July 21

1839 – There were no Sunday meetings in Commerce, soon to be Nauvoo, Illinois, because of the heavy rain and the sickness that prevailed throughout the Saints.  However, many of the sick were healed through the ministering of the Elders of the Church. (History of the Church, 4:3).

1846 – The Mormon Battalion begins their march from Trader’s Point (near Council Bluffs, Iowa) that would eventually take them to California on the longest infantry march in United States History.

1847 – Orson Pratt and Erastus Snow, advance scouts for the pioneer company, become the first Latter-day Saints to enter the Salt Lake Valley.   After making a twelve-mile circuit through the valley, they returned to their camp 1 ½ miles up Emigration Canyon.  The middle, or main group, made great progress both in miles covered and work on the roadway.  They came within one mile of Orson Pratt’s camp.  Brigham Young’s sick camp laid over on East Canyon Creek as several new cases of sickness hit the group.

1849 – Addison Pratt receives the first endowment given in the Salt Lake Valley.  The sacred ordinances are performed on Ensign Peak.

1879 – Elder Joseph Standing, a missionary laboring in Georgia, is shot and killed by a mob near Varnell’s Station, Georgia.  This is the first murder of a Latter-day Saint missionary since the death of Parley P. Pratt in 1857 and begins a period of violence against missionaries and members of the Church in the Southern United States.

1935 – President Heber J. Grant dedicates the Angel Moroni Monument at the top of the Hill Cumorah.  As many as 10,000 people were in attendance to dedicate the 9-foot statue of Moroni sculpted by Torlief S. Knaphus, a Danish convert to the Church.

1947 – Time magazine features President George Albert Smith on its cover and highlights the centennial of the arrival of the Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley.

1954 – The First Presidency announces plans to build the Church College of Hawaii, precursor to Brigham Young University-Hawaii.

1960 – The First Presidency released a statement that 19-year-old young men could be called to serve full time missions.

2000 – A monument and sculpture honoring the pioneers who settled in Snowflake, Arizona, was dedicated by President James E. Faust of the First Presidency.

2004 – A replica of of Lewis Hall, the first home of Brigham Young University, was dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley as the Smoot Hall at This is the Place State Park in Salt Lake City, Utah.

2007 – A refurbished 10 foot concrete monument on or near the site where Brigham Young said, “This is the right place’ on the east side of the This Is The Place Heritage Park at the mouth of Emigration Canyon in Salt Lake City, Utah, is dedicated by President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum the Twelve.

2019 – President Russell M. Nelson spoke at the 110th national convention of the NAACP held in Detroit, Michigan. He stated “‘The cure for what ails us’ is to love God and our neighbor.’