What are the important events that happened on October 21? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

October 21: Facts & Myths About This Day

October 21 is the 294^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 71 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Tuesday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is October 8, 2025 – a Tuesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 29,350,080 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘dihectaenneacontatetragon’ day.

Libra is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Opal is the modern birthstone for this month. Jasper is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 119 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,687 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

October 21 Historical Events

• 1392 –
  Nanboku-chō: Emperor Go-Kameyama abdicates in favor of rival claimant Go-Komatsu.
• 1520 –
  João Álvares Fagundes discovers the islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, bestowing them their original name of “Islands of the 11,000 Virgins”.
• 1816 –
  The Penang Free School is founded in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, by the Rev Hutchings. It is the oldest English-language school in Southeast Asia.
• 1824 –
  Joseph Aspdin patents Portland cement.
• 1945 –
  Women’s suffrage: Women are allowed to vote in France for the first time.
• 1969 –
  A coup d'état in Somalia brings Siad Barre to power.
• 1971 –
  A gas explosion kills 22 people at a shopping centre in Clarkston, East Renfrewshire, near Glasgow, Scotland.
• 1973 –
  Fred Dryer of the then Los Angeles Rams becomes the first player in NFL history to score two safeties in the same game.
• 1978 –
  Australian civilian pilot Frederick Valentich vanishes in a Cessna 182 over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft.
• 1994 –
  North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea and the United States sign an agreement that requires North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons program and agree to inspections.

Who were born on October 21?

• 1927 –
  Fritz Wintersteller, Austrian mountaineer who made the first ascent of Broad Peak
• 1942 –
  Allan Grice, Australian racing driver
• 1942 –
  Elvin Bishop, American musician
• 1956 –
  Carrie Fisher, American actress and writer
• 1957 –
  Steve Lukather, American musician
• 1959 –
  Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
• 1972 –
  Felicity Andersen, Australian actress
• 1973 –
  Charlie Lowell, pianist with the group Jars of Clay
• 1984 –
  Anouk Leblanc-Boucher, Canadian speed skater
• 1984 –
  Tom Brandstater, American football player

Who died on October 21?

• 1125 –
  Cosmas of Prague, Bohemian writer
• 1805 –
  George Duff, Royal Navy Captain, killed in action at the Battle of Trafalgar (b.1764)
• 1904 –
  Isabelle Eberhardt, Swiss explorer and writer (b. 1877)
• 1938 –
  Dorothy Hale, American socialite and actress (b. 1905)
• 1969 –
  Waclaw Sierpinski, Polish mathematician (b. 1882)
• 1986 –
  Lionel Murphy, Australian politician and judge (b. 1922)
• 1991 –
  Lorenc Antoni, Kosovo Albanian composer (b. 1909)
• 1996 –
  Georgios Zoitakis, Greek Army general and regent (b. 1910)
• 2003 –
  Louise Day Hicks, American politician (b. 1916)
• 2007 –
  Paul Fox, English musician and singer (The Ruts) (b. 1951)