21 October
Notable Births
Cameron Burgess
b. 1995
Australian soccer player (born 1995)
Doja Cat
b. 1995
American rapper (born 1995)
Kane Brown
b. 1993
American country pop singer (born 1993)
Natasha Bassett
b. 1992
Australian actress
Marzia Kjellberg
b. 1992
Italian businesswoman (born 1992)
Damion Lee
b. 1992
American basketball player (born 1992)
Bernard Tomic
b. 1992
Australian tennis player (born 1992)
Alexander Burmistrov
b. 1991
Russian ice hockey player (born 1991)
Tom Eastman
b. 1991
English footballer (born 1991)
Rob Keogh
b. 1991
English cricketer
Vadaine Oliver
b. 1991
English footballer (born 1991)
Harry Pell
b. 1991
Retired English footballer (born 1991)
Bengali-Fodé Koita
b. 1990
Guinean footballer (born 1990)
Ricky Rubio
b. 1990
Spanish basketball player (born 1990)
Kristján Þórður Snæbjarnarson
b. 1990
Icelandic politician (born 1980)
Festus Ezeli
b. 1989
Nigerian basketball player (born 1989)
Luke Murphy (English footballer)
b. 1989
English footballer
Jonathan Viera
b. 1989
Spanish footballer
Sam Vokes
b. 1989
Welsh footballer (born 1989)
Glen Powell
b. 1988
American actor (born 1988)
Notable Deaths
Francisco Pinto Balsemão
d. 2025
Prime Minister of Portugal from 1981 to 1983
Mimi Hines
d. 2024
Canadian singer and comedian (1933–2024)
Bobby Charlton
d. 2023
English footballer and manager (1937–2023)
Bobi (dog)
d. 2023
Revoked Guinness World Record holder for oldest dog ever
Bill Hayden
d. 2023
Australian politician (1933–2023)
Bernard Haitink
d. 2021
Dutch conductor (1929–2021)
Frank Bough
d. 2020
English television presenter (1933–2020)
France Bučar
d. 2015
Slovenian politician, legal expert and author
Marty Ingels
d. 2015
American actor (1936–2015)
Ben Bradlee
d. 2014
Executive editor of The Washington Post from 1968 to 1991
Nelson Bunker Hunt
d. 2014
American businessman (1926–2014)
Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani
d. 2014
Iranian Ayatollah (1931–2014)
Edith Kawelohea McKinzie
d. 2014
American genealogist and hula expert (1925–2014)
Gough Whitlam
d. 2014
Prime Minister of Australia from 1972 to 1975
Bud Adams
d. 2013
American football executive, owner (1923–2013)
Gianni Ferrio
d. 2013
Italian composer (1924–2013)
Rune T. Kidde
d. 2013
Danish writer, storyteller, musician and artist
Major Owens
d. 2013
American politician (1936–2013)
Tony Summers
d. 2013
British swimmer
Óscar Yanes
d. 2013
Venezuelan journalist (1927–2013)
On This Day in History
All 60 ›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.
Rust shooting incident
2019
Thirty people are killed in a fiery bus crash in western Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
2019
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
2018
A passenger train derails in Yilan County, Taiwan, killing 18 people and injuring 187.
2018 Yilan train derailment
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.
Iraq War
2003
Images of the dwarf planet Eris are taken and subsequently used in documenting its discovery.
Eris (dwarf planet)
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.
Agreed Framework
1994
In Seoul, South Korea, 32 people are killed when a span of the Seongsu Bridge collapses.
Seongsu Bridge disaster
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
1987
The Jaffna hospital massacre is carried out by Indian peacekeeping forces in Sri Lanka, killing 70 Tamil patients, doctors and nurses.
Jaffna hospital massacre
1986
In Lebanon, pro-Iran kidnappers claim to have abducted American writer Edward Tracy (he is released in August 1991).
Lebanon hostage crisis
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.
Niki Lauda
1983
The metre is defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.
Metre
1981
Andreas Papandreou becomes Prime Minister of Greece, ending an almost 50-year-long system of power dominated by conservative forces.
Andreas Papandreou
1979
Moshe Dayan resigns from the Israeli government because of strong disagreements with Prime Minister Menachem Begin over policy towards the Arabs.
Moshe Dayan
1978
Australian civilian pilot Frederick Valentich vanishes over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft.
Disappearance of Frederick Valentich
1973
Fred Dryer of the Los Angeles Rams becomes the first player in NFL history to score two safeties in the same game.
Fred Dryer
1971
A gas explosion kills 22 people at a shopping centre near Glasgow, Scotland.
Clarkston explosion
1969
The 1969 Somali coup d'état establishes a Marxist–Leninist administration.
1969 Somali coup d'état
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.
National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam