On this Day October 21st

 OTD

October 21st is the 294th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 71 days remain until the end of the year.

 

Events

1097 – First Crusade: Crusaders led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemund of Taranto, and Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, begin the Siege of Antioch.

1520 – João Álvares Fagundes discovers the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, bestowing on them their original name of "Islands of the 11,000 Virgins".

1774 – The Taunton, Massachusetts flag is the first to include the word "Liberty."

1797 – In Boston Harbor, the 44-gun United States Navy frigate USS Constitution is launched.

1824 – Portland cement is patented.

1854 – Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses are sent to the Crimean War.

1879 – Thomas Edison applied for a patent for his design for an incandescent light bulb.

1921 – President Warren G. Harding delivers the first speech by a sitting U.S. president against lynching in the Deep South.

1940 – The first edition of the Ernest Hemingway novel For Whom the Bell Tolls is published.

1959 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved the transfer of all US Army space-related activities to NASA, including most of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency.

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.

2005 – Images of the dwarf planet Eris are taken and subsequently used in documenting its discovery.

 

Birthdays

1581 – Domenichino, Italian painter (d. 1641)

1712 – James Steuart, Scottish economist and author (d. 1780)

1775 – Giuseppe Baini, Italian priest, composer, and critic (d. 1844)

1833 – Alfred Nobel, Swedish chemist and engineer, invented dynamite and founded the Nobel Prize (d. 1896)

1911 – Mary Blair, American illustrator and animator (d. 1978)

1917 – Dizzy Gillespie, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (d. 1993)

1928 – Whitey Ford, American baseball player and coach (d. 2020)

1941 – American guitarist, songwriter, producer, and actor Steve Cropper.

1953 – Charlotte Caffey, American guitarist and songwriter

1956 – Carrie Fisher, American actress and screenwriter (d. 2016)

1983 – Zack Greinke, American baseball player.

 

 

 

Holiday Spotlight

Trafalgar Day

1805, France was the dominant military force, and Napoleon was a great soldier. In Europe, however, the Royal Navy ruled the seas. On the Franco-Spanish front were 33-line ships, five frigates, and two brigs, while the Royal Navy had 27-line ships, four frigates, one schooner, and one cutter. Due to intricate and impracticable tactics at sea, the Franco-Spanish navy, under Admiral Pierre Villeneuve, was defeated. On October 20, 1805, the French and Spanish ships sailed from Gibraltar to the southeast in three columns. The same night, 18 British line ships were seen pursuing.

Admiral Villeneuve organized his fleet in a straight line in the Atlantic Ocean near the Spanish coast from October 20 to 21. However, Admiral Horatio Nelson of the British Navy took a different approach. The Royal Navy fleet approached in a single line but split into two lines.

Admiral Nelson’s ships approached the single line of vessels the French and Spanish forces created and separated it into three smaller, more manageable portions. While a part of Admiral Villeneuve’s fleet was left alone, the other two were pushed into close-quarters combat with Royal Navy vessels.

This approach permitted Royal Navy crews to engage in skilled ship-to-ship combat. At the same time, by disrupting Admiral Villeneuve’s forces’ single line, the Royal Navy broke simple communication between Franco-Spanish ships. Several British ships were damaged in the combat. Among the damaged ships was H.M.S. Victory, which had attacked the French flagship Bucentaure and the Redoutable. Vice-Admiral Nelson captured 18 French vessels, forcing Admiral Villeneuve to surrender at 13:45 on the same day. On October 21, 1805, at 16:30, the Battle of Trafalgar ended.

 

 

Others Include

Apple Day

Babbling Day

Back to the Future Day

Bridge Day

Caramel Apple Day

Celebration of the Mind Day

Check Your Meds Day

Count Your Buttons Day

Garbanzo Bean Day

Global Iodine Deficiency Disorder Prevention Day

International Day of the Nacho

International Independent Video Store Day

International Repair Day

National Fetch Day

National Pets for Veterans Day

Reptile Awareness Day

Sweetest Day 

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