What happened on April 21 ?

753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome (traditional).

1509 - Henry VIII accends the throne of England (unofficially) at the death of his father, Henry VII

1792 - Tiradentes, a revolutionary who was leading a movement for Brazil's independence, is hanged and quartered.

1836 - Texas Revolution: Battle of San Jacinto ? Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.

1863 - Bahá'u'lláh declares his mission as "He whom God shall make manifest". Considered the founder of the Bahá'í Faith.

1863 - Quantrill's Raiders launch a reprisal raid Lawrence, Kansas in the Battle of Lawrence, killing a number of civilians.

1894 - Norway formally adopts the Krag-Jørgensen rifle as the main arm of its armed forces, a weapon that would remain in service for almost 50 years.

1898 - Spanish-American War: The U.S. Congress, on April 25, recognizes that a state of war exists between the United States and Spain as of this date.

1918 - World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, known as "The Red Baron", is shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France.

1930 - A fire at a Columbus, Ohio, USA, penitentiary kills 320 people.

1944 - Women in France receive the right to vote.

1945 - World War II: Soviet Union forces south of Berlin at Zossen attack the German High Command headquarters.

1952 - Secretary's Day (now Administrative Professionals' Day) is first celebrated.

1956 - Elvis Presley's song "Heartbreak Hotel" becomes the "King's" first song to reach the top of the Cash Box magazine [1] music charts.

1960 - Brasília, Brazil's capital, is officially inaugurated. At 9:30 am the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.

1960 - Founding of the Orthodox Bahá'í Faith in Washington, DC.

1962 - The Seattle World's Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opens. It is the first World's Fair in the U.S. since World War II. [2]

1965 - The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair opens for its second and final season.

1966 - Rastafari movement: Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Jamaica, an event now celebrated as Grounation Day.

1967 - A few days before the general election in Greece, Colonel George Papadopoulos leads a coup d'état, establishing a military regime that lasts for seven years.

1975 - Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyen Van Thieu flees Saigon, as Xuan Loc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.

1987 - The Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that explodes in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, killing 106 people.

1989 - Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate the late Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.

1994 - The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan.

2005 - John Negroponte becomes the first United States Director of National Intelligence.