Historical Events on March 21.

1.  World Puppetry Day.

2.  World Poetry Day.

3.  World Down Syndrome Day.

4.  International Day of Forests.

5.  International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

6.  1556, 21st March: Archbishop Thomas Cranmer was burned alive as a punishment for preaching Christianity.

7.  1858, 21st March: Sir Hugh Rose besieged Zanzibar.

8.  1871, 21st March: Otto von Bismarck became Chancellor of Germany.

9.  1935, 21st March: Shah Raza Pahlavi called for Persia to be renamed Iran.

10.  1960, 21st March: Police in the South African city of Sharpeville shot down 69 people by firing a group of blacks peacefully protesting against apartheid.

11.  1977, 21st March: End of the National Emergency in India.

12.  1990, 21st March: Namibia became independent after 75 years of South African rule.

13.  2006, 21st March: Social media site Twitter launched.

14.  2010, 21st March: The Indian Navy successfully test-fired a vertical launch version of the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile from the Indian Army warship Ranveer in the Bay of Bengal off Odisha coast.

Famous Birthdays & Birth Anniversaries on March 21.

1.  1768: Joseph Fourier, a French mathematician, and physicist.

2.  1887: M. N. Roy, an Indian revolutionary, radical activist, and political theorist.

3.  1916: Ustad Bismillah Khan, an Indian musician credited with popularizing the Shehnai.

4.  1944: Iftikhar Arif, a Pakistani Urdu poet.

5.  1970: Shobana, an Indian film actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. 

Death Anniversaries of famous people on March 21.

1.  1556: Thomas Cranmer, a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop.

2.  1985: Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, an English stage and film actor.

3.  2001: Chung Ju-Yung, a South Korean entrepreneur, businessman, and the founder of Hyundai Groups of South Korea.

21-March-1791

Tipu Sultan capitulated to Lord Cornwallis.

21-March-1836

National Library was established.

21-March-1916

Ustad Bismilla Khan, clarionett Master, was born at Dumraon in Bihar.

21-March-1921

Indian National Congress decided it's Flag.

21-March-1934

Buta Singh, former Home Minister of India, was born.

21-March-1937

Muhammad Jaffer, great Indian Hockey player, was born.

21-March-1939

Gandhi calls on world to disarm, thinks Hitler would follow.

21-March-1957

India's national calender came into force.

21-March-1966

Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS-P3) placed into polar orbit. This carries remote sensing payload and an X-ray astronomy payload. Launched by third developmental flight of India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-D3) which is for launching 1,000-1,200 kg class of remote sensing satellites into polar sun-synchronous orbit. Still in service.

21-March-1971

Gavaskar scores the first of his 34 Test tons, 116 at Georgetown.

21-March-1973

Yashwant Ramkrishna Date, great Marathi dictionary creator, passed away.

21-March-1976

The Indian people have delivered a stinging rebuke to the woman who had ruled them without the benefit of a constitution for the past 19 months by dumping her from office in a landslide election. After 11 years of rule, Indira Gandhi has resigned, and in an uncharacteristically humble statement said she "accepted the verdict unreservedly" and promised "constructive cooperation" with the new government. The heads of the victorious parties immediately dropped the year-and-a-half-old state of emergency, freed political prisoners, and began negotiations over who would head the new government.

21-March-1977

Internal Emergency, promulgated on June 25, 1975, withdrawn by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

21-March-1979

The Cytology Research Centre was set up at New Delhi (renamed as the Institute of Cytology and Preventive Oncology in 1988).

21-March-1979

Morarji Desai, PM, inaugurated the Backward Classes Commission in New Delhi.

21-March-1982

Nadmuri Tarak Rama Rao forms Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh.

21-March-1992

India's second submarine 'Shankul' joined Navy.

21-March-1993

The 68 km Mangalore-Udupi stretch of the west coast Konkan rail line opened by the PM.

21-March-1994

Pakistan blocks access to Indian consulate in Karachi.

21-March-1995

A.K. Antony elected CM of Kerala.

21-March-1995

Lok Sabha passes Patent Bill by amending the Patent (Amendment) Act 1970.

21-March-1996

PSLV-D3 launched successfully.

21-March-1996

Supreme Court holds that attempt to suicide and its abetment would continue to be punishable offences.

21-March-1997

Foreign currency reserves of RBI stand at $16 billions, which was a record of sorts.

21-March-1997

Seven Kashmiri Pandits gunned down by militants in Sangrampura.

21-March-1997

Geet Sethi regains Gold Flake Open billiards in Chennai.

21-March-1997

Jockey Vasant Shinde retires.

21-March-1998

Jaswant Singh is appointed Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission after the resignation of Prof. Madhu Dandavate.

21-March-2000

The 10,000 bond scheme for short-term visitors to the UK will not be applied to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, said British Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Keith Vaz.