2021

Millennium:	3rd millennium
Centuries:	20th century 21st century 22nd century
Decades:	2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s
Years:	2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

2021 (MMXXI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2021st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 21st year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 2nd year of the 2020s decade.

2021 is scheduled to host most major events that were originally scheduled for 2020, including the Eurovision Song Contest, the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, and Expo 2020, along with many sporting events, including the UEFA Euro 2020, 2020 Summer Olympics, and the 2021 Copa América; events that were postponed or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United Nations declared 2021 as the International Year of Peace and Trust, the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables, and the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour. The Catholic Church has proclaimed 2021 as the Year of Saint Joseph.

Events

January

• January 1 – The African Continental Free Trade Area comes into effect.
• January 4
  • A British judge blocks the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States, while Mexico offers him political asylum.
  • The border between Qatar and Saudi Arabia reopens.
• January 6 – Supporters of President Donald Trump attack the United States Capitol, disrupting certification of the 2020 presidential election and forcing Congress to evacuate. Five people die during the riot, including a police officer and a woman who is shot and killed inside the Capitol building. The event is classified as a domestic terrorist attack and draws international condemnation.
• January 10 – Kim Jong-un is elected as the General Secretary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, inheriting the title from his father Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011.
• January 13 – In Lyon, France, the first transplant of both arms and shoulders is performed on an Icelandic patient at the Édouard Herriot Hospital.
• January 14 – The 2021 Ugandan general election is held.
• January 15
  • The Lao People's Revolutionary Party elects Thongloun Sisoulith as its new General Secretary, replacing retiring chief Bounnhang Vorachith. Sisoulith is elected for a five-year term as top leader in Laos.
  • COVID-19 pandemic: The global death toll from COVID-19 passes 2 million.
• January 20 – Joe Biden is inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States, becoming the oldest individual to hold the office.
• January 22 – The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons, comes into effect.
• January 24 – 2021 Portuguese presidential election: Incumbent president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is reelected.
• January 26 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeds 100 million worldwide.
• January 29 – COVID-19 pandemic: The European Union invokes Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol following a row over COVID-19 vaccine supplies before reversing the decision.
• January 31 – Nguyễn Phú Trọng is re-elected for a third five-year term as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

February

• February 1
  • A coup d'état in Myanmar removes Aung San Suu Kyi from power and restores military rule leading to widespread demonstrations across the country.
  • Kosovo officially establishes diplomatic ties with Israel and announces plans to open an embassy in Jerusalem.
  • COVID-19 pandemic: The number of vaccinations administered worldwide exceeds 100 million.
• February 3 – Canada becomes the first country to designate the Proud Boys as a terrorist organisation.
• February 4 – President Joe Biden announces that the United States will cease providing weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for use in the Yemeni Civil War.
• February 9
  • COVID-19 pandemic: A joint WHO–China investigation into the source of the outbreak concludes. Investigators deem a Wuhan laboratory leak to be "extremely unlikely", with a "natural reservoir" in bats being a more likely origin.
  • The UAE's uncrewed Hope spacecraft becomes the first Arabian mission to successfully enter orbit around Mars.
• February 13–17 – A major winter storm kills at least 136 people and causes over 9.9 million power outages in the U.S.
• February 18 – NASA's Mars 2020 mission (containing the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter drone) lands on Mars at Jezero Crater, after seven months of travel.
• February 19 – The United States officially rejoins the Paris Agreement, 107 days after leaving.
• February 20 – 2020–21 H5N8 outbreak: 7 people test positive for H5N8 bird flu at a poultry farm in southern Russia, becoming the first known human cases.
• February 22 – COVID-19 pandemic: The United States becomes the first country to surpass 500,000 deaths from the virus.
• February 24 – COVID-19 pandemic: Ghana becomes the first country to receive vaccines through the COVAX vaccine-sharing initiative.
• February 25
  • COVID-19 pandemic: The global death toll from COVID-19 surpasses 2.5 million.
  • The Armenian military calls for prime minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign. Pashinyan accuses the military of attempting a coup d'état.

March

• March 5 – COVID-19 pandemic: Moldova becomes the first country in Europe to receive vaccines through COVAX.
• March 6 – Pope Francis meets with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf, Iraq. It is the first ever meeting between a pope and a grand ayatollah.
• March 7 – Switzerland becomes the seventh European nation to ban the wearing of the burqa in public, joining Austria, Denmark, France, Belgium, Latvia, and Bulgaria.
• March 17 – The Dutch general elections for the House of Representatives of the Netherlands take place.
• March 19 – North Korea severs diplomatic ties with Malaysia due to its citizens being extradited to the United States to face money-laundering charges. Malaysian authorities order North Korean officials to leave the country in 48 hours.
• March 20 – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announces his country's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, the first country to do so.
• March 21 – Clashes in Apure between Colombian FARC dissidents and the Venezuelan Armed Forces cause at least eight casualties, as well as displacing 4,000 Venezuelans.
• March 23
  • The Israeli general elections take place, the fourth Knesset election in two years.
  • Ever Given, one of the largest container ships in the world, runs aground and obstructs the Suez Canal, disrupting global trade. The ship is freed on March 29.
• March 25 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of vaccinations administered worldwide exceeds 500 million.

