April 21st Major News Events

1960 Brazil New Capital Brasilia

1960: Brazil inaugurated its new capital, Brasilia, transferring the seat of national government from Rio de Janeiro.

1962 USA Nevada Nuclear Testing

1962: The US Continued it's series of underground nuclear testing in Nevada with it's 29th test with a low yield nuclear explosion equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT.

1962 United States Space Needle

1962: The Space Needle opened on This Day an icon of Seattle is an observation tower built for the 1962 World's Fair it drew over 2.3 million visitors, when nearly 20,000 people a day used its elevators.

1967 Tornadoes Strike Chicago Metropolitan Area

1967: A series of seventeen tornadoes strike Illinois, including several in the Chicago area including the worst a tornado which moved through Belvidere killing 24 (including 13 at local high school) and injuring another 450. Another tornado touched down near Palos Hills and moved across the south side of Chicago during rush hour killing 33 before going out into Lake Michigan.

1975 South Vietnam's President Thieu Resigns

1975: President Nguyen Van Thieu of South Vietnam is forced to resign accusing the United States of betrayal by not providing the money and support to continue the battle. Nine days after his resignation, the Vietnam war ended with the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese army.

1976 UK Princess Anne Hurt

1976: Princess Anne was hurt when her horse Candlewick fell and rolled over on her during cross country trials.

1985 USA Students

1985: The increase of the use of booze and drugs by students continues to increase in colleges and universities throughout the US a new study reports.

1992 USA Death Penalty

1992: Robert Alton Harris became the first person executed by the state of California in 25 years as he was put to death in the gas chamber for the 1978 murder of two teenage boys.

2004 Iraq Suicide Bombers

2004: Five suicide bombers detonated car bombs by police buildings in Basra, Iraq, killing at least 74 people.

2007 Iraq Complaints Made About Baghdad Wall

2007: A senior politician in Iraq has condemned the U.S. military's decision to build a three-mile wall around the Sunni parts of Baghdad. Adnan al-Dulaimi is the leader of the largest Sunni bloc in the Iraqi parliament, and said that the construction of the wall has begun without the council's approval. "This will make the whole district a prison," said one of the area's residents. The U.S. military has reported that troops are building the wall to separate the Azamiyah district from the nearby Shi'ite neighborhoods. A U.S. spokesmen has called this to be the centerpiece of their strategy to end the sectarian violence that is taking place there. Over the next few days more protest come including the Iraqi Prime Minister has asked for an end to the construction of a concrete wall around the Azamiyah district of Baghdad. Nouri Maliki has said that there were other ways of protecting the area. The U.S. army has said that the wall is being made to prevent violence between Sunni and Shi'ite militants, although some Iraqi politicians have warned that it will only increase the area's sectarian tensions. About seven thousand Iraqis have taken to the streets in protest of the wall.

2012 Train Crash in Netherlands Injures Many

2012: About 117 people were injured after two passenger trains collided near Sloterdijk in the area of Amsterdam. At least sixteen of the people were seriously injured and one woman aged 68 died as a result of her injuries sustained in the crash. Neither of the trains were derailed.

2014 United States Kraft Recalls Hot Dogs

2014: Kraft Foods issued a voluntary recall of 96,000 pounds of Oscar-Meyer hot dogs that had been mislabeled. The company stated that some of their "Classic Cheese Dogs" had been place in regular hot dog packaging, which could be dangerous for people with dairy allergies.