21 July: On this day in history

In the centre stood the colossal figure of Artemis the huntress, made from blackened wood.

For visitors, there were few better attractions in the Greek world. Pilgrims brought jewellery as a gift for the goddess; refugees came to seek sanctuary. No wonder the Greeks ranked it as one of the seven wonders of the world.

But on 21 July 356, disaster struck. The man responsible was one Herostratus, who may have been an outsider or a slave. Supposedly hungry for fame, he decided to set the temple’s wooden rafters alight, “so that through the destruction of this most beautiful building his name might be spread through the whole world”.

The result was a tragedy. In the space of a single night, the temple was consumed by flames, and by morning it was a blackened, broken ruin. Herostratus was arrested immediately, tortured and executed. The people of Ephesus also passed a law banning any mention of his name, with the death penalty for transgressors. It didn’t work, though. “Herostratus lives that burnt the Temple of Diana,” lamented the scientific pioneer Sir Thomas Browne in 1658, but “he is almost lost that built it”. | Written by Dominic Sandbrook

21 July 1403: Henry IV sees off rebel forces

The battle of Shrewsbury leaves the king triumphant

Henry Bolingbroke had been king of England for less than four years when he faced his greatest challenge. In the autumn of 1399 he had deposed his cousin, Richard II, to become Henry IV. But by the summer of 1403, rebellion had broken out in Wales – and the Percy family, who dominated northern England, had turned against him too. Everything seemed to be going wrong at once.

On the morning of 21 July, Henry’s army caught up with the Percys outside Shrewsbury. Peace talks came to nothing, however, and late that afternoon, the king raised his sword to launch the attack. Now, more than ever, it seemed that fate was against him. The Percys’ Cheshire bowmen were deadly shots, and as their arrows rained down, Henry’s men “fell like leaves in autumn”.

Then the feared Henry Percy, nicknamed ‘Hotspur’, charged at the king himself. The royal standard fell, its bearer hacked to the ground. Word swept across the battlefield: King Henry was dead. “Henry Percy king!” yelled the northern troops. A moment later, however, another cry went up. It was the king. “Henry Percy dead!” he cried. It was true. Hotspur had fallen, apparently after being shot in the face – but Henry IV was very much alive. Dusk fell and the slaughter petered out.

As was the case with many medieval battles, Shrewsbury had been a chaotic, bloody mess. None of the participants would ever have imagined that, thanks to William Shakespeare and Sir John Falstaff, it would inspire one of the greatest comedies in the English language. | Written by Dominic Sandbrook

21 July 1832

Birth in Missouri of rancher and philanthropist Henrietta King. The south Texan ranch she oversaw for 40 years following her husband’s death in 1885 was the largest in the United States.

21 July 1861

In the first major battle of the American Civil War, Beauregard’s Confederates defeated McDowell’s Union troops at Bull Run.

21 July 1960

Sirimavo Bandaranaike took office as prime minister of Ceylon and in doing so became the world’s first elected female prime minister.

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