October 21

October 21 is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 71 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 1096 – People's Crusade: The Turkish army successfully fight off the People's Army of the West.
• 1097 – First Crusade: Crusaders led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemund of Taranto, and Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, begin the Siege of Antioch.
• 1209 – Otto IV is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III.
• 1392 – Nanboku-chō, Japan: Emperor Go-Kameyama abdicates in favor of rival claimant Go-Komatsu.
• 1512 – Martin Luther joins the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg.
• 1520 – Ferdinand Magellan discovers a strait now known as Strait of Magellan.
• 1520 – João Álvares Fagundes discovers the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, bestowing them their original name of "Islands of the 11,000 Virgins".
• 1600 – Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats the leaders of rival Japanese clans in the Battle of Sekigahara, which marks the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate that in effect rules Japan until the mid-nineteenth century.
• 1774 – First display of the word "Liberty" on a flag, raised by colonists in Taunton, Massachusetts 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 Vice Admiral Lord Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet off the coast of Spain under Admiral Villeneuve, signaling almost the end of French maritime power and leaves Britain's navy unchallenged until the 20th century.
• 1816 – The Penang Free School is founded in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, by the Rev Hutchings, the oldest English-language school in Southeast Asia.
• 1824 – Joseph Aspdin patents Portland cement.
• 1854 – Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses are 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 to a reservation in western Oklahoma.
• 1879 – Thomas Edison invents a workable electric light bulb at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J. which was tested the next day and lasted 13.5 hours. This would be the invention of the first commercially practical incandescent light. Popular belief is that he invented the first light bulb, which he did not.
• 1888 – Foundation of the Swiss Social Democratic Party.
• 1892 – Opening ceremonies for the World's Columbian Exposition are 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.
• 1910 – HMS Niobe arrives in Halifax Harbour to become the first ship of the Royal Canadian Navy.
• 1912 – First Balkan War: Kardzhali is liberated by Bulgarian forces.
• 1921 – President Warren G. Harding delivers the first speech by a sitting U.S. President against lynching in the deep South.
• 1921 – George Melford's silent film, The Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino, premiers.
• 1931 – The Sakurakai, a secret society in the Imperial Japanese Army, launches an abortive coup d'état attempt.
• 1940 – The first edition of the Ernest Hemingway novel For Whom the Bell Tolls is published.
• 1943 – The Provisional Government of Free India is formally declared by Subhas Chandra Bose.
• 1944 – World War II: The first kamikaze attack. A Japanese fighter plane carrying a 200-kilogram (440 lb) bomb attacks HMAS Australia off Leyte Island, as the Battle of Leyte Gulf began.
• 1944 – World War II: Nemmersdorf massacre against the German civilians takes place.
• 1944 – World War II: Battle of Aachen: The city of Aachen falls to American forces after three weeks of fighting, making it the first German city to fall to the Allies.
• 1945 – Women's suffrage: Women are allowed to vote in France for the first time.
• 1950 – Korean War: Heavy fighting begins between British and Australian forces from the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade and the North Korean 239th Regiment during the Battle of Yongju.
• 1956 – Mau Mau Uprising: Kenyan rebel leader Dedan Kimathi is captured by the British Army, signalling the ultimate defeat of the rebellion, and essentially ending the British military campaign.
• 1959 – In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opens to the public.
• 1959 – U.S. 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 (279,617 miles) from the sun.
• 1966 – Aberfan disaster: A slag heap collapses on the village of Aberfan in Wales, killing 144 people, mostly schoolchildren.
• 1967 – Vietnam War: More than 100,000 war protesters gather in Washington, D.C.. 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. Similar demonstrations occurred simultaneously in Japan and Western Europe.
• 1969 – A coup d'état in Somalia brings Siad Barre to power and establishes a socialist republic in Somalia.
• 1971 – A gas explosion kills 22 people at a shopping center in Clarkston, East Renfrewshire, near Glasgow, Scotland.
• 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 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.
