October 21: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

Alec Baldwin accidentally used a live firearm during a movie rehearsal, during which he shot and killed a cinematographer.

Major Australian newspapers blacked out their front pages in protest against press restrictions on printing whistleblower stories.

Native American Kateri Tekakwitha became the first native to become a saint.

Tekakwitha was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.

The benefit concert “United We Stand” led by Michael Jackson took place to stand up against terrorism.

Many top artists performed, including Mariah Carey, Al Green, Rod Stewart, Bette Midler, Goo Goo Dolls, Backstreet Boys, Usher, Pink, NSYNC, and more.

Apple Day started in Covent Garden, London.

The annual event is a huge celebration of apples with cooking demos, games, juice and cider, and the hundreds of apple varieties on sale.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s ITOS-B weather satellite launched atop a Delta rocket.

The satellite was designed to take photos of the Earth's cloud cover using television and infrared cameras to improve weather forecasting. Almost one hour after lifting off from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the satellite returned to Earth's atmosphere after failing to reach orbit. The cause was a malfunction in the Delta rocket's second stage.

The catastrophic Tragedy of Aberfan occurred in South Wales, killing many who were in a local school, mostly children.

A coal waste pile-up created by the National Coal Board overflowed at the top of the village of Aberfan. The overflow flooded a junior school and surrounding buildings, killing 116 children and 28 adults.

The American musical comedy “My Fair Lady,” starring Audrey Hepburn, was released in the US.

The first radio message to go across the Atlantic Ocean was sent from Virginia to Paris.

English chemist John Dalton read his first atomic theory paper to the Manchester Literary and Philosophical society.

Dalton's paper was "On the Absorption of Gases by Water and other Liquids," and it contained Dalton's Law. It's also known as Dalton's law of partial pressures. It is used to prove that the total pressure from a mixture of non-reacting gases is the same as the partial pressures of the individual gases in the mixture, which means that the mixture doesn't increase exerted pressure.

Following the women’s march on Versailles, The National Assembly declared martial law in France to prevent future uprisings.

Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived at Cape Virgenes, becoming the first European to sail the Pacific Ocean.

Otto IV was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III.