Historical Events on Tuesday, 21st October

21/10/2021

A shooting occurs on the set of the film Rust, in which actor Alec Baldwin discharged a prop weapon which had been loaded, killing the director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, and injuring director Joel Souza.

On October 21, 2021, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Bonanza City, New Mexico, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot and director Joel Souza was injured on the set of the film Rust when a live round was discharged from a revolver that actor Alec Baldwin was using as a prop.

---

21/10/2019

Thirty people are killed in a fiery bus crash in western Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo or less often Zaire, is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is the second-largest country in Africa and the 11th-largest in the world. With a population of around 124 million people, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the fourth-most populous country in Africa and the most populous Francophone country in the world. French is the official and most widely spoken language, though there are over 200 indigenous languages, of which Lingala is the most widely spoken. The capital, largest city, and economic center is Kinshasa. The DRC is bordered by the Republic of the Congo, the Cabinda exclave of Angola, and the South Atlantic Ocean to the west; the Central African Republic and South Sudan to the north; Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania to the east; and Zambia and Angola to the south. Centered on the Congo Basin, most of the country's terrain is covered by dense rainforests and is crossed by many rivers, while the east and southeast are mountainous.

---

In Canada, the 2019 Canadian federal election ends, resulting in incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remaining in office, albeit with the Liberal Party in a minority government.

Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the second-largest country by total area, with the longest coastline of any country. Its border with the United States is the longest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide range of both meteorologic and geological regions. With a population of over 41 million, it has widely varying population densities, with the majority residing in its urban areas and large areas being sparsely populated. Its capital is Ottawa and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

---

21/10/2018

A passenger train derails in Yilan County, Taiwan, killing 18 people and injuring 187.

On 21 October 2018, a passenger train derailed in Yilan County, Taiwan, killing 18 people and injuring 187. At the time, it was Taiwan's deadliest rail accident since a collision near Miaoli in 1991 that killed 30 people.

---

21/10/2011

Iraq War: President Barack Obama announces that the withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq will be complete by the end of the year.

The Iraq War, also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a protracted armed conflict in Iraq from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States–led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein. During the US occupation of Iraq, the conflict persisted as an insurgency that arose against coalition forces and the newly established Iraqi government. US forces were officially withdrawn in 2011. In 2014, the US became re-engaged in Iraq, leading a new coalition under Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, as the conflict evolved into the ongoing Islamic State insurgency.

---

21/10/2003

Images of the dwarf planet Eris are taken and subsequently used in documenting its discovery.

Eris is the most massive and second-largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System. It is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) in the scattered disk and has a high-eccentricity orbit. Eris was discovered in January 2005 by a Palomar Observatory–based team led by Mike Brown and verified later that year. It was named in September 2006 after the Greco–Roman goddess of strife and discord. Eris is the ninth-most massive known object orbiting the Sun and the sixteenth-most massive in the Solar System. It is also the largest known object in the Solar System that has not been visited by a spacecraft. Eris has been measured at 2,326 ± 12 kilometres (1,445 ± 7 mi) in diameter; its mass is 0.28% that of the Earth and 27% greater than that of Pluto, although Pluto is slightly larger by volume. Both Eris and Pluto have a surface area that is comparable to that of Russia or South America.

---

21/10/1994

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

The Agreed Framework between the United States of America and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Korean: 북미제네바기본합의서) was signed on 21 October 1994, between North Korea (DPRK) and the United States. The objective of the agreement was the freezing and replacement of North Korea's indigenous nuclear power plant program with more nuclear proliferation resistant light water reactor power plants, and the step-by-step normalization of relations between the U.S. and the DPRK. Implementation of the agreement was troubled from the start, but its key elements were being implemented until it effectively broke down in 2003.

---

In Seoul, South Korea, 32 people are killed when a span of the Seongsu Bridge collapses.

The Seongsu Bridge disaster was a deadly bridge collapse that occurred on the morning of October 21, 1994 in Seoul, South Korea. 32 people died and 17 were injured when a section of the upper truss of the Seongsu Bridge collapsed onto the Han River. A combination of faulty welding, rusted extension hinges, and insufficient maintenance resulted in the structural failure of the bridge.

---

21/10/1989

In Honduras, 131 people are killed when a Boeing 727 crashes on approach to Toncontín International Airport near the nation's capital Tegucigalpa.

Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea. Its capital and largest city is Tegucigalpa.

---

21/10/1987

The Jaffna hospital massacre is carried out by Indian peacekeeping forces in Sri Lanka, killing 70 Tamil patients, doctors and nurses.

The Jaffna hospital massacre occurred on October 21 and 22, 1987, during the Sri Lankan Civil War, when troops of the Indian Peace Keeping Force entered the premises of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, an island nation in South Asia, and killed between 60 and 70 patients and staff. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the government of Sri Lanka, and independent observers such as the University Teachers for Human Rights and others have called it a massacre of civilians.

---

21/10/1986

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

The Lebanon hostage crisis was the kidnapping in Lebanon of 104 foreign hostages between 1982 and 1992, when the Lebanese Civil War was at its height. The hostages were mostly Americans and Western Europeans, but 21 national origins were represented. At least eight hostages died in captivity; some were murdered, while others died from lack of medical attention. During the fifteen years of the Lebanese civil war an estimated 17,000 people disappeared after being abducted.

---

21/10/1984

Niki Lauda claims his third and final Formula One Drivers' Championship Title by half a point ahead of McLaren team-mate Alain Prost at the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda was an Austrian racing driver, motorsport executive, and aviation entrepreneur, who competed in Formula One from 1971 to 1979 and from 1982 to 1985. Lauda won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and—at the time of his retirement—held the record for most podium finishes (54); he won 25 Grands Prix across 13 seasons, and remains the only driver to have won a World Drivers' Championship with both Ferrari and McLaren.

---

21/10/1983

The metre is defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.

The metre is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of ⁠1/299792458⁠ of a second, where the second is defined by a hyperfine transition frequency of caesium.

---

21/10/1981

Andreas Papandreou becomes Prime Minister of Greece, ending an almost 50-year-long system of power dominated by conservative forces.

Andreas Georgiou Papandreou was a Greek academic and economist who was prime minister of Greece from 1981 to 1989 and again from 1993 to 1996. He founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK).

---

21/10/1979

Moshe Dayan resigns from the Israeli government because of strong disagreements with Prime Minister Menachem Begin over policy towards the Arabs.

Moshe Dayan was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) during the 1956 Sinai War, and as Defense Minister during the Six-Day War in 1967, he became a worldwide fighting symbol of the new state of Israel.

---

21/10/1978

Australian civilian pilot Frederick Valentich vanishes over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft.

Frederick Valentich was an Australian pilot who disappeared while on a 125-nautical-mile (232 km) flight in a Cessna 182L light aircraft, registered VH-DSJ, over Bass Strait. On the evening of Saturday 21 October 1978, twenty-year-old Valentich informed Melbourne air traffic control that he was being accompanied by an aircraft about 1,000 feet (300 m) above him and that his engine had begun running roughly, before finally reporting: "It's not an aircraft."

---

21/10/1973

Fred Dryer of the Los Angeles Rams becomes the first player in NFL history to score two safeties in the same game.

John Frederick Dryer is an American actor, radio host, and former professional football player who played as a defensive end in the National Football League for 13 years with the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams, participating in 176 games and recorded 103 career sacks starting in 1969 until his retirement in 1981, and is the only NFL player to score two safeties in one game. Following his retirement from football, Dryer had a successful career as a film and television actor, notably starring as the titular character Detective Sgt. Rick Hunter in the NBC police drama series Hunter, with his height of 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) and physique proving useful for action roles.

---

21/10/1971

A gas explosion kills 22 people at a shopping centre near Glasgow, Scotland.

The Clarkston explosion was a disaster that occurred on 21 October 1971 in a row of shops on the main street of Clarkston, East Renfrewshire, Scotland. Sources from the time state the death toll as 21, whilst modern sources state 22.

---

21/10/1969

The 1969 Somali coup d'état establishes a Marxist–Leninist administration.

