Like today, November 21, 2021

1676: Danish astronomer Ole Remer presents the first quantitative measurements of the speed of light.

1783: Jean-François Pilatre de Rozier and François Laurent, Marquis of Arland, make their first free hot air balloon flight to Paris.

1791: Colonel Napoleon Bonaparte was promoted to general and took command of the Army of the French Republic.

1864: The new electoral law is published in the “Government Gazette”. The ballot box is established as a means of voting instead of the ballot paper, due to the high illiteracy in Greece.

1871: American Moses Gale patents the lighter.

1877: The American inventor, Thomas Edison, announces the creation of the phonograph, a means of recording and reproducing sound, which he calls the “Talking Machine”.

1904: The first motorized buses make their appearance on the streets of Paris, replacing horse-drawn carriages.

1915: A strong Anglo-French naval squadron occupies Milos, wanting to force King Constantine to go to war with the Entente.

1916: The floating English hospital “British” and sister ship of the “Titanic” is sunk by a German mine in the strait of Kea. Of the 1,134 passengers, 30 are missing, 21 crew members and 9 medical staff, while 1,104 will be rescued.

1932: In Germany, Adolf Hitler does not accept the post of Chancellor with limited powers, proposed by President Paul von Hindenburg.

1940: The Greeks, with the 3rd Army Corps, under General Tsolakoglou, and General Kosmas’ “K” group, occupy the heights of Ivan and Morava, of exceptional strategic importance for the advance on Korytsa.

1942: American cartoonist Bob Clabett creates the cartoon character Tweety Byrd, the eternal “target” of the Sylvester cat.

[1945: The first issue of the French women’s magazine Elle is published.

1950: Two trains collide in British Columbia, Canada, killing 21 people, including 17 Canadian soldiers destined for Korea.

1954: The opposition emerges victorious in the municipal elections in Greece, starring the EDA. The opposition candidate, Pausanias Katsotas, is elected Mayor of Athens. In Piraeus, the joint candidate of EPEK, EDA and the Democratic Party, Dimitrios Sapounakis, is elected, and in Thessaloniki, Minas Patrikios.

1955: Michalis Kakogiannis’s film “Stella”, starring Melina Mercouri, premieres in cinemas.

1963: The Greek flag ranks 5th in world shipping.

1973: On the occasion of the Israeli-Egyptian conflict, Brian and Michael McComack from Beverly Hills, California, establish November 21 as World Hello Day. Their goal is for the celebration to acquire a global character and to contribute to the reconciliation of people.

1974: The Irish Democratic Army (IRA) bombs two pubs in Birmingham, England, killing 21 people. 6 people will be arrested, they will be sentenced to life, but years later they will be acquitted.

1977: The Concorde supersonic passenger plane is performing its maiden commercial flight from London to New York.

1990: A historic agreement is signed in Paris between the NATO member states and the Warsaw Pact, thus ending the Cold War. Leaders of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe adopt the “Paris Charter for a New Europe”.

1994: Greenpeace embassies surround the French and Italian embassies in Athens to protest the use of sparklers, which kill thousands of dolphins each year in the Mediterranean.

1995: During the World Weightlifting Championships held in China, Pyrros Dimas triumphs with two golds, one silver and one world record, lifting 212 kg in the zete. Kahi Kahiashvili scans at 99 kg with 2 gold, 1 bronze, 3 national records and a draw of the world record in zete, Valerios Leonidis wins 3 silver, Viktor Mitrou 2 bronze, Giota Antonopoulou 3 bronze and 83 bronze Marou 1 bronze medal.

2010: Former Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis’s new Democratic Alliance party is founded at the Badminton Theater.

2014: Riots break out in Ukraine (Euromaidan) with the main demand for the start of negotiations for the country’s accession to the European Union, calling for the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovych and his government.

Births

1694 – Voltaire, French philosopher

1840 – Victoria Augusta, Empress of Germany

1843 – Gaston Tissantier, French chemist and publisher

1854 – Pope Benedict XVI

1898 – Rene Magritte, Belgian painter

1902 – Isaac Basevis Singer, Polish writer

1904 – Coleman Hawkins, American saxophonist

1925 – Veliko Kadievich, Yugoslav general

1927 – Anna Synodinou, Greek actress and politician

1930 – George Marmaridis, Greek sniper and writer

1935 – Fairuz, Lebanese singer

1948 – Michel Suleiman, Lebanese politician

1953 – Giannis Pathiakakis, Greek footballer and coach

1965 – Bjork Gudmundsdottir (known as Bjork), Icelandic singer

1965 – Alexander Sindig, Sudanese actor

1966 – Thanasis Kolitsidakis, Greek football player

1977 – Michael Batiste, American basketball player

1994 – Saul Nigeth, Spanish footballer

1998 – Vangelis Pavlidis, Greek football player

Deaths

496 – Pope Gelasius I

1361 – Philip I, Duke of Burgundy

1555 – Georgius Agricola, German scholar and scientist

1652 – Jan Brozek, Polish mathematician, physician and astronomer

1695 – Henry Purcell, English composer

1811 – Heinrich von Kleist, German writer

1881 – Amy Bouet, German geologist

1916 – Francis Joseph I, Emperor of Austria

1922 – Ricardo Flores Magon, Mexican journalist and activist

1942 – James Herzog, South African general and politician

1970 – Chandrasekara Raman, Indian physicist

1982 – Michael Sideratos, Greek politician

1991 – Daniel Mann, American director

1991 – Agios Iakovos Tsalikis

2000 – Emil Zatopek, Czech runner

2006 – Hassan Guled Aptidon, President of Djibouti

2006 – Iakovos Psarras, Greek actor

2013 – Dimitri Michalas, American astronomer and author

2016 – Voula Mastori, Greek writer