborne hydrogen bomb, over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.
1959	The musical “Gypsy” starring Ethel Merman opened on Broadway.
1979	Former San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting deaths of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.
1980	“The Empire Strikes Back,” the second movie in the “Star Wars” series, was released.
1991	Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber.
1999	Susan Lucci, star of the ABC soap opera “All My Children,” won her first Daytime Emmy Award for best actress in the 19th straight year she was nominated.
2008	David Cook won the seventh season of “American Idol.”

1941	Ron Isley, R&B singer (The Isley Brothers), turns 71
1948	Leo Sayer, Singer, turns 64
1952	Mr. T, Actor (“The A Team”), turns 60
1957	Judge Reinhold, Actor (“Beverly Hills cop” movies), turns 55
1959	Nick Cassavetes, Actor, director, turns 53
1977	Ricky Williams, Football player, turns 35
1981	Josh Hamilton, Baseball player, turns 31
1991	Sarah Ramos, Actress (“Parenthood”), turns 21

56	Alexander Pope 5/21/1688 – 5/30/1744 English poet and satirist
65	Elizabeth Fry 5/21/1780 – 10/12/1845 English philanthropist and social reformer
47	Edwin Christy 5/21/1815 – 5/21/1862 American minstrel show performer
66	Henri Rousseau 5/21/1844 – 9/2/1910 French painter
85	Gustav Lindenthal 5/21/1850 – 7/31/1935 Austrian-born American civil engineer; designed the Hell Gate Bridge
74	Leon Bourgeois 5/21/1851 – 9/29/1925 French statesman and promoter of the League of Nations; awared Nobel Prize for Peace (1920)
58	Grace Hoadley Dodge 5/21/1856 – 12/27/1914 American philanthropist
67	Willem Einthoven 5/21/1860 – 9/29/1927 Dutch physiologist and developer of the electrocardiograph; won Nobel Prize (1924)
52	Glenn Curtiss 5/21/1878 – 7/23/1930 American aviation pioneer
79	Marcel Breuer 5/21/1902 – 7/1/1981 Hungarian-born American architect
39	Fats Waller 5/21/1904 – 12/15/1943 American pianist and composer