1899 – Battle of Elandslaagte, Natal (Boers vs. British Army)
1915 – First transatlantic radiotelephone message, Arlington, Virginia, to Paris
1947 – Dutch Dakota explodes near Copenhagen, killing 16 people
1950 – Tom Powers of Duke scores six touchdowns
1966 – 116 children and 28 adults die as a coal waste heap slides and engulfs a school in Aberfan, South Wales
2001 – MLB National League Championship: Arizona Diamondbacks beat Atlanta Braves 4-1
2003 – Images of Eris are taken by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz, leading to the discovery of the dwarf planet
2024 – Australian independent indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe shouts at King Charles, “You are not our king” and “This is not your land” during the king’s visit to the Australian Parliament in Canberra
Author: gil7
Today in History for 21st October 2025
Historical Events
1568 – Second Altenburg sermon: Philippists/Gnesio-Lutherans
1897 – Yerkes Observatory of the University of Chicago is dedicated
1959 – Players Association approves two All-Star Games in 1960 to be held in Kansas City and New York
1975 – Mexico City’s first major subway accident takes 26 lives
1982 – Private funeral service held for Bess Truman, former First Lady of the United States
Famous Birthdays
1757 – Pierre Augereau, Marshal of France and duc de Castiglione during the Napoleonic Wars, born in Paris, France (d. 1816)
1827 – Peter Paul Maria Alberdingk Thijm, Dutch historian and writer, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1904)
1926 – Bob Rosburg, American golfer, analyst (PGA Championship 1959), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2009)
1943 – Paula Kelly, American dancer, choreographer, and actress (Night Court, 1984 – “Liz”), born in Jacksonville, Florida (d. 2020)
1995 – Doja Cat [Amala Dlamini], American rapper and singer-songwriter (“Get Into It (Yuh)”; “Paint the Town Red”), born in Los Angeles, California
Famous Deaths
1422 – Charles VI, King of France (1380-1422) known as “the Beloved”, dies at 54
1992 – Jackson Weaver, voice of Smokey the Bear, dies of diabetes
1995 – Shannon Hoon, American vocalist (Blind Melon), dies of a drug overdose at 28
1995 – Linda Goodman, American astrologer and poet, dies from complications of diabetes at 70
2011 – Edmundo Ros, Trinidadian-Venezuelan musician and arranger, dies at 100
Famous Deaths for 20th October 2025
1740 – Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (1711-40), dies after falling ill on a hunting trip at 55
1931 – Emánuel Moór, Hungarian composer, pianist, and inventor of musical instruments, dies at 68
1957 – Jack Buchanan, British theatre and film actor, singer, dancer, and producer (The Band Wagon), dies from spinal cancer at 66
1994 – (Charles) Robert Medley, English abstract and figurative style painter, dies at 88
1998 – Franz Tumler, Austrian writer (Cloak, Aufruf), dies at 86
1999 – Ron Smith, English trade union leader (British Postal Workers), dies at 84
2011 – Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan revolutionary, political theorist and dictator (1969-2011), beaten to death in captivity by a Misratan militia at about 69
2014 – Pavle Merku, Italian-Slovene composer and ethnomusicologist, dies at 87
2020 – Bill Mathis, American football halfback (AFL All Star 1961, 63; New York Titans/Jets), dies at 81
2023 – Haydn Gwynne, English film and stage actress (Drop the Dead Donkey, Billy Elliot the Musical, Windsors), dies at 66
Historical Events for 20th October 2025
1839 – Margaret Fuller is appointed editor of new US Transcendental Magazine “The Dial”
1862 – Amnesty is proclaimed for escaped slaves of Suriname
1911 – Helen Hayes Theater (Folies Bergere) opens at 210 W 46th St, New York City
1939 – “All the Things You Are” is recorded by Tommy Dorsey Orchestra
1963 – South Africa begins the trial of Nelson Mandela and eight others on conspiracy charges
1964 – Ann Packer of Great Britain runs a world record 2:01.1 to win the women’s 800 m gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics
1984 – Cleveland Metroparks’ Valley Parkway All Purpose Trails is completed
2023 – Claim that the world’s oldest pyramid constructed by humans is under the Indonesian prehistoric site of Gunung Padang, West Java, and is 27,000 years old causes controversy
Today in History for 20th October 2025
Historical Events
1905 – Great General Strike in Russia begins and lasts 11 days
1935 – Communist forces end their Long March at Yan’an in Shaanxi, China, bringing Mao Zedong to prominence
1973 – Mariette Hartley appears on “The Bob Newhart Show” in the episode “Have You Met Miss Dietz?”
