21-May-1932 Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly the Atlantic Ocean alone.

21-May-1945 Syria and Lebanon broke off negotiations with France and demanded full independence.

21-May-1956 The United States exploded the first airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.

21-May-1989 Thousands of native Chinese marched in Hong Kong, Paris, Tokyo and scores of other cities in a worldwide show of support for the pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing.

21-May-1991 Former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a bomb hidden in a bouquet of flowers while campaigning for elections in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu.