October 21 is the 294th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 71 days remain until the end of the year.
We have some interesting facts & historic events all about October 21st, including areas in religion, crime, health and more.
Keep reading for more interesting facts about October 21st in history!
Table of Contents
Global Celebrations
- Apple Day
- National Reptile Awareness Day
- Count Your Buttons Day
- Get Smart About Credit Day
- Conflict Resolution Day
Historic Events
What Happened On This Day – October 21
2014: Oscar Pistorius Convicted for 5 Years
The South African Paralympic Champion was on trial for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. He was sentenced to a maximum of five years for culpable homicide. He was released on parole for good behavior in October 2015. However, in December 2015, South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal upgraded the charges to murder and found him guilty of murder.
1983: The 17th General Conference on Weights and Measures Ends
The conference passed a resolution defining a meter as the distance traveled by light in vacuum during a time interval of about three hundred millionth of a second. Before this, the meter or metre was assigned several different definitions. In 1793, it was defined as one ten-millionth of the distance between the Earth’s Equator and the North Pole. In 1960, it was once again redefined by the 11th General Conference of Weights and Measures as equal to “1650763,73 wavelengths in vacuum of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the levels 2p10 and 5d5 of the krypton 86 atom.”
1969: Coup in Somalia
Siad Barre staged a military coup against the government the day after the death of Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, the then president of Somalia.
1959: The Guggenheim Opens its Doors
The Guggenheim Museum displays works from some of the world’s most celebrated and sought-after contemporary artists. Situated in the Manhattan area of New York, the museum was first opened in 1939 as the Museum of Non-Objective Painting. It was then named the Guggenheim Museum in 1952, after the death of the founder of the foundation that runs it, Solomon R. Guggenheim. The current museum building was designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and was opened to public on this day.
1943: Provisional Government of Free India Declared by Subhas Chandra Bose
Bose, an exiled Indian nationalist and a key figure in the Indian Independence Movement declared the creation of Azad Hind or Free India during a mass rally in Singapore. Netaji (leader), as he was fondly called by his followers, was unanimously declared as the Head of State, Prime Minister, and Minister for War of the new government. The government-in-exile did not have any territory to govern until Japan gave them the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, occupied by the Japanese in 1942, to run. A few days later after declaring the existence of Azad Hind, the provisional government joined the Second World War by declaring war on the Allies.
Famous Birthdays
Births On This Day, October 21
1986: Natalee Holloway, American missing person
1980: Kim Kardashian, American model, actress
1956: Carrie Fisher, American actress, screenwriter, author
1949: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli politician, 9th Prime Minister of Israel
1772: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet, philosopher
Heartbreaking Deaths
Deaths On This Day, October 21
2014: Gough Whitlam, Australian politician, 21st Prime Minister of Australia
2012: George McGovern, American politician, historian, author
2003: Elliott Smith, American singer-songwriter, guitarist
1969: Jack Kerouac, American author, poet
1805: Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, English Admiral
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