A Day in the Past

On this day: 21 September

141 things happened on 21 September, from 19 BC to 2020. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.

Printable worksheet Take the quiz

In the UK 10

UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Around the world 25

1897 129 years ago

In response to a letter written by eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon, The New York Sun published an editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church stating, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus".

Find out more: The Sun (New York City) (Wikipedia)
2015 11 years ago

Adventist Health System agreed to pay $118.7 million to settle allegations of fraud. It was the largest a hospital network has ever paid.

Find out more: AdventHealth (Wikipedia)

Quick quiz

Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!

  1. In which year did this happen: “J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy children's novel The Hobbit”?

    1. 1874
    2. 1866
    3. 1937
    Show the answer

    C: 1937. 1937 — that’s 89 years ago. Find it on the page

  2. In which year did this happen: “American Revolutionary War: The Great Fire of New York (depicted) broke out”?

    1. 1745
    2. 1776
    3. 1964
    Show the answer

    B: 1776. 1776 — that’s 250 years ago. Find it on the page

  3. Which of these happened first?

    1. American Revolutionary War: The Great Fire of New York (depicted) broke out
    2. Malta gains independence from the United Kingdom, but remains in the
    3. J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy children's novel The Hobbit
    Show the answer

    A: American Revolutionary War: The Great Fire of New York (depicted) broke out. 1776: American Revolutionary War: The Great Fire of New York (depicted) broke out · 1964: Malta gains independence from the United Kingdom, but remains in the · 1937: J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy children's novel The Hobbit Find it on the page

  4. “Malta gains independence from the United Kingdom, but remains in the” happened in 1964. How many years ago was that?

    1. 72 years
    2. 62 years
    3. 52 years
    Show the answer

    B: 62 years. 2026 − 1964 = 62. Find it on the page

Born on this day 40

Famous people whose birthday is 21 September.

Remembering 20

Well-known people who died on 21 September.

Special days 17

Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 21 September somewhere in the world.

For older readers 29 Show stories about war, disasters, crime and other difficult history

Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.

Where these facts come from

Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “September 21” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.