In the year 1921, suffrage for women is obtained in Sweden, and Chaplin’s The Kid is released in the United States (Jan 21), Marie Stopes opens the first birth control clinic in London, England (Mar 17), the Allies of WW1 reparations commission announce that Germany has to pay $33 trillion in annual installments of 2.5 billion (Apr 27), the Province of Northern Ireland is created within the United Kingdom (May 5), the Tulsa race massacre takes place (May 31), the death penalty is abolished in Sweden (Jun 30), insulin is discovered (Jul 27), The Sheik starring Rudolph Valentino premiers in L.A. (Oct 21), roughly 5 million people die in the Russian Famine - and all these fine people were born:
1921-0101
1921-0109 Ágnes Keleti* (b Klein) Hungarian and Israeli artistic gymnast/OG/coach - Budapest, Hungary (2025/103)
1921-0115 Eeva-Kaarina Volanen* actress - Kuusankoski, Finland (1999/78)
1921-0119 Patricia Highsmith* novelist/short story writer - Fort Worth, TX USA (1995/74)
1921-0124 Beatrice Mintz* embryologist/ pioneer of genetic engineering techniques - New York City, NY USA (2022/100)
1921-0127 Donna Reed* actress (The Donna Reed Show) - Denison, IA USA (1986/64)
1921-0129 Geraldine Pittman Woods* science administrator - West Palm Beach, FL USA (1999/78)
1921-0131 Carol Channing* actress/singer - Seattle, WA USA (2019/97)
1921-0131 Mario Lanza* singer - Philadelphia, PA USA (1959/38)
1921-0201
1921-0204 Betty Friedan* writer/activist/feminist - Peoria, IL USA (2006/85)
1921-0207 Katharine Balfour* actress/ radio talk show host/writer - New York, NY USA (1990/69)
1921-0208 Lana Turner* actress - Wallace, ID USA (1995/74)
1921-0211 Ottavio Missoni* Olympic hurdler/businessman/founder of Missoni - Dubrovnik, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (2013/92)
1921-0214 Hugh Downs* television host/news anchor/author - Akron, OH USA (2020/99)
1921-0214 Hazel McCallion* (b Journeaux) businesswoman/ politician - Port Daniel, QC Canada (2023/101)
1921-0220
1921-0224 Abe Vigoda* actor - Brooklyn, NY USA (2016/94)
1921-0226 Betty Hutton* actress/ dancer/singer - Battle Creek, MI USA (2007/86)
1921-0227 Michael Fox* actor - Yonkers, NY USA (1996/75)
1921-0301
1921-0303 Nina Lagergren* businesswoman/sister of Raoul Wallenberg - Stockholm, Sweden (2019/98)
1921-0306 Bélgica Castro* actress - Concepción, Chile (2020/99)
1921-0308
1921-0309 Carl Betz* actor (The Donna Reed Show) - Pittsburgh, PA USA (1978/56)
1921-0310 Josip Elic* (b Elich) actor (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) - Butte, MT USA (2019/98)
1921-0313 Al Jaffee* cartoonist (Mad) - Savannah, GA USA (2023/102)
1921-0314 S. Truett Cathy* businessman/philanthropist/ founder of Chick-fil-A - Eatonton, GA USA (2014/93)
1921-0319 Tommy Cooper* comedian/magician - Caerphilly, Glamorgan, Wales (1984/63)
1921-0320
1921-0324 Wilson Harris* writer - New Amsterdam, British Guiana (2018/96)
1921-0325 Simone Signoret* French actress - Wiesbaden, Germany (1985/64)
1921-0328 Dick Bogarde* actor - West Hampstead, London, England (1999/78)
1921-0331
1921-0401
1921-0410 Chuck Connors* baseball player/actor - Brooklyn, NY USA (1992/71)
1921-0416 Peter Ustinov* actor/film director - London, England (2004/82)
1921-0419 Michel Klein* Romanian-French veterinarian/television personality - Romania (2024/103)
1921-0423 Derek Granger* screenwriter/film and television producer - Bramhall, Cheshire, England (2022/101)
1921-0429 Kees de Jager* astronomer - Den Burg, Texel, Netherlands (2021/100)
1921-0429 Bert Lundin* union leader - Lysekil, Sweden (2018/96)
1921-0429 Tommy Noonan* actor - Bellingham, WA USA (1968/46)
1921-0430
1921-0503 Sugar Ray Robinson* boxer - Ailey, GA USA (1989/67)
1921-0521 Andrei Sakharov* physicist/activist - Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union (1989/68)
1921-0530 Leon Hale* journalist/author - Stephenville, TX USA (2021/99)
1921-0531 Goose Tatum* baseball player/basketball player - El Dorado, AR USA (1967/45)
1921-0601
1921-0602 Alexander Salkind* film producer - Freistadt, Danzig (1997/75)
1921-0604 Don Diamond* actor - Brooklyn, NY USA (2011/90)
1921-0608 Muhammad Suharto* military leader/President of Indonesia - Kemusuk, Dutch East Indies (2008/86)
1921-0609 Brenda Frazier* American socialite/ “Poor Little Rich Girl” - Quebec, Canada (1982/60)
1921-0610 Prince Philip* Duke of Edinburgh - Mon Repos, Corfu, Greece (2021/99)