The 1969 Somali coup d'état was a bloodless military takeover of the Somali Republic on 21 October 1969, led by Somali National Army officers of the Supreme Revolutionary Council under General Siad Barre. After the assassination of President Abdirashid Shermarke in Las Anod, the Somali National Army under Barre's command stormed Mogadishu, seized key government buildings, and demanded the resignation of the country's leaders. The coup deposed acting President Sheikh Mukhtar Hussein and Prime Minister Mohammad Egal, ushering in a 21-year military rule under Barre and the establishment of an authoritarian government that lasted until 1991.

---

21/10/1967

The National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam organizes a march of fifty thousand people from the Lincoln Memorial to the Pentagon.

The Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, which became the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, was a coalition of American antiwar activists formed in November 1966 to organize large demonstrations in opposition to the Vietnam War. The organization was informally known as "the Mobe".

---

21/10/1966

A colliery spoil tip slips onto houses and a school in the village of Aberfan in Wales, killing 144 people, 116 of whom were schoolchildren.

The Aberfan disaster was the catastrophic collapse of a colliery spoil tip on 21 October 1966. The tip had been created on a mountain slope above the Welsh village of Aberfan, near Merthyr Tydfil, and overlaid a natural spring. Heavy rain led to a build-up of water within the tip which caused it to suddenly slide downhill as a slurry, killing 116 children and 28 adults as it engulfed Pantglas Junior School and a row of houses. The tip was the responsibility of the National Coal Board (NCB), and the subsequent inquiry placed the blame for the disaster on the organisation and nine named employees.

---

21/10/1965

Comet Ikeya–Seki approaches perihelion, passing 450,000 kilometers (279,617 miles) from the sun.

Comet Ikeya–Seki, formally designated C/1965 S1, 1965 VIII, and 1965f, was a long-period comet discovered independently by Kaoru Ikeya and Tsutomu Seki. First observed as a faint telescopic object on 18 September 1965, the first calculations of its orbit suggested that on October 21, it would pass just 450,000 km (280,000 mi) above the Sun's surface, and would probably become extremely bright.

---

21/10/1959

In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opens to the public.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Streets on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It hosts a permanent collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions throughout the year. It was established by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 1939 as the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, under the guidance of its first director, Hilla von Rebay. The museum adopted its current name in 1952, three years after the death of its founder Solomon R. Guggenheim. It continues to be operated and owned by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.

---

President Dwight D. Eisenhower approves the transfer of all US Army space-related activities to NASA, including most of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency.

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. A General of the Army, Eisenhower was the supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force. His successful leadership in Operation Torch (1942–1943) and Operation Overlord was pivotal to the Allied victory in World War II.

---

21/10/1956

The Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya is defeated.

The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising or Kenya Emergency, was an armed conflict in the British Colony of Kenya between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA) and the British colonial authorities. While the KLFA was primarily composed of Kikuyu, Meru, and Embu fighters, the movement also drew support from units of Kamba and Maasai. Groups such as the Luo and Kalenjin – who had led significant earlier resistance movements against colonial establishment, such as the Nandi Resistance (1890–1906) were largely not part of the KLFA's core structure. Instead, many from these communities served in the King's African Rifles (KAR), the colonial military force through which the British maintained internal security and quelled the uprising. The KLFA fought against the British Army and the local Kenya Regiment, which included European settlers and African loyalists.

---

21/10/1950

Korean War: Heavy fighting begins between British and Australian forces and North Koreans during the Battle of Yongju.

The Battle of Yongyu, also known as the Battle of the Apple Orchard or the Battle of Yongju by the Australians who fought in it, took place between 21 and 22 October 1950 during the United Nations Command (UNC) offensive into North Korea against the Korean People's Army (KPA) that had invaded South Korea during the Korean War. The battle was fought between the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment of the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade and the KPA 239th Regiment.

---

21/10/1945

In the 1945 French legislative election French women vote for the first time.

Legislative elections were held in France on 21 October 1945 to elect a Constituent Assembly to draft a constitution for a Fourth French Republic. A total of 522 seats were elected through proportional representation; women were allowed to vote for the first time.

---

21/10/1944

World War II: The first kamikaze attack damages HMAS Australia as the Battle of Leyte Gulf begins.

