Major Events
- Jan 4 First Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines are given to the general public, with 82-year-old Brian Pinker in the UK the first to receive the jab [1]
- Jan 6 Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump storm the Capitol in Washington, D.C., during Congress’s certification of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s victory, resulting in five deaths and prompting the evacuation of lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence
- Feb 1 Military coup in Myanmar; civilian leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, are detained, and a one-year state of emergency is declared (still in effect)
- May 25 US CDC says half of all US adults are now fully vaccinated, with 61% having had their first shot
- Jun 25 WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirms the COVID-19 Delta variant is the most transmissible to date, now present in 85 countries and spreading rapidly [1]
- Jun 28 Tigray Defense Forces retake Tigray's regional capital of Mekelle in Ethiopia's Tigray War. The Ethiopian government declares a unilateral ceasefire to save face but neither side sticks to it. [1]
- Aug 15 Afghan President Ashraf Ghani flees the country as Taliban forces enter the capital Kabul and take control
- Sep 14 One in 500 Americans has died of COVID-19 as the nation's known death toll reaches 663,913 (Johns Hopkins) [1]
- Oct 6 WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recommends the world's first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix, for children after a pilot program proves effective in Africa [1]
2021 in Film & TV
- Sep 27 Netflix announces Shonda Rhimes' "Bridgerton" as its most-watched series ever, with "Extraction," starring Chris Hemsworth, as its No. 1 film [1]
2021 in Music
- Jun 23 Britney Spears requests a judge to end her court-ordered conservatorship, stating, "I think this conservatorship is abusive. I don't think I can live a full life."
- Nov 12 LA judge rules to end Britney Spears' conservatorship, which had controlled almost all aspects of her life for 14 years
2021 in Sport
- Jun 23 1st ICC World Test Championship final, Southampton: New Zealand dismisses India for meagre 170; completes tricky chase of 139 on 6th day to win inaugural cricket title
Did You Know?
Egyptian archaeologists announce their most important find since Tutankhamun's tomb: the discovery of a lost 'golden city,' the 3,000-year-old ancient city of Aten near Luxor
Born in 2021
- Jun 4 Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, born in Santa Barbara, California
Fun Fact About 2021
English playwright William Shakespeare is reported to have died after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine by Argentine news channel Canal 26 (case of mistaken identity, the Bard died in 1616)
More 2021 Deaths
Famous Weddings in 2021
- Feb 16 Actor Nicholas Cage marries for the fifth time to Riko Shibata at Wynn Hotel, Las Vegas
- Mar 27 Rapper Jeezy marries TV fashion expert Jeannie Mae Jenkins at home in Atlanta
- May 7 Parks and Recreation actress Aubrey Plaza (37) and screenwriter Jeff Baena (44) announce their marriage on Instagram; married until Baena's death in 2025
Famous Divorces in 2021
- Jan 29 "The L Word" actress Sarah Shahi (41) divorces "Shameless" actor Steve Howey (43) after 11 years of marriage
- Feb 19 Kim Kardashian West files for divorce from her third husband, Kanye West after almost seven years
- May 3 American Microsoft CEO Bill Gates (66) and his wife Melinda (French) Gates (57) announce their divorce via social media, after 27 years of marriage, finalized later on the summer
More 2021 Weddings
Angela Merkel
Boris Johnson
Joe Biden
Narendra Modi
Vladimir Putin
Xi Jinping