Dashed left edge = started before May 1921 ·
Dashed right edge = ongoing beyond May 1921
Events in May 1921 6
1921 – 1992Satyajit Ray (1921-1992)Died 23 April 1992, aged 70Satyajit Ray was an Indian filmmaker whose "Apu Trilogy" brought Bengali cinema to international acclaim. He received an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement weeks before his death. His work influenced directors worldwide and remains central to the canon of world cinema.
1921 – 1989Sugar Ray Robinson (1921-1989)Died 12 April 1989, aged 67Sugar Ray Robinson was an American boxer widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters of all time, holding world titles at welterweight and middleweight. His fluid style and ring generalship set a benchmark for the sport. He compiled a professional record of 173 wins.
1921Third Silesian UprisingPolish insurgents fight German forces over Upper SilesiaPolish militias launched an armed uprising in Upper Silesia to contest a League of Nations plebiscite that had favored remaining with Germany in most districts. Fighting between Polish and German paramilitaries continued for weeks before an Allied-brokered ceasefire. The League ultimately partitioned Upper Silesia between Germany and Poland the following year.
1921Emergency Quota ActUnited States imposes first numerical limits on immigrationPresident Warren Harding signed the Emergency Quota Act, capping annual immigration from each country at three percent of that nationality's US population in 1910. The law sharply reduced immigration from southern and eastern Europe. It served as a precursor to the more restrictive Immigration Act of 1924.
1921 – 1989Andrei Sakharov (1921-1989)Died 14 December 1989, aged 68Andrei Sakharov was a Soviet nuclear physicist who became a leading human rights dissident and advocate for disarmament. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975 despite being barred from traveling to accept it. He returned to public life as a reformist deputy shortly before his death.
1921Tulsa Race MassacreWhite mob destroys Greenwood, a prosperous Black district of TulsaA white mob attacked the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, one of the wealthiest Black communities in the United States, burning homes and businesses and killing an estimated one to three hundred people. Thousands of Black residents were left homeless and Greenwood was largely destroyed. It stands as one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history.