1901, 21 July
Three cases of Buboinic plague have been reported in Cape Town, South Africa.
1934, 21 July
Marshal Louis-Hubert Lyautey, the first French Resident General of Morocco, dies in France. His body is to interred at Rabat, Morocco.
1970, 21 July
The Aswan High Dam is completed in the United Arab Republic (Egypt) with the help of Soviet aid. The dam, which is 3,830 m (12,562 feet) across and 111 m (364 feet) high, has taken ten years to construct. Lake Nasser, formed as a result of the dam, flooded the site of two famous ancient Egyptian temples: the Great Temple of Sbu Simbel and the Temple of Hathor. UNESCO funding led to the relocation of the temples above the final water line.
1985, 21 July
A state of emergency is declared in South Africa. President PW Botha says that "law-abiding black people" are victims of violence and thuggery. It is denounced as a "desperate act to stem the tide of liberation" by the South African Council of Churches.
