What Happened on October 21
Historical 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
- 1944 World War II: US troops capture Aachen, 1st large German city to fall
- 1948 UN rejects Russian proposal to destroy atomic weapons
- 1950 Chinese forces occupy Tibet
- 1993 Failed military coup in Burundi, led by ex-President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, includes assassination President Ndadaye; 525,000 Hutus flee
- More Historical Events
Oct 21 in Film & TV
- 1921 "The Sheik", a silent film starring Rudolph Valentino, premieres in Los Angeles
- 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)
Oct 21 in Music
- 1858 Jacques Offenbach's operetta " Orpheus in the Underworld" (Orphée aux Enfers) premieres in Paris, includes "Infernal Galop" (can-can tune)
Oct 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
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Alfred Nobel
Whitey Ford
Carrie Fisher
Benjamin Netanyahu
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
More Weddings & Divorces
Horatio Nelson
Jack Kerouac
John T. Scopes
Ben BradleeArticles, Photos and Quiz
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, 1966
Weekly 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?