HMAS Australia (I84/D84/C01) was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). One of two Kent-subclass ships ordered for the RAN in 1924, Australia was laid down in Scotland in 1925, and entered service in 1928. Apart from an exchange deployment to the Mediterranean from 1934 to 1936, during which she became involved in the planned British response to the Abyssinia Crisis, Australia operated in local and South-West Pacific waters until World War II began.

---

World War II: The Nemmersdorf massacre against German civilians takes place.

The Nemmersdorf massacre was a civilian massacre perpetrated by Red Army soldiers in the late stages of World War II. Nemmersdorf was one of the first prewar ethnic German settlements to fall to the advancing Red Army during the war. On 21 October 1944, Soviet soldiers killed many German civilians as well as French and Belgian POWs.

---

World War II: The city of Aachen falls to American forces after three weeks of fighting, the first German city to fall to the Allies.

The Battle of Aachen was a battle of World War II, fought by American and German forces in and around Aachen, Germany, between 12 September and 21 October 1944. The city had been incorporated into the Siegfried Line, the main defensive network on Germany's western border; the Allies had hoped to capture it quickly and advance into the industrialized Ruhr basin. Although most of Aachen's civilian population was evacuated before the battle began, much of the city was destroyed and both sides suffered heavy losses.

---

21/10/1943

World War II: The Provisional Government of Free India is formally established in Japanese-occupied Singapore.

The Provisional Government of Free India or, more simply, Azad Hind, was a short-lived Japanese-controlled provisional government in India. It was established in exile in Japanese-occupied Singapore during World War II in October 1943 and has been considered a puppet government of the Empire of Japan.

---

21/10/1941

World War II: The Kragujevac massacre against Serbian men and boys takes place.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

---

21/10/1940

The first edition of the Ernest Hemingway novel For Whom the Bell Tolls is published.

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle and outspoken, blunt public image. Some of his seven novels, six short-story collections and two non-fiction works have become classics of American literature, and he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.

---

21/10/1931

A secret society in the Imperial Japanese Army launches an abortive coup d'état attempt.

The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan's rapid modernization during the Meiji period, fought in numerous conflicts including the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and World War II, and became a dominant force in Japanese politics. Initially formed from domain armies after the Meiji Restoration, it evolved into a powerful modern military influenced by French and German models. The IJA was responsible for several overseas military campaigns, including the invasion of Manchuria, involvement in the Boxer Rebellion, and fighting across the Asia-Pacific during the Pacific War. Notorious for committing widespread war crimes, the army was dissolved after Japan's surrender in 1945, and its functions were succeeded by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.

---

21/10/1921

President Warren G. Harding delivers the first speech by a sitting U.S. president against lynching in the Deep South.

Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular presidents at the time of his death. After that, a number of scandals were exposed that greatly damaged his reputation.

---

21/10/1912

First Balkan War: The Greek navy completes the capture of the island of Lemnos for use as a forward base against the Dardanelles.

The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The Balkan states' combined armies overcame the initially numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies, achieving rapid success.

---

21/10/1910

HMS Niobe arrives in Halifax Harbour to become the first ship of the Royal Canadian Navy.

HMS Niobe was a ship of the Diadem class of protected cruisers in the Royal Navy. She served in the Boer War and was then given to Canada as the second ship of the newly created Naval Service of Canada as HMCS Niobe. The Naval Service of Canada became the Royal Canadian Navy in August 1911. The ship was nearly lost when she went aground off Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia overnight 30–31 July 1911. Repairs were completed at the end of 1912 and the ship returned to service in late 1914. During the First World War, Niobe patrolled the approaches to the St. Lawrence River and then joined the Royal Navy's 4th Cruiser Squadron to patrol off New York City. The cruiser returned to Halifax, Nova Scotia on 17 July 1915 and never put to sea again. Niobe was paid off in September and served as a depot ship in Halifax. Damaged in the 1917 Halifax Explosion, she was sold for scrap and broken up in the 1920s.

---

21/10/1907

The 1907 Qaratog earthquake hits the borders of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, killing between 12,000 and 15,000 people.

The 1907 Qaratog earthquake occurred at 04:23 UTC on 21 October near Qaratog (Karatag) in the border area between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, then part of the Russian Empire. The shock had an estimated surface-wave magnitude of 7.4 and a maximum felt intensity of IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale. Estimates of the death toll range between 12,000 and 15,000.

