What Happened on July 27, 2021

Historical Events

Simone Biles Withdraws

American gymnast and four-time Olympic gold medallist Simone Biles withdraws from the women's team final at the Tokyo Games citing need to focus on her mental health; also misses individual finals

China tests a missile with a hypersonic weapon system, later called “very close” to a Sputnik moment by a US general [1]
Fiji retains Olympic Rugby Sevens title with 27-12 win over New Zealand in Tokyo; only second gold in the country's Olympic history
Florida records its highest one-day total of COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic at 21,683
Ítalo Ferreira of Brazil and American Carissa Moore claim inaugural men's and women's surfing gold medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games
Largest-ever repatriation of 17,000 looted Iraqi antiquities returned to Baghdad, including items from Hobby Lobby's Museum of the Bible and Cornell University
Swiss team of Jolanda Neff, Sina Frei and Linda Indergand make a clean sweep of the medals in the women's cross-country mountain bike event at the Tokyo Olympics
Triathlete Flora Duffy claims historic first ever Olympic gold medal for Bermuda in the women's event at the Tokyo Games

Events in 2021

Famous Deaths

Mike Hendrick, English cricket fast bowler (30 Tests, 87 wickets; 22 ODIs; Derbyshire CCC), dies from bowel cancer at 72
Pete George, American weightlifter (Olympic gold middle-heavyweight 1952, silver 1948, 56), dies at 92
Saginaw Grant, Native American character actor, hereditary chief of the Sac & Fox Nation of Oklahoma, musician, and U.S. Marine, dies at 85
Willie Winfield, American doo-wop singer (Harptones - "Life Is But A Dream"; “A Sunday Kind of Love”), dies of a heart attack at 91

Died in 2021 2021 Highlights