Today October 21st in history click read more below to view detail events, deaths, births, Holidays and observances, and video clips in hisotry. Please comments, last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
1096 – Turkish army annihilates the People s Army of the West, part of the First Crusade.
1512 – Martin Luther joins the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg.
1520 – Ferdinand Magellan discovers a strait now known as Strait of Magellan.
1600 – Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats the leaders of rival Japanese clans in the Battle of Sekigahara, which marks the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate, who in effect rule Japan until the mid-nineteenth century.
1774 – First display of the word Liberty on a flag, raised by colonists in Taunton, Massachusetts and which was in defiance of British rule in Colonial America.
1797 – In Boston Harbor, the 44-gun United States Navy frigate USS Constitution is launched.
1805 – Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Trafalgar: A British fleet led by Admiral Lord Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet off the coast of Spain under Admiral Villeneuve. It signalled the virtual end of French maritime power and left Britain navally unchallenged until the twentieth century.
1805 – Napoleonic Wars: Austrian General Mack surrenders his army to the Grand Army of Napoleon at Ulm, reaping Napoleon over 30,000 prisoners and inflicting 10,000 casualties on the losers. Ulm was considered to be one of Napoleon s finest hours.
1816 – The Penang Free School is founded in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, by the Rev Hutchings. It is the oldest English-language school in Southeast Asia.
1824 – Joseph Aspdin patents Portland cement.
1854 – Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses were sent to the Crimean War.
1861 – American Civil War: Battle of Ball s Bluff – Union forces under Colonel Edward Baker are defeated by Confederate troops in the second major battle of the war. Baker, a close friend of Abraham Lincoln, is killed in the fighting.
1867 – Manifest Destiny: Medicine Lodge Treaty – Near Medicine Lodge, Kansas a landmark treaty is signed by southern Great Plains Indian leaders. The treaty requires Native American Plains tribes to relocate a reservation in western Oklahoma.
1879 – Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric incandescent light bulb (it lasted 13½ hours before burning out).
1892 – Opening ceremonies for the World s Columbian Exposition were held in Chicago, though because construction was behind schedule, the exposition did not open until May 1, 1893.
1895 – The Republic of Formosa collapses as Japanese forces invade.
1902 – In the United States, a five month strike by United Mine Workers ends.
1912 – During the First Balkan War, Kardzhali was liberated by Bulgarian forces
1921 – President Warren G. Harding delivers the first speech by a sitting President against lynching in the deep south. George Melford s silent film, The Sheik, staring Rudolph Valentino, premiers.
1944 – The first kamikaze attack: HMAS Australia was hit by a Japanese plane carrying a 200 kg (441 pound) bomb off Leyte Island, as the Battle of Leyte Gulf began.
1945 – Women s suffrage: Women are allowed to vote in France for the first time.
1945 – Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón married actress Evita.
1959 – In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opens to the public. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
1959 – US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order transferring Wernher von Braun and other German scientists from the United States Army to NASA.
1965 – Comet Ikeya-Seki approaches perihelion, passing 450,000 kilometers from the sun.
1966 – Aberfan disaster: A coal tip falls on the village of Aberfan in Wales, killing 144 people, mostly schoolchildren.
1967 – Vietnam War: More than 100,000 war protesters gather in Washington, DC. A peaceful rally at the Lincoln Memorial is followed by a march to The Pentagon and clashes with soldiers and United States Marshals protecting the facility (event lasts until October 23; 683 people were arrested). Similar demonstrations occurred simultaneously in Japan and Western Europe.
1969 – A coup d état in Somalia brings Siad Barre to power.
1971 – Pablo Neruda wins Nobel Prize for Literature.
1973 – John Paul Getty III s ear is cut off by his kidnappers and sent to a newspaper in Rome; it doesn t arrive until November 8.
1973 – Fred Dryer of the then Los Angeles Rams becomes the first player in NFL history to score two safeties in the same game.
1977 – The European Patent Institute is founded.
1978 – Australian civilian pilot Frederick Valentich vanishes in a Cessna 182 over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft.