---

21/10/1895

The capitulation of Tainan completes the Japanese conquest of Taiwan.

The Capitulation of Tainan, on 21 October 1895, was the last act in the Japanese invasion of Taiwan. The capitulation ended the brief existence of the Republic of Formosa and inaugurated the era of Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan.

---

21/10/1892

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.

The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 1 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, held in Jackson Park, was a large water pool representing the voyage that Columbus took to the New World. Chicago won the right to host the fair over several competing cities, including New York City, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis. The exposition was an influential social and cultural event and had a profound effect on American architecture, the arts, American industrial optimism, and Chicago's image.

---

21/10/1888

The Swiss Social Democratic Party is founded.

The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland, also called the Swiss Socialist Party, is a political party in Switzerland. The SP has had two representatives on the Federal Council since 1960 and received the second-highest number of votes in the 2023 Swiss federal election.

---

21/10/1879

Thomas Edison applies for a patent for his design for an incandescent light bulb.

Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, which include the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and early versions of the electric light bulb, have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. He established the first industrial research laboratory.

---

21/10/1867

The Medicine Lodge Treaty is signed by southern Great Plains Indian leaders. The treaty requires Native American Plains tribes to relocate to a reservation in the western Indian Territory.

The Medicine Lodge Treaty is the overall name for three treaties signed near Medicine Lodge, Kansas, between the Federal government of the United States and southern Plains Indian tribes in October 1867, intended to bring peace to the area by relocating the Native Americans to reservations in Indian Territory and away from European-American settlement. The treaty was negotiated after investigation by the Indian Peace Commission, which in its final report in 1868 concluded that the wars had been preventable. They determined that the United States government and its representatives, including the United States Congress, had contributed to the warfare on the Great Plains by failing to fulfill their legal obligations and to treat the Native Americans with honesty.

---

21/10/1861

American Civil War: Union forces under Colonel Edward Baker are defeated by Confederate troops in the second major battle of the war.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war lasted a little over four years, ending with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

---

21/10/1854

Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses are sent to the Crimean War.

Florence Nightingale was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, in which she organised care for wounded soldiers at Constantinople. She significantly reduced death rates by improving hygiene and living standards. Nightingale gave nursing a favourable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of "The Lady with the Lamp" making rounds of wounded soldiers at night.

---

21/10/1824

Portland cement is patented.

Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the early 19th century by Joseph Aspdin, and is usually made from limestone. It is a fine powder, produced by heating limestone and clay minerals in a kiln to form clinker, and then grinding the clinker with the addition of several percent gypsum. Several types of Portland cement are available. The most common, historically called ordinary Portland cement (OPC), is grey, but white Portland cement is also available.

---

21/10/1805

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

The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a global series of conflicts fought by a fluctuating array of European coalitions against the French First Republic (1803–1804) under the First Consul followed by the First French Empire (1804–1815) under the Emperor of the French, Napoleon I. The wars originated in political forces arising from the French Revolution (1789–1799) and from the French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802) and produced a period of French domination over Continental Europe. The wars are categorised as seven conflicts, five named after the coalitions that fought Napoleon, plus two named for their respective theatres: the War of the Third Coalition, War of the Fourth Coalition, War of the Fifth Coalition, War of the Sixth Coalition, War of the Seventh Coalition, the Peninsular War, and the French invasion of Russia.

---

21/10/1797

In Boston Harbor, the 44-gun United States Navy frigate USS Constitution is launched.

Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, located adjacent to Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the Northeastern United States.

---

21/10/1774

The flag of Taunton, Massachusetts is the first to include the word "Liberty".

The city flag of Taunton, Massachusetts, also known as the Taunton Flag and the Liberty and Union Flag, was first adopted in 1774 and has since been adopted as the flag of Taunton. It consists of the Red Ensign with the flag of Great Britain in the canton, defaced with the words "Liberty and Union" across the lower portion.

---

21/10/1600

Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats the leaders of rival Japanese clans in the Battle of Sekigahara and becomes shōgun of Japan.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was a Japanese samurai, daimyo and the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow Oda subordinate Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The son of a minor daimyo, Ieyasu once lived as a hostage under daimyo Imagawa Yoshimoto on behalf of his father. He later succeeded as daimyo after his father's death, serving as ally, vassal, and general of the Oda clan, and building up his strength under Oda Nobunaga.

