On This Day — 21 October

2000s

📅

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)

1900s

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

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.

Aberfan disaster

1965

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

Comet Ikeya–Seki

1959

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

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

1959

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 D. Eisenhower

1956

The Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya is defeated.

Mau Mau rebellion

1950

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

Battle of Yongyu

1945

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

1945 French legislative election

1944

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

HMAS Australia (D84)

1944

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

Nemmersdorf massacre

1944

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.

Battle of Aachen

1943

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

Azad Hind

1941

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

World War II

1940

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

Ernest Hemingway

1931

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

Imperial Japanese Army

1921

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

Warren G. Harding

1912

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

First Balkan War

1910

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

HMS Niobe (1897)

📅

1907

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

1907 Qaratog earthquake

1800s

📅

1895

The capitulation of Tainan completes the Japanese conquest of Taiwan.

Capitulation of Tainan

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.

World's Columbian Exposition

1888

The Swiss Social Democratic Party is founded.

Social Democratic Party of Switzerland

1879

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

Thomas Edison

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.

Medicine Lodge Treaty