April

• April 2 – Russia warns NATO against sending any troops to aid Ukraine, amid reports of a large Russian military build-up on its borders.
• April 4
  • The 2021 Bulgarian parliamentary election takes place.
  • More than 270 people are killed in Indonesia and East Timor after Cyclone Seroja strikes East Nusa Tenggara and the island of Timor.
• April 9 – Roscosmos launches the Soyuz MS-18 mission, carrying three Expedition 65 crewmembers to the International Space Station.
• April 11
  • Peru holds a general election.
  • Iran accuses Israel of "nuclear terrorism" and vows revenge after a large explosion destroys the internal power system of the Natanz uranium enrichment plant.
  • Hideki Matsuyama wins the 2021 Masters Tournament, becoming the first man from Japan to win a major golf championship.
• April 13
  • Japan's government approves the dumping of radioactive water of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean over the course of 30 years, with full support of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The decision is opposed by China, South Korea, and Taiwan.
  • The Janssen COVID-19 vaccine is paused over causing rare blood clots.
• April 15 – Scientists announce they successfully injected human stem cells into the embryos of monkeys, creating chimera-embryos.
• April 17
  • COVID-19 pandemic: The global death toll from COVID-19 surpasses 3 million.
  • The Czech government concludes that the Russian GRU was responsible for the blast of two ammo warehouses in Vrbětice in 2014. 18 Russian diplomats and alleged spies are subsequently expelled.
  • The Soyuz MS-17 mission concludes, returning three crewmembers of Expedition 64 to Earth from the International Space Station.
• April 18
  • Twelve football clubs, including three from La Liga and leading clubs from the Premier League and Serie A, agree to join a new breakaway European Super League, prompting international condemnation. Two days later, following major protests from supporters, other clubs and politicians, Manchester City withdraw from the league; this prompts all the remaining Premier League clubs and three others to do the same.
  • The 2021 Cape Verdean parliamentary election takes place.
• April 19
  • NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, part of the Mars 2020 mission, performs the first powered flight on another planet in history.
  • Raúl Castro resigns as First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, ending more than 62 years of rule by the Castro brothers in Cuba.
• April 20 – Idriss Déby, President of Chad, is killed in clashes with rebel forces after 30 years in office. The constitution is suspended and a Transitional Military Council is established to govern the country for 18 months.
• April 21 – COVID-19 pandemic: With global case numbers approaching a second peak, India reports 315,000 infections within 24 hours, the highest one-day tally recorded anywhere in the world to date.
• April 22 – World leaders mark Earth Day by hosting a virtual summit on climate change, during which more ambitious targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions are proposed, including a 40% cut by 2030 for the United States.
• April 23
  • SpaceX launches the Crew-2 mission, carrying four crew members of Expedition 65 and 66 to the International Space Station aboard Crew Dragon Endeavour.
  • UEFA announces that due to a lack of guarantees regarding spectators caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland would be removed as a tournament host for the UEFA Euro 2020.
• April 24
  • Following an international search and rescue effort, the Indonesian navy reports the sinking of KRI Nanggala with 53 crew members, the largest loss of life aboard a submarine since 2003.
  • COVID-19 pandemic: The number of vaccinations administered worldwide exceeds 1 billion. Half of these doses have been administered in just three countries (the United States, China and India).
• April 25 – Albania holds parliamentary elections.
• April 28
  • At least 55 people are killed and nearly 50,000 more are displaced in one of the most serious clashes in Central Asia following border disputes between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
  • The European Union approves the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, governing the relationship between the EU and UK after Brexit.
  • Protestors rally in major Colombian cities against increased taxes and healthcare reforms proposed by President Iván Duque Márquez, resulting in police violence and the deaths of dozens of protestors, which is condemned by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch.
• April 29
  • COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeds 150 million worldwide.
  • The China National Space Administration launches the first module of its Tiangong space station, named Tianhe, beginning a two-year effort to build the station in orbit.
• April 30 – In Israel, 45 people are killed and another 150 injured in a crowd crush at a religious festival on Mount Meron.