• 1981 – Andreas Papandreou becomes Prime Minister of Greece, ending an almost 50-year-long system of power dominated by conservative forces.
• 1983 – The metre is defined at the seventeenth General Conference on Weights and Measures as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.
• 1986 – In Lebanon, pro-Iran kidnappers claim to have abducted American writer Edward Tracy (he is released in August 1991).
• 1987 – Jaffna hospital massacre is carried out by Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 70 ethnic Tamil patients, doctors and nurses.
• 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.
• 2005 – Images of the dwarf planet Eris are taken and subsequently used in documenting its discovery by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz.
• 2012 – A shooting at a spa in Brookfield, Wisconsin, leaves four people dead, including the shooter.
• 2013 – Record smog closes schools, roadways, and the airport in Harbin, China.

Births

• 1328 – Hongwu Emperor of China (d. 1398)
• 1449 – George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, Irish-English son of Cecily Neville, Duchess of York (d. 1478)
• 1527 – Louis I, Cardinal of Guise (d. 1578)
• 1581 – Domenichino, Italian painter (d. 1641)
• 1650 – Jean Bart, French admiral (d. 1702)
• 1675 – Emperor Higashiyama of Japan (d. 1710)
• 1687 – Nicolaus I Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and theorist (d. 1759)
• 1712 – James Steuart, Scottish economist and author (d. 1780)
• 1725 – Franz Moritz von Lacy, Austrian field marshal (d. 1801)
• 1757 – Pierre Augereau, French general (d. 1816)
• 1762 – Herman Willem Daendels, Dutch general, lawyer, and politician, 36th Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1818)
• 1772 – Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet, philosopher, and critic (d. 1834)
• 1775 – Giuseppe Baini, Italian priest, composer, and critic (d. 1844)
• 1790 – Alphonse de Lamartine, French poet and politician, French Head of State (d. 1869)
• 1811 – Filippo Colini, Italian actor and singer (d. 1863)
• 1821 – Sims Reeves, English tenor and actor (d. 1900)
• 1833 – Alfred Nobel, Swedish chemist and engineer, invented dynamite and founded the Nobel Prize (d. 1896)
• 1845 – Will Carleton, American poet and journalist (d. 1912)
• 1847 – Giuseppe Giacosa, Italian poet and playwright (d. 1906)
• 1851 – George Ulyett, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1898)
• 1877 – Oswald Avery, Canadian-American physician and microbiologist (d. 1955)
• 1884 – Claire Waldoff, German singer and actress (d. 1957)
• 1886 – Eugene Burton Ely, American soldier and pilot (d. 1911)
• 1887 – Krishna Singh, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Bihar (d. 1961)
• 1894 – Edogawa Ranpo, Japanese author and critic (d. 1965)
• 1895 – Paavo Johansson, Finnish javelin thrower and decathlete (d. 1983)
• 1895 – Edna Purviance, American actress (d. 1958)
• 1898 – Eduard Pütsep, Estonian wrestler and actor (d. 1960)
• 1907 – Nikos Engonopoulos, Greek painter and poet (d. 1985)
• 1908 – Niyazi Berkes, Cypriot-English sociologist and academic (d. 1988)
• 1911 – Mary Blair, American illustrator and animator (d. 1978)
• 1912 – Don Byas, American saxophonist and educator (d. 1972)
• 1912 – Alfredo Pián, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1990)
• 1912 – Georg Solti, Hungarian-English conductor and director (d. 1997)
• 1914 – Martin Gardner, American mathematician and author (d. 2010)
• 1917 – Dizzy Gillespie, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 1993)
• 1918 – Milton Himmelfarb, American sociologist and author (d. 2006)
• 1919 – Jim Wallwork, English-Canadian sergeant and pilot (d. 2013)
• 1921 – Malcolm Arnold, English composer (d. 2006)
• 1921 – Bruce Beeby, Australian-English actor (d. 2013)
• 1921 – Robert Clothier, Canadian actor (d. 1999)
• 1921 – Jim Shumate, American fiddler and composer (d. 2013)