2018 – President Trump threatens to pull the US out of an arms control agreement with Russia because Russia violated its terms
2018 – All-England Lawn Tennis Club announces tie break to be used when scores reach 12-12 in deciding set at Wimbledon
Famous Birthdays
1882 – Bela Lugosi [Blaskó], Austrian actor (Dracula, Plan 9 From Outer Space), born in Lugos, Austro-Hungarian Empire (d. 1956)
1927 – Joyce Brothers, American pop psychologist ($64,000 Question, Naked Gun), born in New York City (d. 2013)
1931 – Jules Eskin, American cellist (Boston Symphony, 1964-2016), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2016)
1969 – Herman Moore, American NFL wide receiver (Detroit Lions), born in Danville, Virginia
1977 – Sam Witwer, American actor (Battlestar Galactica, Riverdale), born in Glenview, Illinois
Famous Deaths
1676 – Christopher Gibbons, British composer, dies at 61
1955 – Eino Roiha, Finnish pianist, composer, and musicologist dies at 51
2003 – Jack Elam, American actor (The Dakotas, East Street, Rio Lobo), dies at 82
2007 – Max McGee, American football wide receiver, punter (NFL C’ship 1961, 62, 65, 66, 67; Super Bowl I, II; Pro Bowl 1961; Green Bay Packers), dies at 75
2013 – Lawrence Klein, American economist who created computer models to forecast economic trends (1980 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences), dies at 93
Famous Deaths for 19th October 2025
1682 – Thomas Browne, English philosopher and writer (Garden of Cyrus), dies at 77
1902 – Jim Younger, American outlaw and member of the James-Younger Gang, commits suicide at 54
1912 – E. B. Dwyer, Austalian-born cricketer (Sussex bowler 1906-09), dies at 36
1992 – Petra Kelly, German politician found dead, apparent victim in murder-suicide at 44
1993 – Dionisio Herrero, Spanish air force general, murdered
1997 – Harold French, British director and actor (The Cavalier of the Streets, Trio, Quartet), dies at 97
1999 – Nathalie Sarraute [Tcherniak], French writer (Childhood; Portrait of a Man Unknown; The Golden Fruits), dies at 99
2001 – Jagernath Lachmon, Surinamese politician, dies at 85
2013 – Ronald Shannon Jackson, American avant-garde jazz and funk drummer, and composer (Cecil Taylor; Last Exit; Decoding Society), dies of leukemia at 73
2016 – Yvette Chauviré, French ballerina (Paris Opera Ballet, 1930-56), actress, and dance teacher, dies at 99
Historical Events for 19th October 2025
615 – Pope Deusdedit [Adeodatus I] elected to succeed Boniface IV as Catholic Pope
1901 – Alberto Santos-Dumont proves airships are maneuverable by circling the Eiffel Tower in his airship No. 6, winning the Deutsch Prize and 100,000 francs
1915 – Russia and Italy declare war on Bulgaria
1932 – Jimmie Foxx wins the AL MVP, and Chuck Klein wins the NL MVP
1943 – Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, is isolated by researchers at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey
2004 – Care International aid worker Margaret Hassan is kidnapped in Iraq
2005 – MLB National League Championship: Houston Astros beat St. Louis Cardinals 4-2
2019 – Chilean President Sebastián Piñera declares a 15-day state of emergency following widespread and violent protests over an increase in public transport costs
Today in History for 19th October 2025
Historical Events
1781 – Edict of Toleration issued by Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, providing limited freedom of worship for non-Roman Catholic Christians
1888 – Moshav Gedera is attacked by Arabs
1983 – Grenadian Army General Hudson Austin forms a “revolutionary council”
