MAPS OF HISTORY · ON THIS DAY · December 21

THE DAY IN HISTORY · DECEMBER 21

December 21 in history

1237 — Ryazan

21 Dec 1237 — The first Rus city falls after five days, in midwinter — the season the Rus thought impossible for war and the Mongols chose on purpose, riding the frozen rivers like roads. “And not an eye remained open to weep for the dead,” writes the chronicler.

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1864 — Savannah

21 Dec 1864 — Sherman completes the March to the Sea and wires Lincoln: “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah.” Some 19,000 freedpeople have followed his columns out of slavery.

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