1979 – Moshe Dayan resigns from the Israeli government because of strong disagreements with Prime Minister Menachem Begin over policy towards the Arabs.
1983 – The metre is defined at the seventeenth General Conference on Weights and Measures in terms of the speed of light as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.
1986 – In Lebanon, pro-Iranian kidnappers claim to have abducted American writer Edward Tracy (he was released in August 1991).
1990 – The first Apple Day, is held in Covent Garden, London.
1994 – North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea and the United States sign an agreement that requires North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons program and agree to inspections.
1994 – In Seoul, 32 people are killed when the Seongsu Bridge collapses.
1995 – Dayton Agreement The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
2003 – Images of the dwarf planet Eris are taken and subsequently used in its discovery by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz.
Births
1449 – George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV and Richard III (d. 1478)
1527 – Louis I, Cardinal of Guise, French cardinal (d. 1578)
1581 – Domenico Zampieri, Italian painter (d. 1641)
1650 – Jean Bart, French admiral (d. 1702)
1660 – Georg Ernst Stahl, German scientist (d. 1734)
1675 – Emperor Higashiyama of Japan (d. 1710)
1687 – Nicolaus I Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1759)
1712 – Sir James Steuart, British economist (d. 1780)
1725 – Franz Moritz Graf von Lacy, Austrian field marshal (d. 1801)
1757 – Pierre Augereau, Marshal of France and duc de Castiglione (d. 1816)
1762 – Herman Willem Daendels, Dutch statesman (d. 1818)
1772 – Samuel Taylor Coleridge, British poet (d. 1834)
1775 – Giuseppe Baini, Italian composer (d. 1844)
1790 – Alphonse de Lamartine, French writer (d. 1869)
1821 – Eduard Heine, German mathematician (d. 1881)
1833 – Alfred Nobel, Swedish inventor and founder of the Nobel Prize (d. 1896)
1845 – Will Carleton, American poet (d. 1912)
1847 – Giuseppe Giacosa, Italian writer (d. 1906)
1851 – George Ulyett, English cricketer (d. 1898)
1886 – Eugene Burton Ely, American aviation pioneer (d. 1911)
1894 – Rampo Edogawa, Japanese author and critic (d. 1965)
1895 – Edna Purviance, American actress (d. 1958)
1898 – Eduard Pütsep, Estonian wresler and Olympic medalist (d. 1960)
1904 – Patrick Kavanagh, Irish poet (d. 1967)
1906 – Lillian Asplund, last American Titanic survivor (d. 2006)
1907 – Nikos Engonopoulos, Greek painter and poet (d. 1985)
1907 – Jules Chevalier, French priest (b. 1824)
1912 – Sir Georg Solti, Hungarian conductor (d. 1997)
1912 – Alfredo Pián, Argentine racing driver (d. 1990)
1914 – Martin Gardner, American mathematician and writer
1917 – Dizzy Gillespie, American musician (d. 1993)
1918 – Milton Himmelfarb, American sociographer (d. 2006)
1921 – Sir Malcolm Arnold, British composer (d. 2006)
1922 – Liliane de Bettencourt, heir to L Oreal
1924 – Celia Cruz, Cuban singer, Queen of Salsa. (d. 2003)
1924 – Joyce Randolph, American actress
1925 – Louis J. Robichaud, Canadian premier of New Brunswick (d. 2005)
1927 – Fritz Wintersteller, Austrian mountaineer who made the first ascent of Broad Peak
1928 – Whitey Ford, American baseball player
1929 – Ursula K. Le Guin, American author
1930 – Ivan Stepanovich Silayev, Last prime minister of the Soviet Union
1931 – Vivian Pickles, English actress.