• 1921 – Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld, Dutch astronomer and academic (d. 2015)
• 1922 – Liliane Bettencourt, French businesswoman and philanthropist
• 1923 – Samuel Khachikian, Iranian director, screenwriter, and author (d. 2001)
• 1924 – Celia Cruz, Cuban-American singer and actress (Sonora Matancera) (d. 2003)
• 1924 – Joyce Randolph, American actress
• 1924 – Julie Wilson, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
• 1925 – Virginia Zeani, Romanian soprano and educator
• 1926 – Leonard Rossiter, English actor (d. 1984)
• 1927 – Fritz Wintersteller, Austrian mountaineer
• 1927 – Howard Zieff, American director and photographer (d. 2009)
• 1928 – Whitey Ford, American baseball player and coach
• 1928 – Vern Mikkelsen, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
• 1929 – Pierre Bellemare, French radio and television host
• 1929 – Fritz Hollaus, Austrian footballer (d. 1994)
• 1929 – Ursula K. Le Guin, American author and critic
• 1930 – Ivan Silayev, Russian engineer and politician, 19th Prime Minister of Russia
• 1931 – Shammi Kapoor, Indian actor and director (d. 2011)
• 1931 – Jim Parks junior, English cricketer and manager
• 1931 – Vivian Pickles, English actress
• 1931 – Hugh Thomas, English historian and author
• 1932 – Pál Csernai, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 2013)
• 1933 – Maureen Duffy, English author, poet, and playwright
• 1935 – Derek Bell, Irish harp player, pianist, and songwriter (The Chieftains) (d. 2002)
• 1937 – Said Afandi al-Chirkawi, Russian spiritual leader and scholar (d. 2012)
• 1937 – Hank Nelson, Australian historian and academic (d. 2012)
• 1938 – Carl Brewer, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2001)
• 1940 – Geoffrey Boycott, English cricketer and sportscaster
• 1940 – Frances FitzGerald, American journalist and author
• 1940 – Rhoda Gemignani, American actress
• 1940 – Manfred Mann, South African-English keyboard player and producer (Manfred Mann, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, and Manfred Mann Chapter Three)
• 1940 – Marita Petersen, Faroese educator and politician, Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (d. 2001)
• 1941 – Steve Cropper, American guitarist, songwriter, producer, and actor (Booker T. & the M.G.'s, The Mar-Keys, and The Blues Brothers)
• 1942 – Elvin Bishop, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1942 – Allan Grice, Australian race car driver and politician
• 1942 – Lou Lamoriello, American ice hockey player, coach, and manager
• 1942 – Judith Sheindlin, American judge and television host
• 1942 – Christopher A. Sims, American economist and statistician, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1942 – John Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, English police officer and academic
• 1943 – Tariq Ali, Pakistani historian and author
• 1944 – Ene Mihkelson, Estonian author and poet
• 1944 – Mandy Rice-Davies, English model and actress (d. 2014)
• 1944 – Michael Tugendhat, English lawyer and judge
• 1945 – Everett McGill, American actor
• 1945 – Michael White, English journalist
• 1946 – Jane Heal, English philosopher and academic
• 1946 – Jim Hill, American football player and sportscaster
• 1946 – Lux Interior, American singer-songwriter (The Cramps) (d. 2009)
• 1946 – Lee Loughnane, American singer-songwriter and trumpet player (Chicago)
• 1947 – Ai, American poet and educator (d. 2010)
• 1947 – Mary Pipher, American psychologist and author
• 1948 – Shaye J. D. Cohen, American historian and academic
• 1948 – Tom Everett, American actor and singer
• 1948 – Allen Henry Vigneron, American archbishop
• 1949 – Michel Brière, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1971)
• 1949 – Mike Keenan, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1949 – Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli captain and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Israel
• 1950 – Ronald McNair, American physicist and astronaut (d. 1986)
• 1952 – Trevor Chappell, Australian cricketer and coach
• 1952 – Patti Davis, American actress and author
• 1952 – Allen Hoey, American poet and author
• 1952 – Brent Mydland, German-American keyboard player (Grateful Dead, Bobby and the Midnites, and Silver) (d. 1990)
• 1953 – Charlotte Caffey, American guitarist and songwriter (The Go-Go's and The Graces)
• 1953 – Eric Faulkner, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Bay City Rollers)
• 1953 – Keith Green, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and minister (d. 1982)
• 1953 – Marc Johnson, American bassist, composer, and bandleader
• 1953 – Peter Mandelson, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
• 1954 – Brian Tobin, Canadian journalist and politician, 6th Premier of Newfoundland
• 1955 – Dick DeVos, American businessman
• 1955 – Fred Hersch, American pianist and composer
• 1955 – Rich Mullins, American singer-songwriter (A Ragamuffin Band) (d. 1997)
• 1956 – Carrie Fisher, American actress and screenwriter
• 1956 – Mike Tully, American pole vaulter
• 1957 – Julian Cope, English singer-songwriter (The Teardrop Explodes, Crucial Three, Black Sheep, Brain Donor, and Queen Elizabeth)
• 1957 – Wolfgang Ketterle, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1957 – Steve Lukather, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Toto)
• 1958 – Andre Geim, Russian-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1959 – George Bell, Dominican baseball player
• 1959 – Tony Ganios, American actor, director, and producer
• 1959 – Rose McDowall, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Strawberry Switchblade, Spell, and Current 93)
• 1959 – Andy Picheta, English director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1959 – Kevin Sheedy, Welsh-Irish footballer and manager
• 1959 – Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor and producer
• 1962 – David Campese, Australian rugby player and coach
• 1964 – Jon Carin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Pink Floyd, The Who, and Industry)
• 1964 – Levent Yüksel, Turkish singer
• 1965 – Ion Andoni Goikoetxea, Spanish footballer and manager
• 1965 – Horace Hogan, American wrestler
• 1965 – Hisashi Imai, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist (Buck-Tick, Schaft, and Schwein)
• 1966 – Phillip Price, Welsh golfer
• 1966 – Igor Prins, Estonian footballer and manager
• 1966 – Arne Sandstø, Norwegian footballer and manager
• 1967 – Georgi Dakov, Bulgarian high jumper (d. 1996)
• 1967 – Paul Ince, English footballer and manager
• 1967 – Gavin Lovegrove, New Zealand javelin thrower and graphic designer
• 1968 – Alexandros Alexandris, Greek footballer and manager
• 1968 – Kerstin Andreae, German politician
• 1968 – Melora Walters, Saudi Arabian-American actress
• 1969 – Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahraini prince
• 1969 – Michael Hancock, Australian rugby player
• 1969 – Mo Lewis, American football player
• 1970 – Louis Koo, Hong Kong actor and singer
• 1971 – Hal Duncan, Scottish author and poet
• 1971 – Jade Jagger, French-English model and jewellery designer
• 1971 – Damien Martyn, Australian cricketer
• 1971 – Nick Oliveri, American singer-songwriter and bass player (Mondo Generator, Kyuss, and Queens of the Stone Age)
• 1971 – Conor O'Shea, Irish rugby player and coach
• 1971 – Paul Telfer, Scottish footballer and coach
• 1971 – Thomas Ulsrud, Norwegian curler
• 1972 – Felicity Andersen, Australian actress
• 1972 – Matthew Friedberger, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Fiery Furnaces)
• 1972 – Masakazu Morita, Japanese voice actor
• 1972 – Orlando Thomas, American football player (d. 2014)
• 1972 – Evhen Tsybulenko, Ukrainian scholar and academic
• 1973 – Lera Auerbach, Russian-American pianist and composer
• 1973 – Sasha Roiz, Israeli-Canadian actor
