Today in History: “Bloody Sunday” in Dublin (Ireland)

The following are a list of some notable events that occurred on November 21 throughout history:

1783 – First Untethered Balloon Flight (Paris, France): Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François d’Arlandes made the first free human flight in a hot-air balloon. Launching from Paris, this flight inaugurated manned aviation, marking a major scientific achievement with global impact on transportation and exploration.

1877 – Edison Introduces the Phonograph (Menlo Park, New Jersey, USA): Inventor Thomas Edison announced his new phonograph, the first device capable of recording and playing back sound. This breakthrough revolutionized music and audio technology, paving the way for recorded sound in entertainment and communication worldwide.

1902 – First Professional Night Football Game (Elmira, New York, USA): The Philadelphia Athletics defeated the Elmira Kanaweola club in a 39–0 game, marking the first-ever professional American football game played under artificial lights. This sporting milestone presaged the modern era of night sports events and contributed to the popularity of professional football.

1905 – Einstein’s E=mc² Paper Published (Germany): Albert Einstein’s landmark paper introducing the mass–energy equivalence formula $E=mc^2$ was published in the journal Annalen der Physik. This foundational physics result transformed modern science, underpinning nuclear energy and much of 20th-century physics.

1916 – Sinking of HMHS Britannic (Aegean Sea): Britannic, sister ship of the Titanic and the largest ship sunk during WWI, struck mines laid by SM U-73 and sank on November 21, 1916. The loss of 30 lives (with over 1,000 saved) highlighted wartime dangers at sea and influenced naval safety practices.

1920 – “Bloody Sunday” in Dublin (Ireland): During the Irish War of Independence, IRA operatives assassinated British intelligence agents in Dublin, while British forces killed 14 civilians at a Gaelic football match in Croke Park. This single-day event, known as Bloody Sunday, was a pivotal moment galvanizing international attention to Ireland’s struggle for independence.

1962 – End of the Sino-Indian War (Asia): The Chinese People’s Liberation Army declared a unilateral ceasefire on November 21, 1962, effectively ending the brief border war with India. The ceasefire reshaped the geopolitical map of Asia, leading to the current contested boundaries and influencing Sino-Indian relations for decades.

1964 – Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge Opens (New York City, USA): The new suspension bridge connecting Brooklyn and Staten Island was opened to traffic. At over a mile in span, it was the world’s longest suspension bridge at the time, symbolizing postwar engineering prowess and facilitating global trade and travel through New York Harbor.

1979 – U.S. Embassy Attack in Islamabad (Pakistan): A mob stormed and set fire to the United States embassy in Islamabad, killing four Americans. This violent protest, sparked by rumors about U.S. involvement in Middle East conflicts, underscored tensions in U.S.–Pakistan relations and reflected rising anti-Western sentiment during the Cold War era.

1995 – Dayton Peace Accords Initialed (Dayton, Ohio, USA): Leaders of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia signed (initialed) the Dayton Agreement on November 21, 1995, formally ending three and a half years of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This landmark diplomatic agreement, brokered under U.S. mediation, restored peace in the Balkans and set a precedent for multi-party peace negotiations.