September 21 Birthday
On September 21, 1949, Mao Zedong stood on the rostrum of Tiananmen Gate and proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China: "The Chinese people have stood up!" The announcement ended a civil war that had lasted twenty-two years and killed millions. Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist government retreated to Taiwan, taking the national gold reserves. The PRC would undergo the Great Leap Forward (30-40 million deaths from famine), the Cultural Revolution (millions persecuted), and the economic reforms of Deng Xiaoping that transformed it into the world's second-largest economy. Stephen King, born this day in 1947, has sold over 350 million books. He was working as a high school English teacher when Carrie was accepted for publication. The paperback rights sold for $400,000. He threw away the first draft of Carrie; his wife retrieved it from the trash. He has published over sixty novels. He was hit by a van in 1999 and nearly killed — he continued to write throughout his recovery. People born on September 21 fall under the zodiac sign of Virgo. The birthstone is Sapphire and the birth flower is Aster. Historical events on September 21 include 1949: Mao Zedong proclaims People's Republic of China, 1938: Great New England Hurricane kills 600, 1981: Sandra Day O'Connor unanimously confirmed as first woman on Supreme Court. Famous people born on September 21 include H.G. Wells (1866), Leonard Cohen (1934), Stephen King (1947).