1. In 1912, Arizona officially became the 48th state in the United States. This happened on February 14, but February 21 is celebrated as Arizona Statehood Day.
2. In 1959, Lee Marvin won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film "Cat Ballou". Marvin was born in New York City but spent much of his childhood in Tucson, Arizona.
3. On February 21, 2013, former Arizona Congressman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly announced the formation of their political action committee, Americans for Responsible Solutions. The organization aimed to promote gun control laws in the wake of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
4. The artist Georgia O'Keeffe lived and worked in Arizona for several years. On February 21, 1937, an exhibit of her paintings opened in the Arizona State Teachers College in Flagstaff, Arizona.
5. On February 21, 1986, Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt broke ground on the construction of a new Phoenix Suns arena. The arena, then known as the America West Arena, opened in 1992 and hosted numerous sporting events and concerts before being replaced by the current Suns arena in 2021.