May

• May 1 – The withdraw of U.S. military from Afghanistan ordered by Joe Biden is initiated, exactly 10 years after the operation led by members of Seal Team Six that killed the terrorist Osama bin Laden, the main target of the U.S. government since the September 11 attacks until his death.
• May 2 – The SpaceX Crew-1 mission ends, returning four crew members of Expedition 64 and 65 to Earth from the International Space Station aboard Crew Dragon Resilience.
• May 5 – SpaceX successfully flies, lands, and recovers a Starship prototype for the first time, after four unsuccessful previous attempts.
• May 11 – 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis: Israel hits the Gaza Strip with airstrikes as Hamas increases rocket fire. This occurred after Israel began displacing Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.
• May 14 – The China National Space Administration lands its Zhurong rover at Utopia Planitia on Mars, making China the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the planet and only the second to land a rover.
• May 15 – Fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants continues to escalate, as the death toll exceeds 150. An Israeli airstrike destroys a high-rise office building in Gaza occupied by Associated Press, Al Jazeera, and other media outlets.
• May 18–22 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 is held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, after the cancellation of the 2020 contest due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 contest is won by Italian entrants Måneskin with the song "Zitti e buoni".
• May 20 – Following international pressure, and nearly 250 deaths, Israel agrees to a ceasefire deal to end the conflict with Gaza militants, effective the next day at 2:00 AM local time.
• May 23 – Ryanair Flight 4978 is forced to land by Belarusian authorities to detain Roman Protasevich.
• May 24 – A coup d'état in Mali removes interim President Bah Ndaw and the acting Prime Minister, Moctar Ouane, from power and restores military rule leading to the country being suspended from the Economic Community of West African States and the African Union, as well as France suspending its military operations in the country.
• May 26
  • Shell becomes the first company to be legally mandated to align its carbon emissions with the Paris climate accord, following a landmark court ruling in the Netherlands.
  • The 2021 Syrian presidential election is held.
• May 29 – Chelsea beats fellow English club Manchester City in the final 1–0 to win the UEFA Champions League for the second time.

June

• June 2 – The 2021 Israeli presidential election is held. In order to remove Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power, Naftali Bennett agrees to form a coalition with the Israeli opposition as a rotation government that will come to take effect after eleven days.
• June 5 – The G7 agrees on a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% intended to prevent tax avoidance by some of the world's biggest multinationals.
• June 7 – The Juno spacecraft performs its only flyby of Jupiter's moon Ganymede, the first flyby of the moon by any spacecraft in over 20 years.
• June 9
  • The 2021 Mongolian presidential election is held.
  • The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador passes legislation to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in the country, becoming the first country to adopt the cryptocurrency alongside the U.S. dollar.
• June 10 – An annular solar eclipse is visible from parts of the Northeast United States, Canada, Greenland, the North Pole, and the Russian Far East.
• June 11 – July 11 – The UEFA Euro 2020, hosted by 11 different countries, is held, and is won by Italy.
• June 11 – June 13 – World leaders meet at the 47th G7 summit, hosted by the United Kingdom, with topics of discussion including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and the corporate taxation of multinationals.
• June 13 – July 10 – The 2021 Copa América, hosted behind closed doors by Brazil, is held, and is won by Argentina.
• June 13 – Benjamin Netanyahu, the longest-serving prime minister of Israel, is voted out of office; Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid are sworn-in as Prime Minister of Israel and as Alternate Prime Minister of Israel, respectively.
• June 14 – COVID-19 pandemic: Novavax announces 90.4% overall efficacy in its Phase 3 U.S. and Mexico trial.
• June 16 – COVID-19 pandemic: CureVac announces an overall efficacy of just 47% of their vaccines based on interim analysis of Phase III clinical trials, lower than similar mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.
• June 17 – The China National Space Administration sends its first three astronauts to occupy the Tiangong Space Station, the country's first space station.
• June 20
  • COVID-19 pandemic: Brazil becomes the second country to surpass half a million deaths from the virus.
  • 2021 Armenian parliamentary election: Acting PM Nikol Pashinyan wins the country's snap election, with his Civil Contract party gaining 54% of the vote.
• June 23 – 2021 ICC World Test Championship Final: New Zealand wins the 2019–2021 ICC World Test Championship.
• June 24 – Surfside condominium building collapse: A portion of the Champlain South Towers condominium building collapses in Surfside, Florida, leaving 97 dead. One survivor was pulled from the wreckage while 35 others are evacuated from the uncollapsed section of the building.
• June 28 – Tigray War: The Tigray Defense Force seizes the Tigrayan capital Mekelle shortly after the Ethiopian government declares a ceasefire.
• June 29 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of vaccinations administered worldwide exceeds 3 billion.