• 1973 – Charlie Lowell, American pianist and songwriter (Jars of Clay)
• 1974 – Costel Busuioc, Romanian tenor
• 1975 – Toby Hall, American baseball player
• 1975 – Henrique Hilário, Portuguese footballer
• 1976 – Henrik Gustavsson, Swedish footballer
• 1976 – Jeremy Miller, American actor and singer
• 1976 – Lavinia Miloșovici, Romanian gymnast
• 1976 – Josh Ritter, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1976 – Andrew Scott, Irish actor
• 1976 – Mélanie Turgeon, Canadian skier
• 1977 – Julieta Cardinali, Argentinian actress
• 1977 – David Clayton Rogers, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1978 – Will Estes, American actor
• 1978 – Joey Harrington, American football player and sportscaster
• 1978 – Henrik Klingenberg, Finnish singer and keyboard player (Sonata Arctica and Silent Voices)
• 1979 – Khalil Greene, American baseball player
• 1979 – Gabe Gross, American baseball player
• 1979 – Karl Harris, English motorcycle racer (d. 2014)
• 1979 – Shiho Takano, Japanese actress
• 1980 – Kim Kardashian, American model, actress, and fashion designer
• 1980 – Brian Pittman, American bass player (Relient K and Inhale Exhale)
• 1981 – Carmella Bing, American porn actress and model
• 1981 – Martin Castrogiovanni, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
• 1981 – Nemanja Vidić, Serbian footballer
• 1982 – Matt Dallas, American actor and producer
• 1982 – Jim Henderson, American baseball player
• 1982 – Antony Kay, English footballer
• 1982 – Ray Ventrone, American football player
• 1982 – Lee Chong Wei, Malaysian badminton player
• 1982 – James White, American basketball player
• 1982 – Tim Wildsmith, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1983 – Casey Fien, American baseball player
• 1983 – Zack Greinke, American baseball player
• 1983 – Gonzalo Klusener, Argentinian footballer
• 1983 – Andy Marte, Dominican baseball player
• 1983 – Chris Sherrington, English-Scottish martial artist
• 1983 – Charlotte Sullivan, Canadian actress
• 1983 – Ninet Tayeb, Israeli singer and actress
• 1983 – Aaron Tveit, American actor and singer
• 1983 – Shelden Williams, American basketball player
• 1984 – Anna Bogdanova, Russian heptathlete
• 1984 – Tom Brandstater, American football player
• 1984 – Kenny Cooper, American soccer player
• 1984 – Anouk Leblanc-Boucher, Canadian speed skater
• 1984 – José Lobatón, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1984 – Jessica Michibata, Japanese model
• 1984 – Marvin Mitchell, American football player
• 1984 – Kieran Richardson, English footballer
• 1985 – Simone Bracalello, Italian footballer
• 1986 – Almen Abdi, Swiss footballer
• 1986 – Chibuzor Chilaka, Nigerian footballer
• 1986 – Scott Rendell, English footballer
• 1986 – Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Russian-American terrorist (d. 2013)
• 1986 – Christopher von Uckermann, Mexican singer-songwriter and actor (RBD)
• 1987 – Justin De Fratus, American baseball player
• 1987 – Andrey Grechin, Russian swimmer
• 1988 – Ricki Olsen, Danish footballer
• 1988 – Daniel Schorn, Austrian cyclist
• 1989 – May'n, Japanese singer
• 1989 – Mads Dahm, Norwegian footballer
• 1989 – Luke Murphy, English footballer
• 1989 – Jonathan Viera, Spanish footballer
• 1989 – Sam Vokes, English-Welsh footballer
• 1990 – Bengali-Fodé Koita, French footballer
• 1990 – Mathieu Peybernes, French footballer
• 1990 – Ricky Rubio, Spanish basketball player
• 1991 – Tom Eastman, English footballer
• 1991 – Geoffry Hairemans, Belgian footballer
• 1991 – Vadaine Oliver, English footballer
• 1991 – Harry Pell, English footballer
• 1992 – Bernard Tomic, Australian tennis player
• 1992 – Marzia Bisognin, Italian YouTube personality
• 1995 – Cameron Burgess, Scottish-Australian footballer
• 1995 – Antoinette Guedia Mouafo, Cameroonian swimmer
• 1995 – Shannon Magrane, American singer-songwriter
• 1998 – Ryoka Oshima, Japanese singer and actress (AKB48)

Deaths

• 1125 – Cosmas of Prague, Bohemian priest and historian (b. 1045)
