Thursday 21st of July 1414

212th Pope Sixtus IV known for building the Sistine Chapel is born as Francesco della Rovere in Celle Ligure, Liguria, Italy.

Sunday 21st of July 1816

Journalist, entrepreneur and pioneer of telegraphy and news reporting Paul Julius Freiherr von Reuter is born as Israel Beer Josafat in Kassel, Hessen, Germany.

Thursday 21st of July 1831

41-year-old 1st King of Belgium Leopold I is inaugurated as first King of the Belgians in Koningsplein, Brussel, Brabant, Belgium.

Monday 21st of July 1845

Cousin and first wife of Jesse James Zerelda Amanda Mimms is born in Logan, Kentucky, United States.

Monday 21st of July 1873

26-year-old Outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber and murderer Jesse Woodson James performs the first train robbery by derailing the Rock Island train in Adair, Iowa, United States.

James managed to steal approximately $ 3,000.

Thursday 21st of July 1898

Writer Ernest Miller Hemingway is born in Oak Park, Illinois, United States.

Thursday 21st of July 1904

35-year-old Serial killer Henri Désiré Landru aka Le Barbe-Bleue de Gambais is sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for fraud in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

Friday 21st of July 1911

Philosopher Marshall Herbert McLuhan known for “the medium is the message” is born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Friday 21st of July 1922

Actress Mollie Isobel Mary Sugden known for her role of Mrs. Slocombe in “Are You Being Served?” is born in Keighley, West Riding of Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

Saturday 21st of July 1928

58-year-old Serial killer, child rapist and cannibal Albert Hamilton Howard Fish aka The Cannibal aka The Werewolf of Wysteria aka The Moon Maniac is arrested for grand larceny in New York, Brooklyn, New York, United States.

Sunday 21st of July 1929

25-year-old Maria Maas is attacked by serial killer Peter Kürten aka The Vampire of Düsseldorf in Pariser Straße, Düsseldorf, Heerdt, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Maas fought back and escaped.

Friday 21st of July 1944

Would-be assassin of Adolf Hitler Claus Philipp Maria Schenk von Stauffenberg is executed by the firing squad at the age of 37 in Bendlerblock, Berlin, Tiergarten, Berlin, Germany.

Apart from von Stauffenberg, his aide 1st Lieutenant Werner von Haeften, General Friedrich Olbricht and Colonel Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim were also executed in the courtyard of the Bendlerblock, which was lit by the headlights of a truck.

Wednesday 21st of July 1948

Painter Arshile Gorky commits suicide by hanging at the age of 44 in Sherman, Connecticut, United States.

Gorky had undergone a cancer operation and was involved in a car crash in which he broke his neck. His wife left him and several of his works of art were destroyed in a studio fire.

Wednesday 21st of July 1971

Photographer Lee Elizabeth Miller aka Lady Penrose dies of cancer at the age of 64 in Farley Farm House, Chiddingly, East Sussex, United Kingdom.

Friday 21st of July 1972

Cop killer Misao Katagiri is executed by hanging at the age of 25 in Tokyo Detention House, Tokyo, Katsushika, Kantō, Japan.

Friday 21st of July 1972

11 Die and over 130 are wounded in 26 simultaneous bomb-attacks by the the Irish Republican Army in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

At least twenty bombs exploded in the space of eighty minutes, most within a half hour period. The event was remembered as 'Bloody Friday'.

Saturday 21st of July 1973

Murderer Albert Brust commits suicide by cyanide poisoning at the age of 44 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States.

In Brust's house the police found a wide variety of pornography and torture-devices as well as the walled-in body of 16-year-old Mark Matson.

Wednesday 21st of July 1976

36-year-old Double murderer Gary Mark Gilmore aka The Executioner’s Song is arrested in Provo, Utah, United States.

Gilmore's cousin Brenda turned him in to police shortly after he phoned her asking for bandages and painkillers for the injury to his hand. The day before, while disposing of the .22 caliber pistol he used in his murders, Gilmore accidentally shot himself in his right hand.

Saturday 21st of July 1979

14-year-old Eddy Edward Hope Smith is killed by serial killer Wayne Williams aka The Atlanta Child Murderer in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

Monday 21st of July 1986

74-year-old William Downs is sexually assaulted and strangled by serial killer Kenneth Erskine aka The Stockwell Strangler in Overton Road Estate, London, Stockwell, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Sunday 21st of July 1996

33-year-old Martine Bohn is abducted by unidentified serial killer Le Dépeceur de Mons aka The Trash Bag Killer in Mons, Hainaut, Belgium.

Bohn's breastless torso was found a couple of days later in the river La Hayne, her legs and arms in March 1997.

Wednesday 21st of July 1999

Mass murderer Zhao Lianrong is executed by a shot in the back of the head at the age of 36 in Beijing, Hebei, China.

Monday 21st of July 2003

Two men waiting for a burst of tropical rain to stop in Empire Hotel, Jalan Masjid India, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Malaysia.

Wednesday 21st of July 2004

Noise music band Club Moral play their 103rd concert in Freaks end Future, Prinsstraat, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Friday 21st of July 2023

Murderer James Barber is executed by lethal injection at the age of 64 in Holman Correctional Facility, Ross Road, Atmore, Alabama, United States.

Barber's final meal request was for a western omelet, loaded hash browns, spicy sausage and toast and other breakfast fixings.