1938 – Carl Brewer, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2001)
1940 – Geoff Boycott, English cricketer
1940 – Manfred Mann, English musician
1940 – Frances FitzGerald, American journalist and author
1941 – Steve Cropper, American musician
1942 – Elvin Bishop, American musician
1942 – Judy Sheindlin, American judge (Judge Judy)
1942 – Allan Grice, Australian racing driver
1942 – Lou Lamoriello, New Jersey Devils General Manager
1943 – Tariq Ali, Pakistani author and historian
1945 – Everett McGill, American actor
1946 – Jim Hill, American sportscaster
1946 – Lux Interior, American singer (The Cramps)
1946 – Lee Loughnane, American musician
1948 – Shaye Cohen, Historian and Professor at Harvard University
1948 – Tom Everett, American actor
1949 – Michel Brière, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1971)
1949 – Mike Keenan, Canadian ice hockey coach
1949 – Benjamin Netanyahu, 9th Prime Minister of Israel
1950 – Ronald McNair, American astronaut (d. 1986)
1952 – Trevor Chappell, Australian cricketer
1952 – Patti Davis, American actress and novelist
1952 – Allen Hoey, American poet and novelist
1952 – Brent Mydland, American keyboardist (Grateful Dead) (d. 1990)
1953 – Keith Green, American musician (d. 1982)
1953 – Peter Mandelson, British politician
1953 – Charlotte Caffey, American musician (The Go-Go s)
1954 – Brian Tobin, Canadian premier of Newfoundland
1955 – Rich Mullins, American musician (d. 1997)
1956 – Carrie Fisher, American actress and writer
1957 – Julian Cope, English musician and writer
1957 – Wolfgang Ketterle, German physicist, Nobel laureate
1957 – Steve Lukather, American musician
1959 – George Bell, Dominican baseball player
1959 – Tony Ganios, American Actor
1959 – Rose McDowall, Scottish musician
1959 – Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
1962 – David Campese, Australian rugby union footballer
1964 – Jon Carin, American musician (Pink Floyd, The Who)
1965 – Hisashi Imai, Japanese musician (BUCK-TICK, Lucy)
1965 – Ion Andoni Goikoetxea, Spanish footballer
1967 – Paul Ince, English footballer
1968 – Melora Walters, American actress
1969 – Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, crown prince of Bahrain
1969 – Mo Lewis, American football player
1969 – Michael Hancock, Australian rugby league footballer
1970 – Louis Koo, Hong Kong actor.
1971 – Damien Martyn, Australian cricketer
1971 – Jade Jagger, Socialite and Jewellery Designer
1971 – Nick Oliveri, American musician
1971 – Paul Norman Telfer, Scottish footballer
1972 – Felicity Andersen, Australian actress
1972 – Saffron Burrows, English actress
1972 – Masakazu Morita, seiyu and actor
1972 – Matthew Friedberger, American musician (The Fiery Furnaces)
1972 – Evhen Tsybulenko, Ukrainian professor of international law
1973 – Lera Auerbach, Russian composer
1973 – Charlie Lowell, American Musician
1975 – Toby Hall, American baseball player
1975 – Henrique Hilário, Portuguese footballer
1976 – Jeremy Miller, American actor
1976 – Lavinia Milosovici, Romanian gymnast
1976 – Josh Ritter, American musician
1976 – Mélanie Turgeon, Canadian alpine skier
1978 – Will Estes, American actor
1978 – Joey Harrington, American football player
1978 – Henrik Klingenberg, Member of Finnish band, Sonata Arctica
1979 – Khalil Greene, American baseball player
1979 – Gabe Gross, American baseball player
1980 – Kim Kardashian, American socialite
1980 – Brian Pittman, American musician (Relient K)
1981 – Nemanja Vidic, Serbian footballer
1982 – James White, American basketball player
1982 – Matt Dallas, American actor
1983 – Zack Greinke, American baseball player
1983 – Andy Marté, Dominican baseball player
1983 – Shelden Williams, American basketball player
1983 – Charlotte Sullivan, Canadian actress
1983 – Ninette Tayeb, Israeli singer
