Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/February 21
This is a list of selected February 21 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article, featured list or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
Images
Use only ONE image at a time
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A full scale replica of Richard Trevithick's steam engine locomotive -
Early steam locomotive: Stephenson's Rocket -
Friedrich Engels -
Karl Marx
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Malcolm X -
Peace symbol
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| 1613 – Mikhail I was elected unanimously by the Zemsky Sobor to become Tsar, beginning the Romanov dynasty in Imperial Russia. | no footnotes |
| 1804 – Built by Cornish inventor Richard Trevithick, the first self-propelled steam engine or locomotive first ran in Wales. | more footnotes |
| 1848 – The Communist Manifesto by communist theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels was first published, becoming one of the world's most influential political tracts. | refimprove section |
| 1878 – The first telephone directory, consisting of a single page, was issued to fifty subscribers in New Haven, Connecticut, US. | Tagged with {{refimprove}} |
Eligible
- 1952 – Protesters in Dhaka, East Pakistan, walked into military crossfire demanding the establishment of the Bengali language as an official language.
- 1958 – British artist Gerald Holtom designed a logo for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament that became more commonly known as the peace symbol (pictured).
- 1965 – Black nationalist Malcolm X was assassinated while giving a speech in New York City's Audubon Ballroom.
- 1973 – After accidentally having strayed into Israeli airspace, Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 was shot down by two Israeli fighter planes.
- 1995 – American aviator Steve Fossett landed in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada, after taking off from South Korea, becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.
February 21: Washington's Birthday/Presidents' Day in the United States (2011); Family Day in various regions of Canada (2011); International Mother Language Day; Language Movement Day in Bangladesh
- 1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, was granted resignation by Pope Innocent IV after having confessed to torture and forgery.
- 1543 – Battle of Wayna Daga: Led by the Emperor Galawdewos, the combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeated a Muslim army led by Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi.
- 1919 – Bavarian socialist Kurt Eisner (pictured), who had organized the Socialist Revolution that overthrew the Wittelsbach monarchy and established Bavaria as a republic, was assassinated.
- 1971 – The Convention on Psychotropic Substances, a United Nations treaty designed to control psychoactive drugs, was signed at a conference of plenipotentiaries in Vienna.