On this day in history - May 21

What Happened On This Day – May 21

• 1991 Former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, is assassinated

  The attacker was a woman believed to be linked the Sri Lankan separatist militant organization, the Tamil Tigers. At least 14 people lost their lives in the suicide bombing.

• 1979 Violent clashes follow the lenient sentencing for Harvey Milk's murderer

  Milk, the first openly gay U.S. politician, had been shot and killed together with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone. The assassin, Dan White, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter only, triggering the White Night Riots.

• 1951 The 9th Street Show opens in New York

  The ground-breaking art exhibition showing works by artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning is considered the birth hour of the artistic avant-garde referred to as the New York School.

• 1932 Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic

  The U.S. aviatress' disappearance on an attempted round-the-world flight five years later is one of the most discussed unsolved mysteries in the history of flight.

• 1904 FIFA, the world governing body of association football, is founded

  The Fédération Internationale de Football Association is responsible for the organization of the World Cup, which is one of the world's most viewed sporting events.