Monday 21st of March 1825

Anna Lucia Meyerholz is poisoned with arsenic by serial poisoner Gesche Gottfried aka Der Engel von Bremen in Bremen, Freie Hansestadt Bremen, Germany.

Thursday 21st of March 1839

Composer Modest Pyotrovich Mussorgsky is born in Karevo, Pskov Oblast, Russia.

Tuesday 21st of March 1899

Physician and murderer Buck Ruxton is born as Bukhtyar Chompa Rustomji Ratanji Hakim in Bombay, Bombay Presidency, India.

Thursday 21st of March 1901

Murderer John Herbert Bennett known for The Yarmouth Beach Murder is executed by hanging by James Billington at the age of 21 in Norwich Prison, Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom.

Tuesday 21st of March 1922

Film director Russ Russell Albion Meyer aka The King of the Nudies known for his big breast fixation is born in San Leandro, California, United States.

Wednesday 21st of March 1923

Mystery writer Muriel Davidson aka The Thursday Woman is born as Muriel Friedland in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States.

Sunday 21st of March 1926

Film director André Delvaux is born in Heverlee, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium.

Monday 21st of March 1938

Kidnapper and murderer Arnett Booth is executed by hanging at the age of 46 in Moundsville State Penitentiary, 818 Jefferson Avenue, Moundsville, West Virginia, United States.

Monday 21st of March 1938

Kidnapper and murderer John Travis is executed by hanging in Moundsville State Penitentiary, 818 Jefferson Avenue, Moundsville, West Virginia, United States.

Monday 21st of March 1938

Kidnapper and murderer Orville Adkins is executed by hanging at the age of 25 in Moundsville State Penitentiary, 818 Jefferson Avenue, Moundsville, West Virginia, United States.

As Adklns stepped up to the gallows trap he collapsed and fell into the concrete pit 12ft below. The guards dashed down the steps and carried him on a stretcher to the platform where Adklns smilingly waited for the damage to be repaired. The trap was then tested and retested.

Sunday 21st of March 1943

Singer-songwriter, musician and poet Vivian Victor Anthony Stanshall known from the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band is born in Radcliffe Maternity Home, Shillingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.

Tuesday 21st of March 1944

42-year-old Dancer, actress, film director and photographer Leni Helene Bertha Amalie Riefenstahl marries Peter Jacob in Kitzbühel, Tirol, Austria.

Riefenstahl and Jacob divorced in 1947.

Thursday 21st of March 1946

Serial killer Kenneth Allen McDuff aka The Broomstick Murderer is born in Rosebud, Texas, United States.

Sunday 21st of March 1948

Serial killer Jerry Walter McFadden aka Animal is born in Haskell County, Texas, United States.

Monday 21st of March 1955

48-year-old Wilhelmina Susanna Uhde Sailer is shot in the head by serial killer Leslie Irvin aka The Mad Dog Killer in Mount Vernon, Indiana, United States.

Thursday 21st of March 1963

Triple murderer Frederick Charles Wood is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 51 in Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York, United States.

As he stood in the death chamber waiting to be strapped into the electric chair Wood grinned at the witnesses and said, “Gents, this is an educational project. You are about to witness the damaging effect electricity has on Wood. Enjoy yourselves.”

Wednesday 21st of March 1973

Vaudeville performer Gummo Milton Marx known from the Marx Brothers dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 80 in Palm Springs, California, United States.

Wednesday 21st of March 1973

18-year-old Janine M. Ligotino is abducted and stabbed to death by serial killer Gerald Stano aka Blind Fury in Gainesville, Florida, United States.

Wednesday 21st of March 1973

17-year-old Ann C. Arceneaux is abducted and stabbed to death by serial killer Gerald Stano aka Blind Fury in Gainesville, Florida, United States.

Friday 21st of March 1975

64-year-old Anthony Joseph Crean is hacked to death by serial killer Patrick Mackay aka Franklin Bollvolt the First in Shorne, Kent, United Kingdom.

Mackay on and off returned to the bathroom and the bloody tub with Crean's body, filling it with water and observing its color change and the bloods affect on the water.

Sunday 21st of March 1976

31-year-old Vladimir Peter Sabich aka Spider is shot dead by singer, actress and murderess Claudine Longet in Aspen, Starwood, Colorado, United States.

Longet claimed the gun discharged accidentally when Sabich was showing her how it worked. Sabich was hit by a single gunshot in the abdomen and lost a significant amount of blood before an ambulance arrived. He died on the way to Aspen Valley Hospital with Longet at his side.

Wednesday 21st of March 1979

33-year-old Performance and installation artist Chris Christopher Burden performs 'Send Me Your Money' in KPFK Radio, 3729 Cahuenga Blvd, Los Angeles, California, United States.

Send Me Your Money.

Friday 21st of March 1986

'Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue III' by 81-year-old Artist Barnett Newman known for Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue? is attacked with a knife by 33-year-old artist Gerard Jan van Bladeren in Stedelijk Museum, Museumplein 10, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands.

The restoration by Daniel Goldreyer initially cost some $400.000, but was heavily attacked by critics who claimed that subtle nuances in the three monochrome sections had been lost and that Goldreyer had used house paints and a roller. According to critics, the painting had been destroyed twice: first during the attack, and again during the restoration. Although the painting is still in the Stedelijk Museum's collection, it is no longer on display. Van Bladeren was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic and sentenced to eight months in prison.

Saturday 21st of March 1987

Noise music band Club Moral play their 63rd concert in The Organ Factory, 6-10 Page Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Tuesday 21st of March 1989

33-year-old Rampage killer Marciano Contaoe is sentenced to 30 years in prison for nine murder counts and another 30 years for three injuries in Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines.

Contaoe was a member of President Corazon C. Aquino's elite guards who went on a drunken shooting spree on 21 May 1988.

Thursday 21st of March 1991

Guitar amplification pioneer Leo Clarence Leonidas Fender dies of Parkinson's disease at the age of 82 in Fullerton, California, United States.

Thursday 21st of March 2002

52-year-old Fraudster John Darwin aka The Canoe Man known for organising his own disappearance and presumed death goes paddling out to sea in his canoe in Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, North East, United Kingdom.

On 1 December 2007 Darwin walked into the West End Central police station in London claiming to have no memory of the past five years.

Monday 21st of March 2005

Obvious signology during a hefty mountain walk in Sierre, Valais, Switzerland.

Friday 21st of March 2008

Mass murderer John Emil List aka The Bogeyman of Westfield dies of pneumonia at the age of 83 in Trenton, New Jersey, United States.

Monday 21st of March 2022

132 die in China Eastern Yunnan Airlines Flight 5735 Boeing 737-89P crash in Wuzhou, Molang Village, Guangxi, China.

On 17 May The Wall Street Journal reported a source from the U.S. government, from officials who were involved in the investigation, as saying that the plane had been intentionally crashed, based on an analysis of data from the aircraft recorders.

Friday 21st of March 2025

Boxer George Edward Foreman aka Big George dies of unknown causes at the age of 76 in Houston, Texas, United States.