Historical timeline for May 21

A stabbing spree on the Green line of the Taichung MRT injures four people, including the perpetrator.

The Greenfield tornado kills five and injures 35 across rural Iowa, United States. Wind speeds in excess of 480 kilometres per hour (300 mph) are estimated from measurements for the third time in history.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus perform their final show at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Random killings occur on the Bannan Line of the Taipei MRT, killing four and injuring 24.

A bus accident near Himara, Albania kills 13 people and injures 21 others.

A suicide bombing kills more than 120 people in Sanaa, Yemen.

Radio broadcaster Harold Camping predicted that the world would end on this date.

JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, launches the solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS aboard an H-IIA rocket. The vessel would make a Venus flyby late in the year.

The Republic of Montenegro holds a referendum proposing independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro; 55% of Montenegrins vote for independence.

The tallest roller coaster in the world, Kingda Ka opens at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey.

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.

French Taubira law is enacted, officially recognizing the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity.

Nineteen people are killed in a plane crash in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

In Miami, five abortion clinics are attacked by a butyric acid attacker.

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.

The ferry MV Bukoba sinks in Tanzanian waters on Lake Victoria, killing nearly 1,000.

The seven Trappist monks of Tibhirine who were abducted on March 27 are killed under uncertain circumstances.

The Democratic Republic of Yemen unsuccessfully attempts to secede from the Republic of Yemen; a war breaks out.

After 30 seasons Johnny Carson hosts his penultimate episode and last featuring guests (Robin Williams and Bette Midler) of The Tonight Show.

Mengistu Haile Mariam, president of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, flees Ethiopia, effectively bringing the Ethiopian Civil War to an end.