• 1204 – Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester, English politician
• 1221 – Alix, Duchess of Brittany (b. 1201)
• 1266 – Birger Jarl, Swedish politician (b. 1210)
• 1422 – Charles VI of France (b. 1368)
• 1500 – Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado of Japan (b. 1442)
• 1505 – Paul Scriptoris, German mathematician and educator (b. 1460)
• 1558 – Julius Caesar Scaliger, Italian physician and scholar (b. 1484)
• 1600 – Shima Sakon, Japanese samurai (b. 1540)
• 1600 – Toda Katsushige, Japanese daimyo (b. 1557)
• 1623 – William Wade, English politician and diplomat, Lieutenant of the Tower of London (b. 1546)
• 1662 – Henry Lawes, English pianist and composer (b. 1595)
• 1687 – Edmund Waller, English poet and politician (b. 1606)
• 1765 – Giovanni Paolo Panini, Italian painter and architect (b. 1691)
• 1775 – Peyton Randolph, American lawyer and politician, 1st President of the Continental Congress (b. 1721)
• 1777 – Samuel Foote, English actor and playwright (b. 1720)
• 1805 – John Cooke, English captain (b. 1763)
• 1805 – George Duff, Scottish captain (b. 1764)
• 1805 – Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, English admiral (b. 1758)
• 1821 – Dorothea Ackermann, German actress (b. 1752)
• 1835 – Muthuswami Dikshitar, Indian poet and composer (b. 1775)
• 1872 – Jacques Babinet, French physicist, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1794)
• 1873 – Johan Sebastian Welhaven, Norwegian author, poet, and critic (b. 1807)
• 1896 – James Henry Greathead, South African-English engineer (b. 1844)
• 1903 – Jinmaku Kyūgorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 12th Yokozuna (b. 1829)
• 1904 – Isabelle Eberhardt, Swiss explorer and journalist (b. 1877)
• 1907 – Jules Chevalier, French priest, founded the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (b. 1824)
• 1931 – Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian author and playwright (b. 1862)
• 1938 – Dorothy Hale, American actress (b. 1905)
• 1940 – William G. Conley, American journalist, lawyer, and politician, 18th Governor of West Virginia (b. 1866)
• 1944 – Alois Kayser, German-French missionary (b. 1877)
• 1952 – Hans Merensky, South African geologist and philanthropist (b. 1871)
• 1963 – Józef Franczak, Polish sergeant (b. 1918)
• 1965 – Bill Black, American bass player and bandleader (The Blue Moon Boys) (b. 1926)
• 1969 – Jack Kerouac, American author and poet (b. 1922)
• 1969 – Wacław Sierpiński, Polish mathematician and academic (b. 1882)
• 1971 – Minnie Evans, Potawatomi leader (b. 1888)
• 1973 – Nasif Estéfano, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1932)
• 1975 – Charles Reidpath, American runner and general (b. 1887)
• 1977 – Ferit Tüzün, Turkish composer (b. 1929)
• 1978 – Anastas Mikoyan, Armenian-Russian civil servant and politician (b. 1895)
• 1980 – Hans Asperger, Austrian physician and psychologist (b. 1906)
• 1982 – Radka Toneff, Norwegian singer-songwriter (b. 1952)
• 1984 – François Truffaut, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1932)
• 1985 – Dan White, American sergeant and politician (b. 1946)
• 1986 – Lionel Murphy, Australian jurist and politician, 22nd Attorney-General of Australia (b. 1922)
• 1987 – Salme Rootare, Estonian chess player (b. 1913)
• 1989 – Jean Image, Hungarian-French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1910)
• 1990 – Dany Chamoun, Lebanese engineer and politician (b. 1934)
• 1990 – Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Indian philosopher and author (b. 1921)
• 1991 – Lorenc Antoni, Albanian composer, conductor, and musicologist (b. 1909)
• 1992 – Jim Garrison, American lawyer and judge (b. 1921)
• 1993 – Sam Zolotow, American journalist and critic (b. 1899)
• 1995 – Maxene Andrews, American singer (The Andrews Sisters) (b. 1916)
• 1995 – Jesús Blasco, Spanish author and illustrator (b. 1919)
