On This Day: 21 April

City of Rome founded (traditional date – according to Varro writing in the 1^st century BC)		753 BC
The three–day Lisbon Massacre ends, with over 1,900 suspected Jews slaughtered by Catholics		1506
Henry VII dies, and is succeeded by his son Henry VIII		1509
Mogul leader Babur (Babar) routs the army of the Afghan Sultan of Delhi and establishes the Mogul dynasty, which would rule India until 1858		1526
Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language published		1828
Battle of San Jacinto: Texans under General Sam Houston defeat the Mexicans under Antonio López de Santa Anna, establishing the independent Republic of Texas		1836
Sir James Thomas Knowles founds the Metaphysical Society		1869
The Northwest Mounted Police is established in Canada		1873
The USA begins a blockade of Cuban ports; four days later, Congress declares that a state of war had existed from this date		1898
Rodin's semi–nude statue of Victor Hugo, displayed at the Grand Palais, shocks Paris		1901
Nottingham Forest beat Leicester Fosse 12–0 – the biggest ever win in the First Division		1909
US troops occupy Veracruz to prevent German arms reaching Mexican forces		1914
Former British consular official Roger Casement is arrested by the British authorities, on arriving in Ireland on a German submarine to lead a Sinn Fein rebellion		1916
Canadians take Vimy Ridge		1917
Baron Manfred von Richthofen is shot down in action over Vaux–sur–Somme, in France, and killed		1918
Princess Elizabeth born		1926
The Daily Mail publishes the 'Surgeon's photograph' – the most famous photo claiming to show the Loch Ness monster; it was revealed in 1999 to be a hoax		1934
BOAC Comets begin the first jet airliner service (London to Rome)		1952
The US Air Force flies a French batallion to Vietnam to defend Dien Bien Phu		1954
Brasilia replaces Rio de Janeiro as the capital of Brazil		1960
A military junta led by Colonel George Papadopoulos takes power in Greece, a few days before a general election; the regime would last for seven years		1967
Enoch Powell calls for an end to non–white immigration from the Commonwealth		1968
Student leader Daniel Cohn–Bendit ('Danny the Red') is denied entry to France		1969
President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu of South Vietnam flees Saigon, as Xuân Lộc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls		1975
Annie opens on Broadway		1977
The Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that detonates in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, killing 106 people.		1987
Around 100,000 Chinese students pour into Beijing's Tiananmen Square to commemorate reform leader Hu Yaobang, ignoring government warnings of dire consequences		1989
Former Bolivian dictator Luis García Meza is sentenced to 30 years in jail without parole, for murder, theft, fraud and violating the constitution		1993
The Washington Post reveals that Britain has agreed to stockpile nuclear waste from Georgia under an agreement brokered by the USA		1998
A CIA report reveals that the designs of the USA's most sophisticated nuclear weapons were stolen by Chinese spies in the 1980s		1999
Jean–Marie le Pen, founder of France's National Front, comes second in the first poll in the presidential election – eliminating the Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin		2002
Labour MP George Galloway denies having been on Saddam Hussein's payroll, after Iraqi intelligence documents appear to show that he was		2003
Four co–ordinated suicide bombings kill at least 68 people in Basra – the deadliest attacks on the British–controlled city since the end of the 2004 war		2004
Ron Atkinson resigns his role as a TV pundit after a racist remark he made about Marcel Desailly after Chelsea's Champions' League semi–final was (unbeknownst to him) broadcast in parts of the Middle East		2004
116 people lose their lives when two trains collide head–on near Amsterdam		2012

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On This Day: 21 April