July 21 in history — What Happened Today in History

The world's lowest temperature in an inhabited location is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F).

Jay Silverheels, a Mohawk actor, becomes the first Native American to have a star commemorated in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The start of the four-day-long Libyan–Egyptian War.

Christopher Ewart-Biggs, the British ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, is assassinated by the Provisional IRA.

In Lillehammer, Norway, Mossad agents kill a waiter whom they mistakenly thought was involved in the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre.

The Troubles: Bloody Friday: The Provisional IRA detonate 22 bombs in central Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom in the space of 80 minutes, killing nine and injuring 130.

After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed.

Apollo program: At 02:56 UTC, astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon, followed 19 minutes later by Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin.

A series of racial riots break out in Singapore. In the next six weeks, 23 die with 454 others injured.

Mercury program: Mercury-Redstone 4 mission: Gus Grissom piloting Liberty Bell 7 becomes the second American to go into space (in a suborbital mission).

Alaska Airlines Flight 779 crashes near Shemya Air Force Base in Shemya, Alaska, killing six.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike is sworn in as prime minister of Ceylon, becoming the world's first democratically elected female head of government.

NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, is launched as a showcase for Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" initiative.

Elijah Jerry "Pumpsie" Green becomes the first African-American to play for the Boston Red Sox, the last team to integrate. He came in as a pinch runner for Vic Wertz and stayed in as shortstop in a 2–1 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

First Indochina War: The Geneva Conference partitions Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

The 7.3 Mw Kern County earthquake strikes Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing 12 and injuring hundreds.

Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 3505 disappears while flying from Vancouver to Tokyo. The aircraft and its 37 occupants are never found.

The United States Senate ratifies the North Atlantic Treaty.

World War II: Battle of Guam: American troops land on Guam, starting a battle that will end on August 10.

World War II: Claus von Stauffenberg and four fellow conspirators are executed for the July 20 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

Spanish Civil War: The Central Committee of Antifascist Militias of Catalonia is constituted, establishing an anarcho-syndicalist economy in Catalonia.

Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching human evolution in class and fined $100.

Malcolm Campbell becomes the first man to exceed 150 mph (241 km/h) on land. At Pendine Sands in Wales, he drives Sunbeam 350HP built by Sunbeam at a two-way average speed of 150.33 mph (242 km/h).

The "Belfast Pogrom" begins two years of violence with the expulsion of thousands of Catholic shipyard, factory and linen mill workers from their jobs.

The dirigible Wingfoot Air Express crashes into the Illinois Trust and Savings Building in Chicago, killing 12 people.

The passenger steamer SS Columbia sinks after colliding with the steam schooner San Pedro off Shelter Cove, California, killing 88 people.

Louis Rigolly, a Frenchman, becomes the first man to break the 100 mph (161 km/h) barrier on land. He drove a 15-liter Gobron-Brillié in Ostend, Belgium.

After rioting by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers and the deaths of nine rail workers at the hands of the Maryland militia, workers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, stage a sympathy strike that is met with an assault by the state militia.

Da$H, American rapper

Giovanni De Gennaro, Italian slalom canoeist

Charlotte de Witte, Belgian DJ and record producer

Dawid Dryja, Polish volleyball player

Rachael Flatt, American figure skater

Marcus Harris, Australian cricketer

Jonathon Jennings, American Canadian football player

Dante Marini, American soccer player

Henry Owens, American baseball pitcher

Andrew Rayel, Moldovan DJ and producer

Yuka Sato, Japanese javelin thrower

Miles Ukaoma, American-born Nigerian hurdler

Sara Sampaio, Portuguese model

Louise Abeita, Isleta Pueblo (Native American) writer, poet, and educator (born 1926)

Dan Borislow, American businessman, invented the magicJack (born 1961)

Lettice Curtis, English engineer and pilot (born 1915)

Hans-Peter Kaul, German lawyer and judge (born 1943)

Rilwanu Lukman, Nigerian engineer and politician (born 1938)

Kevin Skinner, New Zealand rugby player and boxer (born 1927)

Andrea Antonelli, Italian motorcycle racer (born 1988)

Lourembam Brojeshori Devi, Indian martial artist (born 1981)

Det de Beus, Dutch field hockey player (born 1958)

Luis Fernando Rizo-Salom, Colombian-French composer and educator (born 1971)

Fred Taylor, American football player and coach (born 1920)

Alexander Cockburn, Scottish-American journalist and author (born 1941)

Marie Kruckel, American baseball player (born 1924)