Today in History – October 21st

Published October 21, 2012 |

1096, People’s Crusade: The Turkish army annihilates the People’s Army of the West.
1097, 1st Crusade: Crusaders led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemund of Taranto, and Raymond IV of Toulouse, begin Siege of Antioch.
1209, Otto IV is crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III.
1512, Martin Luther joins the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg.
1520, Ferdinand Magellan discovers a strait now known as Strait of Magellan.
1774, 1st display of word “Liberty” on a flag, raised by colonists in Taunton, MA in defiance of British rule in Colonial America.
1797, In Boston Harbor, the 44-gun US Navy frigate USS Constitution is launched.
1805, Horatio Nelson, Royal Navy admiral (b. 1758) died.
1805,Battle of Trafalgar: A British fleet defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet off the coast of Spaine.
1824, Joseph Aspdin patents Portland cement.
1833, Alfred Nobel, Swedish inventor and founder of the Nobel Prize (d. 1896) was born.
1854, Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses are sent to the Crimean War.
1861, Battle of Ball’s Bluff, Union forces are defeated by Confederate troops in the second major battle of the war.
1867, Medicine Lodge Treaty, Near Medicine Lodge, Kansas a landmark treaty is signed by southern Great Plains Indian leaders.
1895, The Republic of Formosa collapses as Japanese forces invade.
1902, In the US, a five month strike by United Mine Workers ends.
1910, HMS Niobe arrives in Halifax Harbour to become 1st ship of the Royal Canadian Navy.
1912, During 1st Balkan War, Kardzhali is liberated by Bulgarian forces
1917, Dizzy Gillespie, American jazz musician (d. 1993) was born.
1921, George Melford’s silent film, The Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino, premiers.
1921, President Warren G. Harding delivers 1st speech by a sitting President against lynching in the deep south.
1924, Celia Cruz, Cuban singer, Queen of Salsa (d. 2003) was born.
1931, The Sakurakai, a secret society in the Imperial Japanese Army, launches an abortive coup d’etat attempt.
1944, WWII: 1st kamikaze attack: Japanese plane carrying a 440 lb bomb attacks HMAS Australia off Leyte Island.
1944, WWII: city of Aachen falls to American forces after 3 weeks of fighting, making it 1st German city to fall to the Allies.
1945, Women’s suffrage: Women are allowed to vote in France for 1st time.
1959, In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opens to the public.
1959, Pres Eisenhower signs executive order transferring Wernher von Braun and other German scientists from US Army to NASA.
1965, Comet Ikeya-Seki approaches perihelion, passing 450,000 kilometers from the sun.
1969, A coup d’etat in Somalia brings Siad Barre to power.
1969, Jack Kerouac, American novelist (b. 1922) died.
1973, Fred Dryer of the then Los Angeles Rams becomes 1st player in NFL history to score two safeties in the same game.
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.
1980, Hans Asperger, Austrian psychologist (b. 1906) died.
1985, Dan White, American politician, assailant in the Moscone-Milk assassinations (b. 1946) died.
1995, Shannon Hoon, American singer (Blind Melon) (b. 1967) died.

Chris Rivait

Chris loves history and hopes that Yesteeyear becomes a place where everyone can share their history knowledge. Chris owns an Internet Marketing company, Arrivait Marketing. He has a wonderful wife and four great children.