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Today in History, April 21st

On April 21, 1836, Sam Houston's army won the Battle of San Jacinto, securing Texas independence. Plus Rome's traditional birthday.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Published April 21, 2026 · Last updated November 10, 2026

April 21 is best known as the day in 1836 when Sam Houston’s army won the Battle of San Jacinto, securing Texas’s independence from Mexico. The date is also the traditional birthday of Rome, and in 1918 it saw the death of the “Red Baron,” Germany’s top World War I flying ace.

The big story: Victory at San Jacinto (1836)

Texas declared independence from Mexico in March 1836, and the weeks that followed went badly for the rebels. The Alamo fell, and Sam Houston’s small army kept retreating east while General Antonio López de Santa Anna gave chase. On the afternoon of April 21, near the San Jacinto River, Houston saw his chance. The Mexican force of roughly 1,200 was resting. By about 3:30 p.m. his roughly 910 Texans were lined up, and they charged shouting “Remember the Alamo!” and “Remember Goliad!” The fight lasted about 18 minutes. Houston’s report counted 630 Mexican soldiers killed and 730 captured, against nine Texans killed or mortally wounded. Santa Anna slipped away but was found hiding in the grass the next morning. To win his release, he recognized Texas’s independence. The new Lone Star Republic made Houston its president, and after years of debate over slavery, Texas joined the U.S. as the 28th state on December 29, 1845.

More events on April 21

Year	What happened
753 BCE	This is the traditional date for the founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus, though the story took shape centuries later.
1509	Henry VII of England died, and his son became King Henry VIII.
1526	Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat, laying the foundations of the Mughal Empire in India.
1789	John Adams was sworn in as the first U.S. vice president, nine days before George Washington’s inauguration.
1865	A train carrying Abraham Lincoln’s coffin left Washington, D.C., for burial in Springfield, Illinois.
1918	Manfred von Richthofen, the “Red Baron,” was shot down and killed over France.
1934	London’s Daily Mail published the “surgeon’s photograph” said to show the Loch Ness monster. It was later exposed as a hoax.
1966	Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I visited Jamaica, a day Rastafarians still mark as Grounation Day.
1977	The musical Annie, based on the Little Orphan Annie comic strip, opened on Broadway.
1980	Rosie Ruiz was declared the women’s winner of the Boston Marathon. She was stripped of the title eight days later for faking the run.
2016	The musician Prince died at age 57.
2025	Pope Francis died at age 88, on Easter Monday.