July 21: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

Twenty-eight countries issued a joint statement calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The signatories, including the UK, Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, and Switzerland, called for unrestricted humanitarian access, saying civilian suffering had reached unprecedented levels.

US President Joe Biden withdrew from his re-election campaign and endorsed Kamala Harris as his preferred successor.

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer opened in cinemas.

Many people flocked to cinemas to watch both films back-to-back, morphing the two films into a five-hour marathon delightfully coined as "Barbenheimer."

The world’s fastest train, a maglev bullet train with speeds of 373 mph (600 km/h), debuted in China.

Marvel’s superhero movie “Guardians of the Galaxy” premiered in Hollywood, Los Angeles, US.

NASA’s space shuttle program finally came to a close when mission STS-135 landed.

The Atlantis orbiter was used for the final mission, and with just four astronauts aboard, it had the smallest crew since 1983. The fourteen-day mission took up several new modules and spare parts to the International Space Station and was Atlantis' 33rd mission. STS-135, the 135th space shuttle mission, was a complete success, with hundreds of people flocking to the Kennedy Space Center to witness the end of an era.

J.K. Rowling’s final book in the series “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” book was published worldwide.

A record 12 million copies were sold within just 24 hours of its release.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair won the leadership election for the British Labour Party.

Pink Floyd performed their hit “The Wall” at the previous Berlin Wall location.

Eight months before this event, the wall at Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, had been taken down after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Pink Floyd performed their hit "The Wall" at this location at a concert with over 350,000 spectators, with a live broadcast to 52 countries worldwide.

The Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica recorded the world’s lowest temperature in an inhabited location.

The research station recorded a temperature of -128.6 °F (-89.2 °Celcius), breaking the previous 1968 record of -126.9 °F (-88.3 °C).

The Provisional IRA detonated twenty-two bombs in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Poor communication between the British government and the IRA was partly to blame for the bombings. The bombs were all detonated within an 80-minute window across the city. Nine people died from the blasts, and another 130 were injured, leading the day to be known as Bloody Friday.

The comedy movie “The Quiet Man” was released in the UK.

American forces landed on Guam during WWII, which started the Second Battle of Guam.

The first-ever western shootdown happened in Market Square, Springfield, Missouri, US.

On this day, Wild Bill Hickok shot David Tutt dead with a pistol. The event was depicted in many novels and movies, such as "High Noon."

The Battle of Bull Run took place at Manassas Junction, Virginia.

The Battle of Bull Run was the first major battle of the Civil War, in which The Confederates were victorious.

New York City allocated hundreds of acres of land in Manhattan for Central Park.

The estimated magnitude 8.0 earthquake caused the island of Crete to rise 30 feet (9 meters) above sea level.

The Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was set on fire by Herostratus.

Herostratus was sentenced to death for his crime, and nobody was allowed to speak his name after that.