---

21/10/1520

João Álvares Fagundes discovers the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, bestowing them their original name of "Islands of the 11,000 Virgins".

João Álvares Fagundes was an explorer and ship owner from Viana do Castelo in Northern Portugal. He organized several expeditions to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia around 1520–1521.

---

21/10/1512

Martin Luther joins the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg.

Martin Luther was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation, and his theological beliefs form the basis of Lutheranism. He is considered one of the most influential figures in Western and Christian history.

---

21/10/1392

Japanese Emperor Go-Kameyama abdicates in favor of rival claimant Go-Komatsu.

Emperor Go-Kameyama was the 99th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He ruled from 1383 to October 21, 1392, becoming the last Emperor of the Southern Court. His personal name was Hironari (熙成).

---

21/10/1187

Election of Gregory VIII following the death of Pope Urban III.

Pope Gregory VIII, born Alberto di Morra, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States for two months in 1187. Becoming Pope after a long diplomatic career as Apostolic Chancellor, he was notable in his brief reign for reconciling the Papacy with the estranged Holy Roman Empire and for initiating the Third Crusade.

---

21/10/1139

Zengi, atabeg of Aleppo, takes Baalbek from the Burid dynasty.

Al-Malik al-Mansur Abu al-Mudhaffar Imad al-Din Zengi bin Aq Sunqur al-Hajib bin Abdullah, also romanized as Zangi, Zengui, Zenki, and Zanki, was a Turkoman atabeg of the Seljuk Empire, who ruled Mosul, Aleppo, Hama, and, later, Edessa. He was the namesake and founder of the Zengid dynasty of atabegs.

---

21/10/1097

First Crusade: Crusaders led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemund of Taranto, and Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, begin the Siege of Antioch.

The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, which were initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. Their aim was to return the Holy Land—which had been conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate in the 7th century—to Christian rule. By the 11th century, although Jerusalem had then been ruled by Muslims for hundreds of years, the practices of the Seljuk rulers in the region began to threaten local Christian populations, pilgrimages from the West and the Byzantine Empire itself. The earliest impetus for the First Crusade came in 1095 when Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos sent ambassadors to the Council of Piacenza to request military support in the empire's conflict with the Seljuk-led Turks. This was followed later in the year by the Council of Clermont, at which Pope Urban II gave a speech supporting the Byzantine request and urging faithful Christians to undertake an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

---

21/10/1096

A Seljuk Turkish army successfully ambushes the People's Crusade at the Battle of Civetot.

The Sultanate of Rum, or Seljuk Empire of Rum, was a culturally Turco-Persian, Sunni Muslim state established over conquered Byzantine territories and peoples (Rum) of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks following their entry into Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. The name Rum was a synonym for the medieval Roman Empire and its peoples, as it remains in modern Turkish. The name is derived from the Aramaic and Parthian names for ancient Rome, which had reached these languages via the Greek Ῥωμαῖοι. The Seljuk Turks used the name to refer to Anatolia. The Sultanate of Rum is considered to be the beginning of Turkish history in Anatolia.

---

21/10/1094

El Cid and his forces defeat a larger army of the Almoravids in the battle of Cuarte.

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar was a Castilian knight and ruler in medieval Spain. Fighting with both Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific as-Sayyid, which would evolve into El Çid, and the Spanish honorific El Campeador. He was born in Vivar, a village near the city of Burgos.

---

21/10/0685

Election of Pope Conon following the death of Pope John V.

Pope Conon was the bishop of Rome from 21 October 686 to his death on 21 September 687. He had been put forward as a compromise candidate, there being a conflict between the two factions resident in Rome — the military and the clerical. He consecrated the Irish missionary St Kilian and commissioned him to preach in Franconia.

---

21/10/0310

Sixty-five days after being exiled by the Emperor Maxentius to Sicily, Pope Eusebius dies.

Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius was a Roman emperor from 306 until his death in 312. Despite ruling in Italy and North Africa, and having the recognition of the Senate in Rome, he was not recognized as a legitimate emperor by his fellow emperors.

---