What Happened on October 21
Important Events
- 1805 Battle of Trafalgar: British Admiral Horatio Nelson defeats combined French and Spanish fleet. Nelson shot and killed during battle.
- 1854 Florence Nightingale with a staff of 38 nurses is sent to the Crimean War
October 21 in Film & TV
- 1964 Film version of "My Fair Lady" directed by George Cukor and starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn premieres in New York (Academy Awards Best Picture 1965)
October 21 in Music
- 1858 Jacques Offenbach's operetta " Orpheus in the Underworld" (Orphée aux Enfers) premieres in Paris, includes "Infernal Galop" (can-can tune)
October 21 in Sport
- 1980 Phillies win their 1st World Championship in their 98-year history
Did You Know?
Explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his fleet reach Cape Virgenes and become the first Europeans to sail into the Pacific Ocean
On October 21, 1520
Famous Birthdays
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(1772 - 1834)- Alfred Nobel
(1833 - 1896) - Whitey Ford
91 Years Old - Benjamin Netanyahu
70 Years Old - Carrie Fisher
(1956 - 2016) - Kim Kardashian
39 Years Old
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Alfred Nobel
Whitey Ford
Benjamin Netanyahu
Carrie Fisher
Kim KardashianWould You Believe?
Margaret Owen sets world typing speed record of 170 wpm for 1 min
On October 21, 1918
Famous Weddings
- 1917 Irish poet and playwright William Butler Yeats (52) weds Georgie Hyde-Lees (25)
- 1929 Bank robber Willie Sutton (28) weds Louise Leudemann
- 1948 Science fiction pioneering author "Stranger in a Strange Land" Robert A. Heinlein marries 3rd wife Virginia "Ginny" Gerstenfeld
Horatio Nelson
Jack Kerouac
Ben BradleeOctober 21 in Articles and Photos
The Tragedy of Aberfan
One hundred and sixteen young children died on this day when an avalanche of coal tip waste and debris thundered down a hillside and engulfed their school.
October 21, 1966Weekly Quiz for October 21 - 27
In which battle in 1805 was British Admiral Horatio Nelson killed in action? Who was the 1st European to sail into and then across the Pacific Ocean, in 1520?
October in History
Prince of Wales Gallops Out of Horseracing After Scandal
Once regarded as the ‘first gentleman of Europe’, the lifestyle of a former Prince of Wales caused revulsion, starting with a horseracing scandal on this day.
October 20, 1791Jumping Jacques Makes First Parachute Descent
Daredevil André-Jacques Garnerin took to the sky in a hydrogen balloon on this day and after cutting himself adrift performed the first ‘parachute’ descent.
October 22, 1797Test of Time for the Date of Creation
The assertion by a 17th Century bishop that the universe was created on this day in the year 4004 BC was put to the test in a famous trial in the United States.
October 23, 4004 BCAnother Panic, Another Market Crash
Wall Street was gripped by panic on this day. It was not the first time nor the last. Anything from railways to a pandemic can cause a crash, it seems.
October 24, 1929