1984 – Anouk Leblanc-Boucher, Canadian speed skater
1984 – Kenny Cooper, American footballer
1984 – Marvin Mitchell, American football player
1984 – Kieran Richardson, English footballer
1986 – Chibuzor Chilaka, Nigerian/English footballer
1986 – Alex Kew, British actor
1986 – Natalee Holloway, American missing person (d. 2005)
1986 – Christopher Uckermann, Mexican actor and singer (RBD)
1990 – Ricky Rubio, Spanish basketball player
Deaths
1125 – Cosmas of Prague, Bohemian writer
1204 – Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester, English nobleman
1221 – Alix of Thouars, Duchess of Brittany (b. 1201)
1266 – Birger jarl, Swedish statesman (b. 1210)
1422 – King Charles VI of France (b. 1368)
1500 – Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado of Japan (b. 1442)
1505 – Paul Scriptoris, German mathematician
1558 – Julius Caesar Scaliger, Italian scholar (b. 1484)
1600 – Toda Katsushige, Japanese warlord (b. 1557)
1623 – William Wade, English statesman and diplomat (b. 1546)
1662 – Henry Lawes, English composer (b. 1595)
1687 – Sir Edmund Waller, English poet (b. 1606)
1765 – Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Italian painter and architect (b. 1691)
1775 – Peyton Randolph, American president of the Continental Congress (b. 1721)
1777 – Samuel Foote, English dramatist and actor (b. 1720)
1805 – Horatio Nelson, British admiral (b. 1758)
1872 – Jacques Babinet, French physicist (b. 1794)
1873 – Johann Sebastian Welhaven, Norwegian poet (b. 1807)
1896 – James Henry Greathead, British engineer (b. 1844)
1904 – Isabelle Eberhardt, Swiss explorer and writer (b. 1877)
1931 – Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian writer (b. 1862)
1940 – William G. Conley, Governor of West Virginia (b. 1866)
1944 – Alois Kayser, German missionary to Nauru (b. 1877)
1963 – Józef Franczak, last cursed soldier – anticommunist underground in Poland (b. 1918)
1965 – Bill Black, American musician (b. 1926)
1969 – Jack Kerouac, American novelist (b. 1922)
1969 – Waclaw Sierpinski, Polish mathematician (b. 1882)
1973 – Nasif Estéfano, Argentine racing driver (b. 1932)
1975 – Charles Reidpath, American athlete (b. 1887)
1978 – Anastas Mikoyan, Soviet politician (b. 1895)
1980 – Hans Asperger, Austrian psychologist (b. 1906)
1984 – François Truffaut, French film director (b. 1932)
1985 – Dan White, American politician, assailant in the Moscone-Milk assassinations (b. 1946)
1986 – Lionel Murphy, Australian politician and judge (b. 1922)
1989 – Jean Image, Hungarian-born French animator (b. 1910)
1990 – Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Indian spiritual leader (b. 1921)
1992 – Jim Garrison, American attorney (b. 1921)
1995 – Shannon Hoon, American singer (Blind Melon) (b. 1967)
1995 – Jesús Blasco, Spanish comic book author (b. 1919)
1995 – Maxene Andrews, American singer (The Andrews Sisters) (b. 1916)
1998 – Francis W. Sargent, 64th Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1915)
1999 – Lars Bo, Danish artist and writr (b. 1924)
2003 – Fred Berry, American actor (b. 1951)
2003 – Luis A. Ferré, Governor of Puerto Rico (b. 1904)
2003 – Louise Day Hicks, American politician (b. 1916)
2003 – Elliott Smith, American musician (b. 1969)
2005 – Tara Correa-McMullen, American actress (b. 1989)
2006 – Sandy West, American musician (The Runaways) (b. 1959)
2007 – Paul Fox, English musician and singer (The Ruts) (b. 1951)
Holidays and observances
Apple Day in the United Kingdom
Overseas Chinese Day in the Republic of China
Trafalgar Day — celebrated throughout much of the British Empire in the 19th and early 20th Century.
R.C. saints – Saint Ursula; Saint Hilarion; John of Bridlington
French Republican Calendar – Tonneau (Barrel) Day, thirtieth day in the Month of Vendémiaire
International Day of the Nacho- Mexico and USA
