Human Saga

On May 21

No pivotal events are recorded on exactly May 21 in the Human Saga — here is the surrounding week in history.

This week in history (May 18 – May 24)

20 May 1498Vasco da Gama opens the sea route to IndiaExploration & colonisation

On 20 May 1498 the Portuguese commander Vasco da Gama anchored near Calicut (Kozhikode) on India's Malabar Coast, becoming the first European to reach India by sea.

On 23 May 1618 Bohemian Protestant nobles threw two Catholic imperial regents and their secretary from a window of Prague Castle, an act of defiance against the Habsburg crown that triggered the Bohemian Revolt and ignited the Thirty…

24 May 1844Morse Opens the Electric TelegraphScience, technology & invention

On 24 May 1844 Samuel F. B. Morse transmitted the message "What hath God wrought" from the Capitol in Washington to his partner Alfred Vail at a railroad station in Baltimore, the first public demonstration of his electromagnetic telegraph…

18 May 1848 – June 1849The Frankfurt Parliament and the failure of liberal German unificationPolitics & governance

The Frankfurt National Assembly, which first met in the Paulskirche on 18 May 1848, was the first freely elected parliament for all of Germany and the boldest attempt of the 1848 revolutions to create a unified, constitutional German…

24 May 2019Taiwan becomes the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriageSocial & demographic

On 24 May 2019 same-sex marriage became legal in Taiwan, making it the first jurisdiction in Asia to grant marriage equality.

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