Some of the significant events which took place on July 21 taken from the leaf of History:

356 BC – Herostratus sets fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

230 – St Pontianus begins his reign as Catholic Pope

1906 – Womesh Chandra Banarjee first President of Indian National Congress, passes away.

1925 – U.S.A. The Monkey Trial: John T. Scopes convicted of violating Tennessee state law for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution in the “Monkey Trial.” The conviction was later overturned.

1911- England Lloyd George: Lloyd George the Chancellor of the Exchequer and future prime minister recognized war might be the price of continued threats to the security of the country and its allies. His rousing speech included the words that peace made by backing down to German demands for Algeria and Tunisia would be a humiliation intolerable for a great country to endure.

1931 – No Money For Teachers Pay: In the city of Chicago which has one of the most modern Opera Houses in the US, cannot pay it’s 14,000 teachers their salaries due to running out of money , School payrolls have now not been paid for 2 months and many of the teachers are facing severe hardship including losing their homes. School boards have no money because property owners are behind with their payments due to large numbers being unemployed.

1944 – Guam US Forces Land World War II: American marines land on Guam in the Mariana Islands, Pacific Ocean to gain back control of the island which had been taken by the Japanese shortly after the attacks on Pearl Harbor.

1947 – The national flag of India was adopted by the constituent assembly. During the 19th century, India was under the British rule and a variety of flags were used by rulers of Independent states but none of them was for entire India…that is for independent India.

1950 – U.S.A. Increasing Prices: Food prices and prices for other commodities have been increasing at alarming rate and a government investigation has blamed a number of factors causing the increases – Hoarding due to concerns over the Korean War, Profiteering by companies, and increased costs of raw materials.

1954 – France Surrenders North Vietnam in Indo-China War: The Indo-China war ends when France surrenders North Vietnam to the Communists, a peace accord signed in Geneva, Switzerland between communist North Vietnam Forces and France agrees Vietnam will be divided between north and South Vietnam along the 17th parallel. In the 60’s as North Vietnam begins its attacks on South Vietnam. The United States intervenes to defend the 17th parallel resulting in the long and bloody Vietnam War which finally ended in 1975 with North Vietnam conquering the South.

1969 – Space Apollo 11: Apollo 11 astronauts departed from the moon today after making history with man’s first visit including walking on the moons surface and planting the American flag. It is estimated over 500 million people around the world watched history unfold.

1970 – Egypt Aswan High Dam: The Aswan High Dam across the Nile River in Egypt is completed creating renewable energy and helping to stop the cycle of flooding and drought in the area.

1975 – U.S.A. Postal Service Price Increases: An agreement has been reached by the Postal Service and the Postal Workers Union averting a strike threatened by 600,000 postal workers. The Postal Service has stated that as labor costs are 85% of the cost of the Postal Services an increase in charges will need to happen.

1977 – Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy is elected President of India.

1980 – U.S.A. Draft Registration: All 19 and 20 year old men are required to register for the Draft, this followed Proclamation 4771, Registration Under the Military Selective Service Act signed by President Jimmy Carter re-establishing the Selective Service registration requirement for all 18-26 year old male citizens born on or after January 1, 1960.

1987 – Italy Ferrari F 40 Unveiled: To celebrate the 40 yrs. of Ferrari production Enzo Ferrari unveiled the Ferrari F40 at the factory in Mirabella, Italy. The F40 was the fastest road vehicle ever built at that time.

1988 – Indian National Satellite (INSAT -1C) is launched.

1997 – USS Constitution: Thousands watched as the USS Constitution, known as Old Ironsides, celebrated 200 years by sailing from Marblehead, Massachusetts, under its own power for the first time in 116 years.

2002 – U.S.A. Oregon Biscuit Fire: The Biscuit Fire was a wildfire that scorched and burned almost a half million acres in Oregon’s beautiful Siskiyou National Forest started by lightning and was not completely contained until December 31 later that same year.

2002 – Worldcom Files Bankruptcy Protection: WorldCom Inc. files for bankruptcy protection after disclosing it had inflated profits by nearly $4 billion through deceptive accounting practices from 1999 – 2002 to mask its poor earnings and presenting a false picture of financial growth and profitability of the company.

2005 – Terrorist Attack London Underground: Terrorists attack the London underground system and London Busses by planting bombs on three subways and on one bus but unlike an earlier attack the bombs create only miner blasts as only the detonators explode and not the main bombs.

2006 – Cambodia Ta Mok “The Butcher” Dies: Ta Mok, a key leader of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia died of natural causes while awaiting trial for committing genocide and crimes against humanity. Ta Mok had been nicknamed “The Butcher” and was an important leader in the brutal Khmer Rouge regime under which an estimated 1.7 million people died.

2007 – India Pratibha Patil Elected: The seventy-two year old Pratibha Patil is elected to the presidency in India, and becomes the first woman president of the country. Although the presidency in India is largely ceremonial, she will have some responsibilities concerning the government and coalitions.

2007 – England Final Harry Potter Book Published: The last and final Harry Potter book goes on sale “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” written by J. K. Rowling. 10 years after the first Harry Potter Book was published.

2008 – Yemen Exposed Dinosaur Tracks: Exposed dinosaur tracks are discovered by scientists in Yemen. In the village of Madar, the tracks were once believed to belong to giant camels, but after scientists examined the tracks, they determined that they had belonged to a herd of eleven dinosaurs from 150 million years ago. This was the first discovery of this kind on the Arabian Peninsula.

2008 – Serbia Radovan Karadzic Captured: A former political leader during the Bosnian War in the 1990’s, Radovan Karadzic was finally captured in Serbia on this day. He had been on the run for over ten years after being indicted for war crimes and genocide. The capture was seen as a triumph for the new government in Serbia, as it looked to join the European Union.

2011 – Texas Executes Hate Killer: The US state of Texas executed Mark Stroman, who was convicted of killing two people he thought were Arab after going on a rampage after the 9/11 attacks. Stroman shot another man, Rais Bhuiyan, who survived. Bhuiyan supported Stroman’s plea for clemency on the death sentence stating that killing him was “not the solution.”

2012 – Helicopter Crash in Brunei Kills Twelve: A helicopter carrying fourteen people crashed in Brunei, killing twelve and injuring two. The helicopter was carrying three crew and eleven military cadets’ home after they had been training in the jungle. The monarch of the country Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah visited the two survivors in the hospital who were said to be in stable condition.

2013 – New Belgian King: Crown Prince Philippe becomes the King of Belgium after his father King Albert II abdicated after almost twenty years as king. The role of royals in Belgium is largely cere