• 1995 – Nancy Graves, American sculptor and painter (b. 1939)
• 1995 – Shannon Hoon, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Blind Melon) (b. 1967)
• 1996 – Georgios Zoitakis, Greek general and politician (b. 1910)
• 1998 – Francis W. Sargent, American soldier and politician, 64th Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1915)
• 1999 – Lars Bo, Danish author and illustrator (b. 1924)
• 1999 – Ahmet Taner Kışlalı, Turkish political scientist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1939)
• 2003 – Fred Berry, American actor and dancer (b. 1951)
• 2003 – Louise Day Hicks, American lawyer and politician (b. 1916)
• 2003 – Luis A. Ferré, Puerto Rican engineer and politician, 3rd Governor of Puerto Rico (b. 1904)
• 2003 – Elliott Smith, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Heatmiser) (b. 1969)
• 2006 – Sandy West, American singer-songwriter and drummer (The Runaways) (b. 1959)
• 2007 – Paul Fox, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Ruts) (b. 1951)
• 2010 – A. Ayyappan, Indian poet and translator (b. 1949)
• 2011 – Hikmet Bilâ, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1954)
• 2011 – Aleksandr Olerski, Estonian footballer (b. 1973)
• 2011 – Tone Pavček, Slovenian poet and author (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Yash Chopra, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Antoni Dobrowolski, Polish educator (b. 1904)
• 2012 – Jaroslav Kozlík, Czech volleyball player and educator (b. 1907)
• 2012 – Alf Kumalo, South African photographer and journalist (b. 1930)
• 2012 – George McGovern, American historian, lieutenant, and politician (b. 1922)
• 2013 – Bud Adams, American businessman (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Gianni Ferrio, Italian composer and conductor (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Rune T. Kidde, Danish author, poet, and illustrator (b. 1957)
• 2013 – Colonel Robert Morris, American singer-songwriter and drummer (b. 1954)
• 2013 – Major R. Owens, American librarian and politician (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Tony Summers, Welsh swimmer (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Oscar Yanes, Venezuelan journalist and author (b. 1927)
• 2014 – Ben Bradlee, American journalist and author (b. 1921)
• 2014 – Johnny Lee Clary, American wrestler and Ku Klux Klan leader (b. 1959)
• 2014 – Nelson Bunker Hunt, American businessman (b. 1926)
• 2014 – Seth Gaaikema, Dutch comedian and author (b. 1939)
• 2014 – Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani, Iranian cleric and politician, Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Gough Whitlam, Australian lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 21st Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1916)
• 2015 – Peter Baldwin, English actor (b. 1933)
• 2015 – France Bučar, Slovenian lawyer and politician (b. 1923)
• 2015 – Marty Ingels, American actor (b. 1936)
• 2015 – Norman W. Moore, English conservationist and author (b. 1923)
• 2015 – Sheldon Wolin, American philosopher, theorist, and academic (b. 1922)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Blessed Charles of Austria (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Hilarion
  • John of Bridlington
  • Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena
  • Leticia (one of The Korean Martyrs)
  • Peter Yu Tae-chol
  • Tuda of Lindisfarne
  • Ursula
  • October 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Apple Day (United Kingdom)
• Armed Forces Day (Honduras)
• Egyptian Naval Day (Egypt)
• Indian Police Commemoration Day (India)
• International Day of the Nacho
• National Nurses' Day (Thailand)
• Ndadaye Day (Burundi)
• Overseas Chinese Day (Republic of China)
• Trafalgar Day (the British Empire in the 19th and early 20th century)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to October 21.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada