Today
Thursday May 21 2026
- Day of the year
- 141/ 365
- Week
- 212,026
- Days left
- 22439%
- Moon
- 31%Waxing crescent
Today is Thursday, May 21, 2026. It is day 141 of 2026, a year of 365 days: 224 remain, and 39% of the year has gone. Under ISO 8601 this date falls in week 21.
What's celebrated on this date
World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
WorldwideUNESCO — International Days
Saints and name days
Saints whose feast falls on this date, most widely known first.
- Constantine the GreatRoman emperor from 306 to 337 and first to convert to Christianity (272–337)
- Helena Augustasaint, first wife of Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus, and mother of Emperor Constantine the Great (250-330)
- Charles-Joseph-Eugene de MazenodFrench Roman Catholic bishop and saint (1782-1861)
- Gisela, Abbess of ChellesRoman Catholic nun and abbess
- Hermann JosephGerman mystic
Sources : Wikidata (P841) · CC0 1.0
Astronomy
New York
- Sunrise
- 05:34
- Sunset
- 20:12
- Length of day
- 14h 38m+2 min vs yesterday
- Solar noon
- 12:53
Times shown for America/New_York
Season
Spring
began on March 20, 2026
Next season
Summer — 31 days, June 21, 2026 (June solstice)
Public holidays — United States
Not a public holiday in the United States.
Next public holiday : Memorial Day — May 25, 2026
National holidays only. Regions, provinces and Länder add their own.
Moon
Waxing crescent
Illumination : 31%
Moon age : 4.8 days
- Next full moon
- May 31, 2026
- Next new moon
- June 15, 2026
Astrology
Today's zodiac sign
Gemini
until June 21, 2026 — Cancer
Zodiac dates are an astrological convention, not the Sun's actual position among the constellations. The astronomy above is measured; this is not.
On this day in history
878
Syracuse, Sicily, is captured by the Muslim Aghlabids after a nine-month siege. Wikipedia
996
Sixteen-year-old Otto III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. Wikipedia
1674
The nobility elect John Sobieski King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Wikipedia
1879
War of the Pacific: Two Chilean ships blocking the harbor of Iquique (then belonging to Peru) battle two Peruvian vessels in the Battle of Iquique. Wikipedia
1904
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is founded in Paris. Wikipedia
1927
Charles Lindbergh touches down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Wikipedia
Show more (4)
1972
Michelangelo's Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is damaged by a vandal, the mentally disturbed Hungarian geologist Laszlo Toth. Wikipedia
1991
Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a female suicide bomber near Madras. Wikipedia
1998
President Suharto of Indonesia resigns following the killing of students from Trisakti University earlier that week by security forces and growing mass protests in Jakarta against his ongoing corrupt rule. Wikipedia
2003
The 6.8 Mw Boumerdès earthquake shakes northern Algeria with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). More than 2,200 people were killed and a moderate tsunami sank boats at the Balearic Islands. Wikipedia
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
Births and deaths
Born on this day May 21
- 1471Albrecht Dürer, German painter, engraver, and mathematician (died 1528)
- 1790William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire, English politician, Lord Chamberlain of the Household (died 1858)
- 1843Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss lawyer and politician, and Nobel Prize laureate (died 1914)
- 1843Louis Renault, French jurist, educator, and Nobel Prize laureate (died 1918)
- 1856José Batlle y Ordóñez, Uruguayan journalist and politician, President of Uruguay (died 1929)
- 1895Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexican general, president (1934–1940) and father of Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas (died 1970)
- 1921Andrei Sakharov, Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1989)
- 2002Elena Huelva, Spanish cancer activist and influencer (died 2023)
Died on this day May 21
- 252Sun Quan, Chinese emperor of Eastern Wu (born 182)aged 70 years
- 987Louis V, king of West Francia (born c. 966)aged 20 years
- 1254Conrad IV, king of Germany (born 1228)aged 26 years
- 1895Franz von Suppé, Austrian composer and conductor (born 1819)aged 76 years
- 1965Geoffrey de Havilland, English pilot and engineer, designed the de Havilland Mosquito (born 1882)aged 83 years
- 1991Rajiv Gandhi, Indian politician, 6th Prime Minister of India (born 1944)aged 47 years
- 2003Alejandro de Tomaso, Argentinian-Italian race car driver and businessman, founded De Tomaso (born 1928)aged 75 years
- 2026Kyle Busch, American race car driver and owner (born 1985)aged 41 years
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
The day in words
In New York the sun rises at 05:34 and sets at 20:12, giving 14h 38m of daylight — 2 minutes more than yesterday. It has been spring since March 20, 2026; summer opens in 31 days, on June 21, 2026 (June solstice).
The moon is a waxing crescent, 31% illuminated. The next full moon falls on May 31, 2026 and the next new moon on June 15, 2026.
The saints' calendar attaches May 21 to Constantine the Great, Helena Augusta and Charles-Joseph-Eugene de Mazenod.
May 21 is World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, designated by the United Nations or one of its agencies.
It is not a public holiday in the United States.
On this day in history: Syracuse, Sicily, is captured by the Muslim Aghlabids after a nine-month siege (878); Sixteen-year-old Otto III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor (996). English Wikipedia records 10 events for this date.
Albrecht Dürer was born on May 21, 1471; Sun Quan died on May 21, 252.
218 days remain until Christmas and 225 until New Year's Day.
In astrology — kept separate from the measured astronomy above, deliberately — May 21 falls under the sign of Gemini.
Calendar
By the numbers
- 39%
- of the year elapsed
- 218
- until Christmas
- 225
- until New Year
- 649
- until the next 29 February
2026 — Common year (365 days)
Work with dates
Sources
Every block on this page names where its data comes from. Nothing here is generated when the source is silent.
- United Nations — International Days— What's celebrated today
- Wikidata (P841)— Saints and name days · CC0 1.0
- Wikipedia (en)— On this day in history · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26