July

• July 3
  • The United Nations announce that recent fighting in the Tigray region of Ethiopia has resulted in a famine that is now affecting more than 400,000 people.
  • Over 130 wildfires, fuelled by lightning strikes, burn through Western Canada following a record-breaking heatwave in North America that results in over 600 deaths.
• July 5 – More than 1,000 Afghan soldiers flee to neighbouring Tajikistan after clashing with Taliban militants.
• July 7 – Assassination of Jovenel Moïse: Haitian President Jovenel Moïse is shot to death at 1:00 am local time in his home. First Lady Martine Moïse is injured and hospitalized.
• July 8 – COVID-19 pandemic: The global death toll from COVID-19 surpasses 4 million.
• July 10–present – The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup is held in the United States.
• July 11
  • Thousands of Cubans, most of them young, attend a rare anti-government protest in San Antonio de los Baños to protest the increased food and medicine shortages brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Moldova holds a parliamentary election, with the Party of Action and Solidarity leading according to preliminary results.
  • Bulgaria holds a parliamentary election, with the There Is Such a People Party leading.
• July 13 – After the Supreme Court declares his incumbency unconstitutional, KP Oli is succeeded by Sher Bahadur Deuba as 43rd Prime Minister of Nepal.
• July 15 – 2021 European floods: Heavy rain causes flooding in the border region of Germany and Belgium, resulting in more than 200 deaths, with hundreds more people missing. The event is attributed to a slowed jetstream caused by climate change.
• July 18 – An international investigation reveals that Israel's NSO Group is using spyware to target heads of state, along with thousands of activists, journalists and dissidents around the world.
• July 19
  • Blue Origin successfully conducts its first human test flight, with a reusable New Shepard rocket delivering four crew members into space: its founder Jeff Bezos, Bezos' brother Mark, 18-year-old Oliver Daemen (who becomes the youngest person to go into space), and 82-year-old aviator and Mercury 13 member Wally Funk (who becomes the oldest person to go into space).
  • Leftist schoolteacher Pedro Castillo is confirmed as President of Peru over a month after the 2021 Peruvian general election.
  • Day of Hajj: Women are permitted to attend without a male guardian (mehrem) provided they go in a trustworthy group.
• July 21 – The International Olympic Committee awards Brisbane the right to host the 2032 Summer Olympics.
• July 23–August 8 – The 2020 Summer Olympics are being held in Tokyo, Japan. They were originally scheduled for 24 July–9 August 2020, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Predicted and scheduled events

• August 12 – 2021 Zambian general election
• September 11 – The United States will withdraw its remaining 2,500 troops from Afghanistan on the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, ending its involvement in the War in Afghanistan.
• September 13 – 2021 Norwegian parliamentary election
• September 19
  • 2021 Haitian parliamentary election
  • 2021 Russian legislative election
• September 25 – 2021 Icelandic parliamentary election
• September 26 – 2021 German federal election
• October 1 – The 2020 World Expo in Dubai is scheduled to begin. Its opening was originally scheduled for 20 October 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• October 5 – Roscosmos will launch the Soyuz MS-19 mission, which will carry an Expedition 66 crewmember and two Channel One Russia personnel to the International Space Station. The two Channel One crew will perform principal photography on the film Vyzov aboard the station.
• October 6–10 – The 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals is scheduled to be held in Italy. They were originally scheduled for 2–6 June 2021, but were moved to 6–10 October 2021 following the rescheduling of UEFA Euro 2020 to June and July 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• October 16 – The Southwest Research Institute's Lucy mission will launch, beginning a twelve-year journey to visit six different asteroids, including five from the previously unexplored Jupiter trojans.
• October 22 – 2021 Japanese general election
• October 23 – SpaceX will launch their Crew-3 mission, which will carry four Expedition 66 crewmembers to the International Space Station.
• October 23–November 27 – The 2021 Rugby League World Cup is scheduled to take place in England.
• October 24 – 2021 Uzbek presidential election
• November – NASA, ESA, the Canadian Space Agency, and the Space Telescope Science Institute plan to launch the James Webb Space Telescope, a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.
• November – Planned launch of NASA's Artemis 1 mission to the Moon, the first integrated flight of the agency's Orion MPCV and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
• November 1–12 – The 2021 UN Climate Change Conference is scheduled to take place in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. It was originally scheduled for 9–20 November 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• November 24 – The Applied Physics Laboratory's Double Asteroid Redirection Test will launch. The mission will perform a deliberate high-velocity impact with the minor-planet moon Dimorphos to study asteroid impact avoidance techniques. The spacecraft will spend a year in transit to the moon prior to impact.
• November 30 – Barbados will become a republic, on its 55th anniversary of independence.
• November 30 – December 18 – The 2021 FIFA Arab Cup will be held in Qatar.
• December 4 – A total solar eclipse will be visible from parts of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.
• December 8 – Roscosmos and Space Adventures will launch the Soyuz MS-20 mission, which will carry three EP-20 crewmembers to the International Space Station for a twelve-day stay before returning to Earth.
• December 19 – The Hong Kong Special Administration Region in China will hold an election for the Legislative Council. It was originally scheduled for 6 September 2020, but was postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Date unknown

• The Large Hadron Collider will recommence operations after a period of renovations.
• The Grand Egyptian Museum, described as the largest archaeological museum in the world, is expected to be completed.
• Plan S, an initiative for open access science publishing launched in 2018, requires that from 2021 papers from over 10 European countries that resulted from research funded by public grants must be published under an open license in compliant journals or platforms, available to all.

Births

• February 25 – Princess Salote Mafile’o Pilolevu, fourth child of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Tonga, fifth in the line of succession to the throne
• March 26 – Prince Julian, Duke of Halland, third son of the Duke and Duchess of Värmland and seventh in the line of succession to the Swedish throne
• June 4 – Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor, second child of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and eighth in the line of succession to the British throne

Deaths

Further information: Category:2021 deaths

January

Main article: Deaths in January 2021

Modibo Keita

Martinus J. G. Veltman

Phil Spector

Mira Furlan

Larry King

Cloris Leachman

• January 1
  • Carlos do Carmo, Portuguese singer (b. 1939)
  • Elmira Minita Gordon, 1st Governor-General of Belize (b. 1930)
• January 2
  • Modibo Keita, 8th Prime Minister of Mali (b. 1942)
  • Michael McKevitt, Irish republican paramilitary leader (b. 1949)
• January 3 – Gerry Marsden, English musician (b. 1942)
• January 4
  • Tanya Roberts, American actress (b. 1955)
  • Martinus J. G. Veltman, Dutch Nobel theoretical physicist (b. 1931)
  • Albert Roux, French chef and restaurateur (b. 1935)
• January 5 – Colin Bell, English footballer (b. 1946)
• January 7
  • Michael Apted, English filmmaker (b. 1941)
  • Henri Schwery, Swiss cardinal (b. 1932)
  • Tommy Lasorda, American baseball player and manager (b. 1927)
• January 11
  • Sheldon Adelson, American businessman and casino magnate (b. 1933)
  • Kathleen Heddle, Canadian Olympic rower (b. 1965)
  • William E. Thornton, American astronaut (b. 1929)
• January 13
  • Siegfried Fischbacher, German-born American magician (b. 1939)
  • Eusébio Oscar Scheid, Brazilian cardinal (b. 1932)
• January 16 – Phil Spector, American record producer and convicted murderer (b. 1939)
• January 18
  • Jean-Pierre Bacri, Algerian-born French actor (b. 1951)
  • Dündar Ali Osman, Turkish prince, 45th Head of the House of Osman (b. 1930)
• January 20
  • Mira Furlan, Croatian actress and singer (b. 1955)
  • Justin Lekhanya, Chairman of the Military Council of Lesotho (b. 1938)
• January 21 – Nathalie Delon, French actress (b. 1941)
• January 22 – Hank Aaron, American baseball player (b. 1934)
• January 23
  • Alberto Grimaldi, Italian film producer (b. 1925)
  • Hal Holbrook, American actor (b. 1925)
  • Larry King, American talk show host (b. 1933)
• January 24 – Gunnel Lindblom, Swedish actress (b. 1931)
• January 26
  • Lars Norén, Swedish playwright, novelist and poet (b. 1944)
  • Jozef Vengloš, Slovak footballer and manager (b. 1936)
• January 27
  • Adrián Campos, Spanish Formula One driver (b. 1960)
  • Cloris Leachman, American actress (b. 1926)
  • Mehrdad Minavand, Iranian footballer and manager (b. 1975)
• January 28
  • Paul J. Crutzen, Dutch Nobel atmospheric chemist (b. 1933)
  • Vasily Lanovoy, Soviet and Russian actor (b. 1934)
  • Cicely Tyson, American actress (b. 1924)
• January 29
  • Yvon Douis, French footballer (b. 1935)
  • Hilton Valentine, English guitarist (b. 1943)
• January 30 – Sophie, Scottish record producer, songwriter and DJ (b. 1986)

February

Main article: Deaths in February 2021

Haya Harareet

Christopher Plummer

Carlos Menem

Sir Michael Somare

• February 1 – Edward Babiuch, 5th Prime Minister of the Polish People's Republic (b. 1927)
• February 2
  • Captain Sir Tom Moore, British Army officer and charity campaigner (b. 1920)
  • Fausta Morganti, former Captain Regent of San Marino (b. 1944)
• February 3
  • Haya Harareet, Israeli actress (b. 1931)
  • Tony Trabert, American tennis player and commentator (b. 1930)
• February 4 – Millie Hughes-Fulford, American astronaut and molecular biologist (b. 1945)
• February 5
  • Christopher Plummer, Canadian actor (b. 1929)
  • Leon Spinks, American professional boxer (b. 1953)
• February 6 – George Shultz, American politician, diplomat and economist (b. 1920)
• February 7 – Giuseppe Rotunno, Italian cinematographer (b. 1923)
• February 8
  • Jean-Claude Carrière, French novelist and screenwriter (b. 1931)
  • Mary Wilson, American singer (b. 1944)
• February 9 – Chick Corea, American jazz keyboardist (b. 1941)
• February 10 – Larry Flynt, American porn publisher (b. 1942)
• February 11 – Isadore Singer, American mathematician (b. 1924)
• February 12 – Milford Graves, American jazz drummer, percussionist, and free jazz pioneer (b. 1941)
• February 13 – Yury Vlasov, Soviet and Russian weightlifter and writer (b. 1935)
• February 14 – Carlos Menem, 44th President of Argentina (b. 1930)
• February 15 – Leopoldo Luque, Argentine footballer (b. 1949)
• February 16
  • Bernard Lown, Lithuanian-American Nobel cardiologist and inventor (b. 1921)
  • Joan Margarit, Spanish poet (b. 1938)
  • Gustavo Noboa, 42nd President of Ecuador (b. 1937)
• February 17 – Rush Limbaugh, American radio personality (b. 1951)
• February 18 – Andrey Myagkov, Soviet and Russian actor (b. 1938)
• February 19 – Đorđe Balašević, Serbian recording artist and singer-songwriter (b. 1953)
• February 21 – Zlatko Saračević, Croatian handball player and coach (b. 1961)
• February 22
  • Luca Attanasio, Italian diplomat and ambassador (b. 1977)
  • Lawrence Ferlinghetti, American poet and publisher (b. 1919)
• February 23 – Fausto Gresini, Italian motorcycle racer and team manager (b. 1961)
• February 24
  • Philippe Jaccottet, Swiss poet and translator (b. 1925)
  • N'Singa Udjuu, First State Commissioner of Zaire (b. 1934)
• February 25 – Sir Michael Somare, 1st Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1936)
• February 26 – Hannu Mikkola, Finnish rally driver (b. 1942)

March

Main article: Deaths in March 2021

Bunny Wailer

Lou Ottens

John Magufuli

Nawal El Saadawi

Didier Ratsiraka

• March 1
  • Zlatko Kranjčar, Croatian football player and manager (b. 1956)
  • Ian St John, Scottish footballer (b. 1938)
• March 2
  • Chris Barber, English jazz musician (b. 1930)
  • Bunny Wailer, Jamaican reggae singer and songwriter (b. 1947)
• March 6 – Lou Ottens, Dutch inventor (b. 1926)
• March 9
  • James Levine, American conductor and pianist (b. 1943)
  • John Polkinghorne, English theoretical physicist and Anglican priest (b. 1930)
• March 10
  • Hamed Bakayoko, 11th Prime Minister of Ivory Coast (b. 1965)
  • Ali Mahdi Muhammad, 4th President of Somalia (b. 1939)
  • Manuel Saturnino da Costa, 6th Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1942)
• March 12 – Goodwill Zwelithini, South African royal (b. 1948)
• March 13
  • Marvelous Marvin Hagler, American boxer (b. 1954)
  • Murray Walker, British motor racing commentator (b. 1923)
• March 15 – Yaphet Kotto, American actor (b. 1939)
• March 16
  • Moudud Ahmed, 7th Prime Minister of Bangladesh (b. 1940)
  • Sabine Schmitz, German motor racer and television presenter (b. 1969)
• March 17 – John Magufuli, 5th President of Tanzania (b. 1959)
• March 20 – Peter Lorimer, Scottish international footballer (b. 1946)
• March 21
  • Nawal El Saadawi, Egyptian feminist writer (b. 1931)
  • Adam Zagajewski, Polish poet, essayist and translator (b. 1945)
• March 22
  • Johnny Dumfries, Scottish peer and racing driver (b. 1958)
  • Elgin Baylor, American professional basketball player, coach, and executive (b. 1934)
• March 23 – George Segal, American actor (b. 1934)
• March 24 – Jessica Walter, American actress (b. 1941)
• March 25
  • Beverly Cleary, American author (b. 1916)
  • Larry McMurtry, American author (b. 1936)
  • Bertrand Tavernier, French film director and actor (b. 1941)
• March 28 – Didier Ratsiraka, 3rd President of Madagascar (b. 1936)
• March 29 – Bashkim Fino, 29th Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1962)
• March 31 – Kamal Ganzouri, 46th Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1933)

April

Main article: Deaths in April 2021

Robert Mundell

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Idriss Déby

Michael Collins

• April 1 – Isamu Akasaki, Japanese Nobel physicist (b. 1929)
• April 2 – Christian Tumi, Cameroonian cardinal (b. 1930)
• April 4 – Robert Mundell, Canadian Nobel economist (b. 1932)
• April 5
  • Paul Ritter, British actor (b. 1966)
  • Marshall Sahlins, American anthropologist (b. 1930)
• April 6 – Hans Küng, Swiss Catholic priest, theologian and author (b. 1928)
• April 8 – Jovan Divjak, Bosnian army general (b. 1937)
• April 9
  • DMX, American rapper, songwriter and actor (b. 1970)
  • Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (b. 1921)
• April 10 – Edward Cassidy, Australian cardinal (b. 1924)
• April 14
  • Yıldırım Akbulut, 20th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1935)
  • Bernie Madoff, American investment advisor, financier and convicted fraudster (b. 1938)
• April 16
  • Helen McCrory, English actress (b. 1968)
  • Charles Geschke, American businessman and computer scientist (b. 1939)
  • Andrew Peacock, Australian politician (b. 1939)
• April 19
  • Walter Mondale, 42nd Vice President of the United States (b. 1928)
  • Jim Steinman, American rock lyricist and composer (b. 1947)
  • Willy van der Kuijlen, Dutch footballer (b. 1946)
• April 20 – Idriss Déby, 6th President of Chad (b. 1952)
• April 23 – Milva, Italian singer and actress (b. 1939)
• April 24 – Christa Ludwig, German mezzo-soprano (b. 1928)
• April 26
  • David Beriáin, Spanish journalist (b. 1977)
  • Tamara Press, Soviet Olympic shot put and discus thrower (b. 1937)
• April 27 – Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk, South Korean cardinal (b. 1931)
• April 28
  • Michael Collins, American astronaut (b. 1930)
  • El Risitas, Spanish comedian and actor (b. 1956)
  • Federico Salas, 136th Prime Minister of Peru (b. 1950)

