October 21 in History

Historical Events on October 21

1805 Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Trafalgar: A British fleet led by Vice Admiral Lord Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet under Admiral Villeneuve.

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.

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 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.

1967 Vietnam War: More than 100,000 war protesters gather in Washington, D.C.. Similar demonstrations occur simultaneously in Japan and Western Europe.

1986 In Lebanon, pro-Iran kidnappers claim to have abducted American writer Edward Tracy (he is released in August 1991).

1994 North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea and the United States sign an Agreed Framework that requires North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons program and agree to inspections.

All Events

Famous Birthdays on October 21

1940 Geoffrey Boycott

1949 Benjamin Netanyahu

1962 David Campese

1982 Lee Chong Wei

All Births

Famous Deaths on October 21

1805 Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson

2003 Elliott Smith

2012 George McGovern

2014 Gough Whitlam

All Deaths

Choose Another Date