1988 – Three Americans win the Nobel Prize in Physics, and three West Germans win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
2024 – MLB New York Yankees win ALCS over Cleveland Guardians on the strength of Juan Soto’s 10th-inning 3-run homer at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio; a 4-1 series win sends Yankees to World Series for the first time since 2009
Famous Birthdays
1784 – Leigh Hunt, English poet, critic and journalist (Romantic Movement, “Jenny Kissed Me”), born in Southgate, England (d. 1859)
1918 – Charles Evans, British mountaineer and surgeon (deputy leader 1953 British Everest expedition, led 1955 British Kangchenjunga expedition), born in Liverpool, England (d. 1995)
1931 – John le Carré [pen name for David Cornwell], English novelist (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold), born in Poole, England (d. 2020)
1956 – Sunny Deol [Ajay Singh Deol], Indian actor (Ghayal), born in Sahnewal, Punjab, India
1999 – Abigail Morris, British musician and lead singer of The Last Dinner Party (2020-present), born in London
Famous Deaths
727 – Saint Frideswide, patron saint of Oxford, England
1954 – Hugh Duffy, American Baseball HOF outfielder (Triple Crown and MLB record .440 batting average, single season 1894 Boston Beaneaters), dies from heart failure at 87
1972 – Dr. Fredrick Arthur Willius, American cardiologist and medical historian, dies from bladder cancer at 83
1993 – Dionisio Herrero, Spanish air force general, murdered
2013 – Ronald Shannon Jackson, American avant-garde jazz and funk drummer, and composer (Cecil Taylor; Last Exit; Decoding Society), dies of leukemia at 73
Famous Deaths for 18th October 2025
1817 – Etienne-Nicolas Méhul, French opera composer, dies at 54
1864 – David Bell Birney, American businessman, lawyer, and Major General (Union Army), dies at 39
1959 – Boughera El Ouafi, Algerian athlete (Olympic gold marathon 1928), dies of gun wounds at 61
1973 – Frank Knight, TV announcer (Chronoscope), dies at 79
1982 – Bess Truman (née Elizabeth Wallace), US First Lady (1945-52), dies of congestive heart failure at 97
1991 – Gunnar Sønstevold, Norwegian jazz pianist, and orchestral and film score composer (Litany In Atlanta; The Dorian Cage), dies at 78
1991 – Jan Christiaanse, Dutch university professor, and politician (Senate, 1973-77, 1979-91; resident of Dutch political party CDA), dies at 59
1993 – Lois Kibbee, American actress (Edge of Night), dies of a brain tumor at 71
2007 – Kumiko Ida, Japanese classical pianist, dies of meningitis at 38
2010 – Marion Brown, American jazz alto saxophonist, (Marion Brown Quartet; John Coltrane -“Ascension”; Artie Schepp), avant garde composer, writer, and ethnomusicologist, dies at 79
Historical Events for 18th October 2025
1016 – Danes led by Cnut defeat the Saxon forces of Edmund Ironside at the Battle of Assandun (Ashingdon), completing their conquest of England
1767 – Boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Mason–Dixon line, is agreed upon
1918 – NHL’s Quebec Bulldogs are sold to Toronto businessman P. J. Quinn
1946 – First performance of Aaron Copland’s Third Symphony by the Boston Symphony Orchestra led by Serge Koussevitzky, often called the “Great American Symphony”
1953 – WTVK TV channel 26 in Knoxville, TN (NBC) begins broadcasting
1954 – Hurricane Hazel becomes the most severe to ever hit the US, killing 195 in the US and Canada
1979 – Stage musical “Beatlemania” opens in London
2023 – Climate activist Greta Thunberg is arrested at a demonstration outside an oil conference in London