What are the important events that happened on October 21? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
October 21: Facts & Myths About This Day
October 21 is the 295th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 71 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is October 8, 2024 – a Monday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 28,824,480 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘dihectaenneacontapentagon’ day.
Libra is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Opal is the modern birthstone for this month. Jasper is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 100 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,322 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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October 21 Historical Events
- 1520 –João Álvares Fagundes discovers the islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, bestowing them their original name of “Islands of the 11,000 Virgins”.
- 1797 –In Boston Harbor, the 44-gun United States Navy frigate USS Constitution is launched.
- 1902 –In the United States, a five month strike by United Mine Workers ends.
- 1931 –The Sakurakai, a secret society in the Imperial Japanese Army, launches an abortive coup d'état attempt.
- 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.
- 1969 –A coup d'état in Somalia brings Siad Barre to power.
- 1971 –A gas explosion kills 22 people at a shopping centre in Clarkston, East Renfrewshire, near Glasgow, Scotland.
- 1994 –In Seoul, 32 people are killed when the Seongsu Bridge collapses.
- 2003 –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.
Who were born on October 21?
- 1581 –Domenico Zampieri, Italian painter (d. 1641)
- 1930 –Ivan Stepanovich Silayev, Last prime minister of the Soviet Union
- 1940 –Geoff Boycott, English cricketer
- 1942 –Allan Grice, Australian racing driver
- 1948 –Shaye Cohen, Historian and Professor at Harvard University
- 1955 –Dick DeVos, American businessman
- 1964 –Jon Carin, American musician (Pink Floyd, The Who)
- 1967 –Paul Ince, English footballer
- 1971 –Hal Duncan, Scottish writer
- 1973 –Charlie Lowell, pianist with the group Jars of Clay
Who died on October 21?
- 1500 –Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado of Japan (b. 1442)
- 1505 –Paul Scriptoris, German mathematician
- 1687 –Sir Edmund Waller, English poet (b. 1606)
- 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)
- 1969 –Waclaw Sierpinski, Polish mathematician (b. 1882)
- 1973 –Nasif Estéfano, Argentine racing driver (b. 1932)
- 1999 –Lars Bo, Danish artist and writer (b. 1924)
- 2007 –Paul Fox, English musician and singer (The Ruts) (b. 1951)
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