October 21
1797
The navy frigate U.S. Constitution, known as “Old Ironsides,” was launched in Boston Harbor.
1805
Admiral Horatio Nelson died in the Battle of Trafalgar.
1837
Seminole chief Osceola was captured as he carried a white flag of truce during the Second Seminole War.
1879
Thomas Edison invented a workable incandescent electric lamp.
1959
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of modern and contemporary art, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, opened to the public in New York City.
Birthdays
Alfred Nobel
1833–96, Swedish chemist and inventor.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
poet (1772)
Dizzy Gillespie
musician (1917)
Celia Cruz
singer (1925)
Ursula K. Le Guin
writer (1929)
Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli political leader (1949)
Carrie Fisher
actress (1956)