October 21: Fun Facts about Today in History

(October 21, 1805)
Admiral Horatio Nelson is killed by musket fire on the deck of H.M.S. Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and dies in the midshipmen's bunk below deck. photo source: wikimedia.org

(October 21, 1879)
At his Menlo Park, New Jersey laboratory, Thomas Edison produced a usable electric light in 1879. photo source: wikimedia.org

(October 21, 1907)
The Qaratog earthquake, which struck Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in 1907, killed between 12,000 and 15,000 people on both sides of the border. photo source: wikimedia.org

(October 21, 1944)
The first kamikaze attack on HMAS Australia occurs when a Japanese aircraft carrying a 200 kg (441 lb) bomb strikes the superstructure above the bridge. 30 crew members were killed in the attack, which inflicted major damage to the ship but did not destroy it due to the bombs' failure to explode. photo source: wikimedia.org

(October 21, 1945)
As part of the woman's suffrage movement, women in France gain the right to vote in parliamentary elections. Many people believe that women in France in the 18th century started the contemporary woman's suffrage movement. photo source: wikimedia.org

(October 21, 1966)
In Aberfan, Wales, the Aberfan Disaster buried a junior high school, killing 148 people, the majority of whom were children. The school was buried by a 700-foot-high landslide of mud and waste sludge caused by the nearby Merthyr Vale Colliery, which towered over the local school before collapsing. photo source: wikimedia.org

(Died on October 21, 2020)
Frank Bough, English television presenter (b. 1933).