Almanac - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

TOP TEN LISTS

World's Most Dangerous Animals

Deadliest animals in the world ranked by estimated number of human fatalities per year

Best Selling Musicians

Top selling musicians of all time ranked by estimated number of albums sold

Best Selling Books of All-Time

Best selling novels worldwide ranked by estimated number of copies sold

Fastest Manned Aircraft in the World

Fastest manned aircraft (excluding spacecraft) ranked by top speed

World's Most Practiced Religions

Major religions of the world ranked by estimated number of followers

Worst Genocides of the Twentieth Century

The ten worst genocides of the 20th century listed by dictators responsible; ranked by number of deaths

World's Fastest Land Animals

The fastest land animals in the world ranked by maximum speed

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Today in History

Saturday, 21 February 2026

2007

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigns from office. His resignation is rejected by the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano.

2004

The first European political party organization, the European Greens, is established in Rome.

1995

Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.

1975

Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison.

1974

The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal pursuant to a truce with Egypt.

1973

Over the Sinai Desert, Israeli fighter aircraft shoot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 jet killing 108.

1972

President Richard Nixon visits the People's Republic of China to normalize Sino-American relations.

The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.

1971

The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.

1970

Swissair Flight 330: A mid-air bomb explosion and subsequent crash kills 38 passengers and nine crew members near Zürich, Switzerland.

FACTOIDS

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime.

Blue Whale

The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived.

Gold

Every ton of seawater contains approximately 1 milligram of dissolved gold.

Mosquito

Studies show that mosquitoes prefer biting blondes to brunettes.

Timelines

People's Republic of China

Afghanistan