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