October 21 in Pop Culture History

October 21st History, Trivia, and Fun Facts

October 21st History Highlights

  • 1797 – Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution, launched.
  • 1879 – Thomas Edison demonstrated his Incandescent Lightbulb.
  • 1967 – 250 protestors stormed The Pentagon in Washington, DC.
  • October 21, 2015 (fictional) Marty McFly and Doc Brown visited this year from 1985 in Back to the Future, Film
  • If you were born on October 21st,
    You were likely conceived the week of… January 28th (same year)

October 21st is…

Celebration of the Mind Day
Count your Buttons Day
Pumpkin Cheesecake Day
Reptile Awareness Day

October 21st Birthday Quotes

“Contentment is the only real wealth.”
– Alfred Nobel

“Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”
– Carrie Fisher

“If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied.”
– Alfred Nobel

“You get an education in school and in college. And then you start to work… and that’s when you learn!”
– Mary Blair

“If I don’t like something that’s going on in my life, I change it. And I don’t sit and complain about it for a year.”
– Kim Kardashian

“When you stop being so afraid of failing you become much more free to succeed.”
– Rich Mullins

“The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one and it would not be a wasted life.”
– Ken Watanabe

October 21st Birthdays

1833 – Alfred Nobel, Swedish chemist, and engineer, invented dynamite and founded the Nobel Prize (died in 1896)
1911 – Mary Blair, American illustrator, and animator (died in 1978)
1917 – Dizzy Gillespie, American trumpet player, composer, and bandleader (died in 1993)
1925 – Celia Cruz, Cuban-American singer, Queen of Salsa (died in 2003)
1940 – Manfred Mann, South African-English keyboard player
1941 – Steve Cropper, American guitarist
1949 – Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli politician, 9th Prime Minister of Israel
1951 – Carrie Fisher, American actress, Princess Leia (died in 2016)
1955 – Rich Mullins, American singer-songwriter (died in 1997)
1956 – Carrie Fisher, American actress, and screenwriter (died in 2016)
1959 – Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
1980 – Kim Kardashian, American reality television personality

October 21st History

1520 – Ferdinand Magellan discovers a strait now known as Strait of Magellan in South America.

1797 – In Boston Harbor, the 44-gun United States Navy frigate USS Constitution was launched. It was the third such vessel completed for the US Navy.

1854 – Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses are sent to the Crimean War.

1921 – The Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino, premiered in Los Angeles

1921 – President Warren G. Harding delivered the first speech by a sitting US President against lynching in the Deep South.

1940 – For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway was published.

1959 -The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opened in New York City.

1967- #1 Hit October 21, 1967 – November 24, 1967: Lulu – To Sir With Love

1969 – Broadway Show – Butterflies Are Free (Play) October 21, 1969

1972 – #1 Hit October 21, 1972 – November 3, 1972: Chuck Berry – My Ding-a-Ling

1973 – John Paul Getty III’s ear was cut off by his kidnappers and sent to a newspaper in Rome, with a note – “This is Paul’s ear. If we don’t get some money within 10 days, then the other ear will arrive. In other words, he will arrive in little bits.”

1978 – Frederick Valenteich (flying a Cessna 182 airplane) disappeared over Melbourne, Australia right after describing a UFO to the control tower. The last seventeen seconds of his transmission was described as ‘metallic scraping.’

October 21, 1991 – The Apple Powerbook was released.

1994 – North Korea and the United States signed an agreement that required North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons program and agree to inspections. On October 9, 2006, North Korea announced it had successfully conducted its first nuclear test.

1995 – Blind Melon’s Shannon Hoon died of a cocaine overdose

October 21, 2015 (fictional) Marty McFly and Doc Brown visited this year from 1985 in Back to the Future, Film

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

“You say tomato I say tomato.”

“Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn’t one today.” – Phil Connors (Bill Murray) #moviequotes

A group of Beavers is called a Colony or Family.

David Bowie – Real Name: David Jones

Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins also wrote for Clarissa Explains It All.

Life is ephemeral – don’t waste it looking up big words.

If your sister hits you, don’t hit her back. They always catch the second person. #childlore

US President #22 Grover Cleveland 1885-1889) The Baby Ruth candy bar was named for his daughter, who was the first child born in the White House.

That old man who appears in all the different Marvel movies is actually an original writer/editor for a bunch of different Marvel Characters!

The Capital of Israel is Jerusalem, embassies in Tel Aviv

“His deeds will not be forgiven until he merits.” #moviequotes

There was a 5th element along with earth, wind, fire and water which was called an æther. An aether was referred to as anything of natural phenomena, such as light or gravity.

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