Historical Events on October 21

  • 1797: The U.S Navy Frigate, the USS Constitution, is launched from Boston Harbor.
  • 1805: French and Spanish forces under Admiral Villeneuve is defeated by British naval forces led by Vice Admiral Lord Nelson.
  • 1861: Confederate forces defeat Colonel Edward Baker and his Union forces at the Battle of Ball’s Ball during the American Civil War.
  • 1867: The Medicine Lodge Treaty is signed and requires Native America Plains tribes to relocate to a reservation in Western Oklahoma.
  • 1879: An application for a patent for the incandescent light bulb is put into the U.S. Patent Office by Thomas Edison.
  • 1888: The Swiss Social Democratic Party is founded.
  • 1944: A Japanese fighter plane attacks the HMAS Australia located off of Leyte Island during the beginning of the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
  • 1944: German civilians are killed by Soviet forces during the Nemmersdorf Massacre.
  • 1944: During the Battle of Aachen, the city falls after 3-weeks of assault by Allied forces. This makes Aachen the first German city to fall to the Allies.

Famous Birthdays on October 21

  • English poet and philosopher, Samuel Taylor Coleridge is born in 1772
  • Italian baritone Filippo Colini is born in 1811.
  • Swedish scientist, dynamite inventor and founder of the Nobel Prize, Alfred Nobel is born in 1833.
  • American baseball player and coach, Whitey Ford is born in 1928.
  • American basketball player and coach, Vern Mikkelsen is born in 1928.
  • English author and poet Maureen Duffy is born in 1933.
  • Canadian ice hockey player Carl Brewer is born in 1938.
  • American actress Rhoda Germignani is born in 1940.
  • American judge and TV personality, Judith Sheindlin is born in 1942.
  • American economist and Nobel Prize laureate Christopher A. Sims is born in 1942.
  • American singer-songwriter Matthew Friedberger is born in 1972.
  • American football player Orlando Thomas is born in 1972.
  • American pianist and composer Charlie Lowell is born in 1973.