May

Main article: Deaths in May 2021

Olympia Dukakis

Humberto Maturana

Franco Battiato

Yuan Longping

Paulo Mendes da Rocha

Poul Schlüter

• May 1 – Olympia Dukakis, American actress (b. 1931)
• May 2 – Bobby Unser, American Hall of Fame racing driver (b. 1934)
• May 3 – Lloyd Price, American singer-songwriter and businessman (b. 1933)
• May 4
  • Simon Achidi Achu, 6th Prime Minister of Cameroon (b. 1934)
  • Leslie Marr, English racing driver and artist (b. 1922)
  • Paulo Gustavo, Brazilian actor and comedian (b. 1978)
• May 6
  • Humberto Maturana, Chilean philosopher and biologist (b. 1928)
  • Kentaro Miura, Japanese manga artist (b. 1966)
• May 7
  • Hubert Hughes, 5th and 7th Premier of Anguilla (b. 1933)
  • Martín Pando, Argentine footballer (b. 1934)
• May 8
  • Lee Han-dong, 33rd Prime Minister of South Korea (b. 1934)
  • Helmut Jahn, German-born American architect (b. 1940)
  • Spencer Silver, American chemist and inventor (b. 1941)
• May 9 – José Manuel Caballero, Spanish poet and novelist (b. 1926)
• May 10 – Svante Thuresson, Swedish jazz musician (b. 1937)
• May 11 – Norman Lloyd, American actor, producer and director (b. 1914)
• May 13 – Christa Stubnick, German sprinter and Olympic silver medalist (b. 1933)
• May 15
  • Đorđe Marjanović, Serbian pop rock singer (b. 1931)
  • Eva Wilma, Brazilian actress (b. 1933)
• May 16 – Rildo da Costa Menezes, Brazilian footballer (b. 1942)
• May 18
  • Franco Battiato, Italian singer-songwriter, composer and filmmaker (b. 1946)
  • Charles Grodin, American actor and comedian (b. 1935)
• May 19
  • Lee Evans, American Olympic athlete (b. 1947)
  • Aleksandr Privalov, Soviet and Russian Olympic biathlete (b. 1933)
• May 20
  • Francisco Brines, Spanish poet (b. 1932)
  • Abubakar Shekau, Nigerian Islamic leader and militant (b. 1965, 1969 or 1975)
• May 21
  • Tahir Salahov, Soviet, Azerbaijani and Russian painter and draughtsman (b. 1928)
  • Sunderlal Bahuguna, Indian environmentalist (b. 1927)
• May 22
  • Francesc Arnau, Spanish footballer (b. 1975)
  • Robert Marchand, French racing cyclist (b. 1911)
  • Yuan Longping, Chinese agronomist (b. 1930)
  • André Ribeiro, Brazilian racing driver (b. 1966)
• May 23
  • Eric Carle, American children's writer and illustrator (b. 1929)
  • Cristóbal Halffter, Spanish classical composer and conductor (b. 1930)
  • Ron Hill, English marathon runner (b. 1938)
  • Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Brazilian architect (b. 1928)
  • Max Mosley, British racing driver and lawyer (b. 1940)
• May 25 – Gregory Peter XX Ghabroyan, Syrian-born Lebanese Armenian Catholic hierarch (b. 1934)
• May 26 – Tarcisio Burgnich, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1939)
• May 27
  • Carla Fracci, Italian ballet dancer and actress (b. 1936)
  • Cornelis de Jager, Dutch astronomer (b. 1921)
  • Poul Schlüter, 22nd Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1929)
• May 29 – Cornelius Sim, Bruneian cardinal (b. 1951)
• May 30 – Rick Mitchell, Australian sprinter and Olympic silver medalist (b. 1955)

