Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/October 21
This is a list of selected October 21 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
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October 21: Simchat Torah begins at sunset (Judaism, 2008); Overseas Chinese Day in Taiwan
- 1805 – Napoleonic Wars: The British Royal Navy led by Lord Nelson defeated Pierre-Charles Villeneuve and his combined French and Spanish navy at the Battle of Trafalgar off the coast of Spain's Cape Trafalgar.
- 1854 – Florence Nightingale (pictured) and a staff of 38 nurses were sent to the Crimean War.
- 1858 – French composer Jacques Offenbach's operetta Orpheus in the Underworld, featuring the can-can, was first performed at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens in Paris.
- 1969 – Siad Barre became President after a military coup in Somalia.
- 1978 – After reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft, Frederick Valentich disappeared in unexplained circumstances while piloting a Cessna 182L light aircraft over the Bass Strait to King Island, Australia.