THURSDAY, May 21,2026

1792-Mount Unzen on Japan's Shimabara Peninsula erupts, creating a tsunami and killing about 15,000 people in the country's deadliest volcanic eruption

1832-First U.S. Democratic National Convention is held in Baltimore

1871-French Army attacks Paris, starting the Semaine Sanglante (Bloody Week), a weeklong battle that kills 10,000-15,000 and ends the Paris Commune

1927-Aviator Charles Lindbergh, in the Spirit of St. Louis, lands in Paris after the first solo air crossing of the Atlantic

1932-After flying for 17 hours from Newfoundland, Amelia Earhart lands near Londonderry, Northern Ireland, completing the first solo transatlantic flight by a woman

1972-Michelangelo's Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is damaged by a vandal

1985 Israel exchanges 1,150 prisoners with the PFLP-GC in return for 3 Israeli soldiers

1998-Indonesian president Suharto resigns after 31 years in power

2016-Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, leader of the Afghan Taliban is reportedly killed by a US drone in Pakistan