On This Day in History - October 21st - Almanac

Today is Thursday, Oct. 21, the 294th day of 2021 with 71 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn and Uranus. Evening stars are Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.

Those born this date are under the sign of Libra. They include English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1772; Swedish chemist/industrialist Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite and founder of the Nobel Prize, in 1833; jazz trumpeter John "Dizzy" Gillespie in 1917; singer Celia Cruz in 1925; baseball Hall of Fame member Whitey Ford in 1928; author Ursula K. Le Guin in 1929; rock musician Manfred Mann in 1940 (age 81); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Steve Cropper in 1941 (age 80); Judith "Judge Judy" Sheindlin in 1942 (age 79); former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 1949 (age 72); American astronaut Ronald McNair in 1950; actor/author Carrie Fisher in 1956; actor Ken Watanabe in 1959 (age 62); actor Andrew Scott in 1976 (age 45); TV personality Kim Kardashian in 1980 (age 41); model Amber Rose in 1983 (age 38); actor Matt Dallas in 1982 (age 39); actor Glen Powell in 1988 (age 33); country singer/songwriter Kane Brown in 1993 (age 28); singer Doja Cat, born Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, in 1995 (age 26); voice actor Nick Wolfhard in 1997 (age 24).

On this date in history:

In 1805, in one of history's greatest naval battles, the British fleet under Adm. Horatio Nelson defeated the combined French-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar off the coast of Spain.

In 1879, after 14 months of experiments, Thomas Edison invented the first practical electric incandescent lamp.

In 1948, Western Allies decided to withdraw their condemnation of Russia as a threat to peace on the condition that the Berlin blockade was lifted, accepting a small-nation formula as a "hopeful basis" for solving the Berlin crisis.

In 1959, rocket designer Wernher von Braun and his team were transferred from the U.S. Army to the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

In 1959, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opened in New York City. The building, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is considered one of the finest examples of architecture in the 20th century.

In 1966, an avalanche of coal slag cascaded down a Welsh mountainside, burying a school in the town of Aberfan and killing 148 people, mostly young students.

In 1983, Grenada's newly installed military rulers sought to consolidate control as 1,900 Marines steamed toward the Cuban-backed island following a week-old coup that left as many as 15 people dead.

In 1991, Beirut University professor Jesse Turner, a hostage since January 1987, was released by his captors in Lebanon.

In 1994, Rosario Ames, wife of confessed spy Aldrich Ames, was sentenced to 63 months in prison for collaborating with him.

In 2004, the most senior soldier accused in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal in Iraq, Staff Sgt. Ivan "Chip" Frederick, was sentenced to eight years in prison. He was released on parole in 2007.

In 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama announced the United States would withdraw all troops from Iraq at the end of the year and engage in a "normal relationship" with the nation. "After nearly nine years," Obama said, "America's war in Iraq will be over."

In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI canonized Kateri Tekakwitha as the first Native American to become a saint.

In 2020, Pope Francis said he supported civil union laws for same-sex couples, a public departure from the Vatican's doctrinal office.

A thought for the day: "I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure -- that is all that agnosticism means." -- American lawyer Clarence Darrow