On This Day – 21 October

Important Events

1805 Battle of Trafalgar: British Admiral Horatio Nelson defeats combined French and Spanish fleet. Nelson shot and killed during the battle.

1854 Florence Nightingale with a staff of 38 nurses is sent to the Crimean War

1944 World War II: US troops capture Aachen, 1st large German city to fall

1948 UN rejects Russian proposal to destroy atomic weapons

1950 Chinese forces occupy Tibet

1993 Failed military coup in Burundi, led by ex-President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, includes assassination President Ndadaye; 525,000 Hutus flee

Today In Film & TV

1964 Film version of “My Fair Lady” directed by George Cukor and starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn premieres in New York (Academy Awards Best Picture 1965)

Today In Music

1858 Jacques Offenbach’s operetta ” Orpheus in the Underworld” (Orphée aux Enfers) premieres in Paris, includes “Infernal Galop” (can-can tune)

Today In Sports

1980 Phillies win their 1st World Championship in their 98-year history

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