May 21 Birthday
On May 21, 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross. She had served as a nurse in the Civil War, earning the nickname "Angel of the Battlefield." After the war, she traveled to Europe and encountered the International Red Cross, founded in Geneva in 1863. She lobbied Congress for twelve years to ratify the Geneva Convention and establish an American chapter. The American Red Cross expanded its mission beyond wartime relief to include disaster response — floods, earthquakes, epidemics. Barton ran the organization for twenty-three years, often clashing with her board. She was forced out at eighty-three and spent her remaining years in Maryland. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991, by a suicide bomber in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, India. The bomber was a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), retaliating for Gandhi's decision to send Indian peacekeeping forces to Sri Lanka in 1987. Gandhi had been Prime Minister from 1984 to 1989, following the assassination of his mother, Indira Gandhi. He was campaigning for reelection when he was killed. The bomber approached him with a garland of flowers and detonated a belt of RDX explosives hidden under her clothes. She was seventeen. Gandhi's death effectively ended the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty's control of Indian politics, though his wife, Sonia, would later lead the Congress Party. Henri Rousseau, born this day in 1844, was a customs collector who painted in his spare time. He had no formal training and never left France, yet his paintings depicted exotic jungles. He was mocked by critics and admired by Picasso, who gave him a banquet in 1908. His paintings — The Sleeping Gypsy, The Dream — are now in the Museum of Modern Art. He died in 1910 and was buried in a pauper's grave. People born on May 21 fall under the zodiac sign of Gemini. The birthstone is Emerald and the birth flower is Lily of the Valley. Historical events on May 21 include 1881: Clara Barton founds the American Red Cross in Washington DC, 1932: Amelia Earhart lands in Ireland, completing first solo transatlantic flight by a woman, 1991: Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassinated by suicide bomber. Famous people born on May 21 include Mr. T (1952), The Notorious B.I.G. (1972), Henri Rousseau (1844).