1. On May 21, 1781, British forces under General Francis Rawdon won a decisive victory over American troops at the Battle of Fort Granby during the Revolutionary War.

2. May 21, 1902 marks the date of the founding of the Charleston Library Society, the oldest library in South Carolina and one of the oldest in the United States.

3. In 1914, the University of South Carolina awarded its first bachelor's degrees to women on May 21, a historic moment for female education in the state.

4. On May 21, 1936, the iconic Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in Charleston was officially opened to traffic, connecting downtown Charleston with Mount Pleasant over the Cooper River.

5. In 1971, Ron McNair, a native of Lake City, South Carolina, became the second African American to earn a Ph.D. in Physics from MIT. Tragically, McNair lost his life in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster. May 21 has since been designated as Ron McNair Day in South Carolina to honor his memory and contributions to science.