Today in History, October 21st
On October 21, 1805, Nelson's British fleet won the Battle of Trafalgar, though Nelson was killed. Plus USS Constitution launched.
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October 21 is best known for the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, when Admiral Horatio Nelson’s British fleet crushed a combined French and Spanish fleet off Spain, though Nelson died in the fight. The date also saw the USS Constitution launched in Boston in 1797 and the Guggenheim Museum open in New York City in 1959.
The big story: The Battle of Trafalgar (1805)
Napoleon wanted to invade Britain, and for that he needed to control the sea. On October 21, 1805, off the coast of Spain, Admiral Lord Nelson made sure he never would. Nelson had 27 ships against a French and Spanish force of 33. He split his ships into two divisions before going into action. From his flagship, HMS Victory, he sent a famous signal: “England expects that every man will do his duty.” The battle lasted about five hours. The British destroyed 19 enemy ships without losing one of their own, though some 1,500 British sailors were killed or wounded. The heaviest fighting swirled around Victory, and a French sharpshooter hit Nelson in the shoulder and chest. He was carried below decks and died roughly half an hour before the guns fell silent. Britain gave him a grand funeral at St. Paul’s Cathedral and later raised a column in his honor in the newly named Trafalgar Square.
More events on October 21
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1520 | Ferdinand Magellan became the first European to find a sea route into the Pacific, through the strait now named for him. |
| 1797 | The USS Constitution, one of the U.S. Navy’s first frigates, was launched in Boston. |
| 1861 | Union troops suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Ball’s Bluff in Virginia. |
| 1867 | The Medicine Lodge Treaty was signed, with more than 5,000 Native American chiefs and warriors on hand. |
| 1940 | Ernest Hemingway published For Whom the Bell Tolls. |
| 1959 | Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum opened in New York City. |
| 1960 | John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon held their fourth and final debate of the presidential campaign. |
| 1964 | The film musical My Fair Lady premiered. It went on to win eight Academy Awards. |
| 1966 | A landslide of coal-mining waste buried a school in the Welsh village of Aberfan, killing 116 children and 28 adults. |
| 1967 | Nearly 100,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., to protest the Vietnam War. |
| 2012 | George McGovern, the Democratic presidential nominee in 1972, died at age 90. |
| 2025 | Sanae Takaichi became the first woman elected prime minister of Japan. |
Born on October 21
- 1877: Oswald Avery, Canadian-born bacteriologist whose team showed that DNA carries hereditary information.
- 1917: Dizzy Gillespie, jazz trumpeter and a founder of bebop, born in Cheraw, South Carolina.
- 1956: Carrie Fisher, actress and writer known for Star Wars.
Sources
- Battle of Trafalgar, History.com
- What Happened on October 21, History.com
- On This Day: October 21, Britannica
- Oswald Avery, Britannica
- Dizzy Gillespie, Biography.com
- Carrie Fisher, Britannica