1921-0615 Pekka Kuvaja* cross-country skier (Vasaloppet) - Heinävesi, Finland (2003/82)
1921-0617 Eeva Joenpelto* novelist - Sammatti, Finland (2004/82)
1921-0621 Jane Russell* actress - Bemidji, MN USA (2011/89)
1921-0630
1921-0701 Seretse Khama* first president of Botswana - Serowe, Bechuanaland Protectorate (1980/59)
1921-0704 Carl J. Seiberlich* naval aviator/first one to qualify to land on an aircraft carrier - Jenkintown, PA USA (2006/84)
1921-0706 Nancy Reagan* actress/ First lady - New York, NY USA (2016/94)
1921-0708 John Money* psychologist/ sexologist/author - Morrisville, New Zealand (2006/84)
1921-0710
1921-0715
1921-0718 Aaron Beck* psychiatrist/regarded as the father of cognitive therapy - Providence, RI USA (2021/100)
1921-0718 John Glenn* astronaut/politician - Cambridge, OH USA (2016/95)
1921-0723 Gunnar Larsson* cross-country skier (Vasaloppet) - Hudiksvall, Sweden (2012/91)
1921-0730 Tarmo Manni* actor - Saarijärvi, Finland (1999/78)
1921-0731 John Roach* archbishop - Prior Lake, MN USA (2003/81)
1921-0804 Maurice “Rocket” Richard* hockey player (NHL 100)/ instrumental in Montreal’s five consecutive championships - Montreal, QC Canada (2000/78)
1921-0808 Esther Williams* swimmer/actress - Inglewood, CA USA (2013/91)
1921-0811 Alex Haley* author - Ithaca, NY USA (1992/70)
1921-0819 Gene Roddenberry* television screenwriter/producer/creator of Star Trek - El Paso, TX USA (1991/70)
1921-0820
1921-0827 Leo Penn* actor/ director/father of Sean & Chris Penn - Lawrence, MA USA (1998/77)
1921-0830 David Finn* public relations executive/photographer and historian of sculpture - New York City, NY USA (2021/100)
1921-0905 Carsten Bresch* geneticist/physicist - Berlin, Germany (2020/98)
1921-0913 Gunnar Eriksson* cross-country skier/OG - Östnor, Mora, Sweden (1982/60)
1921-0913 Evelyn Miller* (b Rea) mother of four/musical inspiration - Terre Haute, IN USA (1988/67) Find a Grave
1921-0916 Ursula Franklin* German-Canadian metallurgist/physicist/ author/to Canada at age 27 - Munich, Weimar Republic (2016/94)
1921-0920
1921-0928 Bruce Mason* playwright - Wellington, New Zealand (1982/61)
1921-0929 James Cross* diplomat - Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland (2021/99)
1921-0930 Deborah Kerr* actress - Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland (2007/86)
1921-1001 James Whitmore* actor - White Plains, NY USA (2009/87)
1921-1006 Joseph Lowery* United Methodist Church minister/civil rights activist - Huntsville, AL USA (2020/98)
1921-1013 Yves Montand* actor - Monsummano Terme, Italy (1991/70)
1921-1018 Beatrice Worsley* Canadian computer scientist - Querétaro, Mexico (1972/50)
1921-1023 Matti Oravisto* actor - Helsinki, Finland (2001/80)
1921-1023 İlhan Usmanbaş* Turkish composer - Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (2025/103)
1921-1025
1921-1026 Frances Scott Fitzgerald* writer/journalist/ daughter of F. Scott Fitzgerald - Saint Paul, MN USA (1986/64)
1921-1101
1921-1103 Brent Ashabranner* Peace Corps administrator/children’s books writer - Shawnee, OK USA (2016/95)
1921-1103 Charles Bronson* (b Buchinsky) actor - Ehrenfeld, PA USA (2003/81)
1921-1105 Margot Friedländer* Holocaust survivor/to U.S. at age 25/public speaker in Germany - Berlin, Weimar Republic (2025/103)
1921-1110
1921-1113 Joonas Kokkonen* composer - Iisalmi, Finland (1996/74)
1921-1121 Aryeh Eliav* Russian-Israeli politician/to Palestine at age 2 - Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union (2010/88)
1921-1122 Rodney Dangerfield* actor - Babylon, Long Island, NY USA (2004/82)
1921-1126 Françoise Gilot* painter/married to Pablo Picasso and Jonas Salk/to the U.S. at age 48 - Neuilly-sur-Seine, France (2023/101)
1921-1129 Jackie Stallone* astrologer/promoter/mother of Sylvester Stallone - Washington D.C. USA (2020/98)
1921-1204 Deanna Durbin* actress/singer - Winnipeg, MB Canada (2013/91)
1921-1205 Eeva-Liisa Manner* poet/ playwright/translator - Helsinki, Finland (1995/73)
1921-1210
1921-1211 Seymour Topping* journalist/foreign correspondent - New York City, NY USA (2020/98)
1921-1218 Börje Lampenius* actor/ singer/director/father of Linda Lampenius - Helsinki, Finland (2016/94)
1921-1218 Yuri Nikulin* actor/ clown - Demidov, Russia, Soviet Union (1997/75)
1921-1226 Steve Allen* comedian/media personality - New York, NY USA (2000/78)
1921-0
1921-0
1921-0
Updated 2025-0512 Helsinki
Search for another year here