21 March It Happened Today

1556  Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burnt at the stake for heresy.

1685  Birth of German composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

1843  Death of English Poet Laureate Robert Southey.

1960  In the black township of Sharpeville near Johannesburg, 56 black people are killed and 162 wounded by police.

1963  Alcatraz prison in the bay of San Francisco closes.