Year 1793
King Louis XVI of France was executed on a guillotine for treason.
JANUARY 21
Daily Historical Chronicle
UPSC CSE • State PSC • SSC CGL Matrix
21 January: What Happened On This Day in History
Curated historical timeline of momentous political pacts, freedom struggle uprisings, constitutional developments, scientific breakthroughs, and prominent birthdays recorded on 21 January.
Year 1805
Holkar and Jat forces defeated the British at Bharalpur.
Year 1908
Gandhiji agrees to settlement on basis of voluntary registration, if Registration Act is repealed.
Year 1924
Labor Party government formed for the first time in Britain, Ramsay Macdonald became the Prime Minister.
Year 1952
Indian National Congress party wins the 1st General Election of India under the ledearship of Jawaharlal Nehru.
Year 1956
Strikes and demonstrations held in Bihar and Orissa in protest of the government's intention to revise state boundaries.
Year 1961
Queen Elizabeth of England and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, paid their first visit to India.
Year 1963
East German party Congress ends; Ulbricht, with Soviet support, condemns Chinese invasion of India at Berlin.
Year 1969
First India built electronic digital computer commissioned.
Year 1972
Manipur and Meghalaya got the independent status of states.
Year 1993
Chander Pal at Bangalore sets record for High Jump in 2.17.
Year 1994
India and Myanmar decide to open border trade.
Year 1997
Delhi was the first city to use propane gas when 50 autorickshaws were started on trial basis.
Year 1999
Bal Thackeray, Shiv Sena chief, suspends his party's protest against the coming India-Pakistan cricket matches after an urgent meeting with the Union Home Minister in Mumbai.
Year 2000
India successfully tests state-of-the-art anti-tank missile system Fire & Forge.
Year 2008
India launched an Israeli spy satellite and put it in polar orbit.
Year 2009
Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, officially ending a three-week war it had with Hamas. However, intermittent fire by both sides continues in the weeks to follow.
Year 2011
Anti-government demonstrations take place in Tirana, Albania. Five people lose their lives from gunshots, allegedly fired by armed police protecting the Prime Minister's office. To date, no one has been held accountable for the deaths.
Year 2017
Over 400 cities across America and 160+ countries worldwide participate in a large-scale women's march, on Donald Trump's first full day as President of the United States.
Year 2018
Rocket Lab's Electron becomes the first rocket to reach orbit using an electric pump-fed engine and deploys three CubeSats.
Born 1820
Dalpat Rai, modern Gujrati poet, was born.
Born 1869
Grigori Rasputin, a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man.
Born 1882
Vaman Malhar Joshi, Marathi novelist, was born.
Born 1905
Christian Dior, a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world’s top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior.
Born 1908
Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, also known as Beypore Sultan, was an Indian independence activist and writer of Malayalam literature.
Born 1910
Ramnath Anandilal Poddar, great industrialist, was born.
Born 1922
Juda Reuben, cricket Test umpire for 10 tests from 1969-77, was born in Mumbai.
Born 1922
V. Rajagopal, cricket test umpire for 1 test in 1969-70, was born in Mumbai.
Born 1924
Professor Madhu Dandavate, former Finance Minister, was born at Ahmednagar.
Born 1953
Paul Allen, an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He was best known for co-founding Microsoft Corporation with his childhood friend Bill Gates.
Born 1894
Madhav Julian, an Indian Marathi poet.
Born 1986
Sushant Singh Rajput, an Indian actor who is best known for his work in Hindi cinema.
Born 1999
Rubina Ali, Indian actress
Died 1793
Louis XVI, the last king of France.
Died 1870
Alexander Herzen, a Russian writer, and thinker is known as the “father of Russian socialism”.
Died 1924
Vladimir Lenin, a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist.
Died 1926
Camillo Golgi, an Italian biologist, and pathologist knew for his works on the central nervous system.
Died 1943
Hemu Kalani, a Sindhi revolutionary and freedom fighter during the Indian Independence Movement.
Died 1945
Rash Behari Bose, an Indian revolutionary leader against the British Raj. He passed away at Tokyo, Japan, at the age of 60.
Died 1950
George Orwell, an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic.
Died 1963
Acharaya Shivpujan Sahai, famous Hindi writer, poet and novelist, died. He was editor of Hindi journals like "Marwari Sudhar", "Samanwaya", "Adarsh" etc. He wrote 400 short stories and 67 biographies. His novel "Dehati Dunia" is acclaimed as first regional novel in Hindi.
Died 1965
Geeta Bali, an Indian film actress.
Died 1970
Harivinayak Pataskar, former Central Minister and Governor of Madhya Pradesh, passed away.
Died 1978
Nilmoni Phukan, greatest social reformer, prolific writer, poet, editor of 'Dainik Batori', journalist and lawyer, passed away. He participated in the Quit India Movement for which he was arrested.
Died 1981
Bishnu Ram Medhi, chief minister of Assam and Governor of Madras, passed away.
Died 1983
Ram Dass Katari, the 3rd Chief of the Naval Staff and the first Indian to hold the office.
Died 1993
Biren Roy, follower of Netaji Subhashchandra Bose, passed away.
Died 1997
Surendra Nath Kohli, an Indian Navy admiral who served as the 9th Chief of the Naval Staff of India.
Died 2016
Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai, an Indian classical dancer, choreographer, and instructor.
Died 2011
E. V. V. Satyanarayana, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1958)
Died 2016
Mrinalini Sarabhai, a 1992-Padma Bhushan award winner Indian classical dancer, choreographer and instructor. (b. 1918)