June

Main article: Deaths in June 2021

Anerood Jugnauth

Ei-ichi Negishi

Kenneth Kaunda

Benigno Aquino III

• June 1 – Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta (b. 1943)
• June 3 – Anerood Jugnauth, 2nd Prime Minister and 4th President of Mauritius (b. 1930)
• June 4
  • Richard R. Ernst, Swiss Nobel chemist (b. 1933)
  • Vadim Kapranov, Soviet and Russian basketball player, coach and Olympic bronze medalist (b. 1940)
  • Friederike Mayröcker, Austrian poet (b. 1924)
• June 5 – T. B. Joshua, Nigerian televangelist (b. 1963)
• June 6
  • Revaz Gabriadze, Georgian filmmaker, painter and playwright (b. 1936)
  • Ei-ichi Negishi, Japanese Nobel chemist (b. 1935)
  • Mansour Ojjeh, French Saudi Arabian entrepreneur (b. 1952)
• June 7
  • Yoo Sang-chul, South Korean footballer (b. 1971)
  • Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur, Iranian Shia cleric and terrorist (b. 1947)
• June 9
  • Gottfried Böhm, German architect and sculptor (b. 1920)
  • Edward de Bono, Maltese physician, psychologist and philosopher (b. 1933)
• June 11 – Paola Pigni, Italian middle-distance runner and Olympic bronze medallist (b. 1945)
• June 13 – Ned Beatty, American actor (b. 1937)
• June 14
  • Enrique Bolaños, 29th President of Nicaragua (b. 1928)
  • Markis Kido, Indonesian badminton player (b. 1984)
• June 15 – Vladimir Shatalov, Soviet and Russian cosmonaut (b. 1927)
• June 17 – Kenneth Kaunda, 1st President of Zambia (b. 1924)
• June 18
  • Giampiero Boniperti, Italian footballer (b. 1928)
  • Milkha Singh, Indian athlete (b. 1929)
• June 20 – Luis del Sol, Spanish footballer (b. 1935)
• June 23 – John McAfee, English-born American computer programmer and businessman (b. 1945)
• June 24
  • Benigno Aquino III, 15th President of the Philippines (b. 1960)
  • Trần Thiện Khiêm, 7th Prime Minister of South Vietnam and army officer (b. 1925)
• June 26
  • Abdalelah Haroun, Sudanese-born Qatari sprinter (b. 1997)
  • Jon Hassell, American trumpeter and composer (b. 1937)
  • Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, Acting Prime Minister of Pakistan (b. 1929)
  • Frederic Rzewski, American composer and pianist (b. 1938)
• June 29 – Donald Rumsfeld, American politician and government official (b. 1932)
• June 30 – Bonfoh Abass, Acting President of Togo (b. 1948)

July

Main article: Deaths in July 2021

Raffaella Carrà

Dilip Kumar

Jovenel Moïse

Steven Weinberg

• July 1 – Louis Andriessen, Dutch composer (b. 1939)
• July 2 – Nikolai Slichenko, Soviet and Russian singer and actor (b. 1934)
• July 4 – Richard Lewontin, American evolutionary biologist (b. 1929)
• July 5
  • Raffaella Carrà, Italian singer, TV presenter and actress (b. 1943)
  • Richard Donner, American film director (b. 1930)
  • Vladimir Menshov, Soviet and Russian actor and film director (b. 1939)
  • Stan Swamy, Indian Jesuit priest and human rights activist (b. 1937)
• July 6
  • Djivan Gasparyan, Armenian musician and composer (b. 1928)
  • Patrick John, 1st Prime Minister of Dominica (b. 1938)
• July 7
  • Dilip Kumar, Indian actor, film producer and philanthropist (b. 1922)
  • Jovenel Moïse, 42nd President of Haiti (b. 1968)
  • Carlos Reutemann, Argentine F1 driver and politician (b. 1942)
• July 9
  • Frank Lui, 3rd Premier of Niue (b. 1935)
  • Paul Mariner, English football player and manager (b. 1953)
• July 10
  • Esther Béjarano, German singer and Holocaust survivor (b. 1924)
  • Carmel Budiardjo, British human rights activist (b. 1925)
• July 11
  • Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, Congolese cardinal (b. 1939)
  • Charlie Gallagher, Scottish-Irish footballer (b. 1940)
• July 13 – Shirley Fry, American tennis player (b. 1927)
• July 14
  • Mamnoon Hussain, 12th President of Pakistan (b. 1940)
  • Kurt Westergaard, Danish cartoonist (b. 1935)
• July 16
  • Biz Markie, American singer and rapper (b. 1964)
  • Surekha Sikri, Indian actress (b. 1945)
• July 17 – Pilar Bardem, Spanish actress and activist (b. 1939)
• July 19 – Arturo Armando Molina, 36th President of El Salvador (b. 1927)
• July 22 – Boris Chochiev, Acting Prime Minister of South Ossetia (b. 1957)
• July 23
  • Tuomo Ylipulli, Finnish ski jumper and Olympic champion (b. 1965)
  • Steven Weinberg, American Nobel theoretical physicist (b. 1933)
• July 24
  • Rodney Alcala, American serial killer and rapist (b. 1943)
  • Jackie Mason, American stand-up comedian and actor (b. 1928)
• July 25 – Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, Portuguese military official and politician (b. 1936)