July 21st Major News Events

1969 Space Apollo 11

1969 : Apollo 11 astronauts departed from the moon today after making history with man's first visit including walking on the moons surface and planting the American flag . It is estimated over 500 million people around the world watched history unfold.

1970 Egypt Aswan High Dam

1970 : The Aswan High Dam across the Nile River in Egypt is completed creating renewable energy and helping to stop the cycle of flooding and drought in the area.

1975 U.S.A. Postal Service Price Increases

1975 : An agreement has been reached by the Postal Service and the Postal Workers Union averting a strike threatened by 600,000 postal workers. The Postal Service has stated that as labor costs are 85% of the cost of the Postal Services an increase in charges will need to happen.

1980 U.S.A. Draft Registration

1980 : All 19 and 20 year old men are required to register for the Draft, this followed Proclamation 4771, Registration Under the Military Selective Service Act signed by President Jimmy Carter re-establishing the Selective Service registration requirement for all 18-26 year old male citizens born on or after January 1st, 1960.

1987 Italy Ferrari F 40 Unveiled

1987 : To celebrate the 40 yrs of Ferrari production Enzo Ferrari unveiled the Ferrari F40 at the factory in Maranello, Italy. The F40 was the fastest road vehicle ever built at that time.

1997 USS Constitution

1997 : Thousands watched as the USS Constitution, known as Old Ironsides, celebrated 200 years by sailing from Marblehead, Massachusetts, under its own power for the first time in 116 years.

2002 U.S.A. Oregon Biscuit Fire

2002 : The Biscuit Fire was a wildfire that scorched and burned almost a half million acres in Oregon’s beautiful Siskiyou National Forest started by lightning and was not completely contained until December 31 later that same year.

2002 Worldcom Files Bankruptcy Protection

2002 : WorldCom Inc. files for bankruptcy protection after disclosing it had inflated profits by nearly $4 billion through deceptive accounting practices from 1999 - 2002 to mask its poor earnings and presenting a false picture of financial growth and profitability of the company.

2005 Terrorist Attack London Underground

2005 : Terrorists attack the London underground system and London Busses by planting bombs on three subways and on one bus but unlike an earlier attack the bombs create only miner blasts as only the detonators explode and not the main bombs.

2006 Cambodia Ta Mok “The Butcher” Dies

2006 : Ta Mok, a key leader of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia died of natural causes while awaiting trial for committing genocide and crimes against humanity. Ta Mok had been nicknamed “The Butcher” and was an important leader in the brutal Khmer Rouge regime under which an estimated 1.7 million people died.

2007 India Pratibha Patil Elected

2007 : The seventy-two year old Pratibha Patil is elected to the presidency in India, and becomes the first woman president of the country. Although the presidency in India is largely ceremonial, she will have some responsibilities concerning the government and coalitions.

2007 England Final Harry Potter Book Published

2007 : The last and final Harry Potter book goes on sale "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" written by J. K. Rowling. 10 years after the first Harry Potter Book was published.

2008 Yemen Exposed Dinosaur Tracks

2008 : Exposed dinosaur tracks are discovered by scientists in Yemen. In the village of Madar, the tracks were once believed to belong to giant camels, but after scientists examined the tracks, they determined that they had belonged to a herd of eleven dinosaurs from 150 million years ago. This was the first discovery of this kind on the Arabian Peninsula.

2008 Serbia Radovan Karadzic Captured

2008 : A former political leader during the Bosnian War in the 1990's, Radovan Karadzic was finally captured in Serbia on this day. He had been on the run for over ten years after being indicted for war crimes and genocide. The capture was seen as a triumph for the new government in Serbia, as it looked to join the European Union.

2011 Texas Executes Hate Killer

2011 : The US state of Texas executed Mark Stroman, who was convicted of killing two people he thought were Arab after going on a rampage after the 9/11 attacks. Stroman shot another man, Rais Bhuiyan, who survived. Bhuiyan supported Stroman's plea for clemency on the death sentence stating that killing him was "not the solution."

2012 Helicopter Crash in Brunei Kills Twelve

2012 : A helicopter carrying fourteen people crashed in Brunei, killing twelve and injuring two. The helicopter was carrying three crew and eleven military cadets home after they had been training in the jungle. The monarch of the country Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah visited the two survivors in the hospital who were said to be in stable condition.

2013 New Belgian King

2013 : Crown Prince Philippe becomes the King of Belgium after his father King Albert II abdicated after almost twenty years as king. The role of royals in Belgium is largely ceremonial.