1805: Battle of Trafalgar
In one of the most decisive battles in history, a British fleet under Admiral Horatio Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar fought off the coast of
Spain. At sea, Lord Nelson and the
Royal Navy consistently thwarted
Napoleon, who led
France to pre-eminence on the European mainland. After the crushing defeat at Trafalgar, Napoleon was forced to abandon his plans for an invasion of England. At the height of the engagement on 21st October, Nelson was mortally wounded while pacing the quarterdeck of the HMS Victory. He died a few hours later, and his body was solemnly brought back to England for burial. In London, a
column was erected to his memory in the newly named Trafalgar Square.
2001
In America, a Washington postal worker becomes the third person to be infected with anthrax after handling the poisonous substance in a
letter. 1994
The Seongsu Bridge in the
South Korea in capital Seoul collapse killing 32 people.
1978
In
Australia, Frederick Valentich disappears whilst flying a light air craft over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne. The last contact Valentich had was to report the presence of an unidentified aircraft.
1977
Meat Loaf’s record breaking album Bat Out of Hell is released.
1969
A military coup in
Somalia brings Siad Barre to power.
1967
The
Vietnam War: More than 100,000 people protest against the war at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., U.S.A., before marching to the
Pentagon. 1966
In Wales, more than 140 people are killed in the small mining village of Aberfan when tonnes of slush from a nearby coal slag tip, weakened by rain, slides downhill and engulfs the village school, a farm and a row of terraced houses.
1959
In America, the world renowned art museum the
Guggenheim Museum opens in New York City.
1959
German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun starts work for NASA in America. Previously Von Braun developed the V-2 rocket for
Nazi Germany during the
Second World War. 1952
In
Kenya, nationalist leader
Jomo Kenyatta is arrested as a state of emergency is declared in the British colony.
1944
The Second World War: The first
kamikaze attack by a
Japanese plane takes place against the HMAS Australia during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the seas surrounding the
Philippines. 1879
Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric incandescent light bulb.
1854
Florence Nightingale and a staff of nurses are sent to the
Crimean War. 1797
The USS Constitution, a 44-gun U.S. Navy
frigate built to fight Barbary pirates off the coast of Tripoli, is launched in Boston Harbour, America.
1940
Yorkshire and England cricketer Geoff Boycott is born near Pontefract. Becomes one of the few cricketers in the world to score 100 Test centuries - completing his one hundreth century playing for England on his 'home' ground at Headingley in Leeds.1940
British musician Manfred Mann. During the 1960s his group records a string of succesful hit songs such as 'Do Wah Diddy-Diddy Dum, Diddy Do'; '5-4-3-2-1' and 'Pretty Flamingo'.1926
English
actor Leonard Rossiter. Becomes famous for playing comedy roles such as 'Mr Rigsby' and 'Reginald Perrin' on British TV during 1970s and 1980s
1917
American jazz trumpeter 'Dizzy' Gillespie - born John Birks in South Carolina. Becomes the leader of several big bands in America after
World War II and leads a full orchestra on several international tours. Dies in 1993
1833
Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite and founder of the 'Nobel' annual awards, is born in Stockholm. Dies in 1896.1772
English poet
Samuel Taylor Coleridge is born in the village of
Ottery St Mary in Devon. Among his famous poems: 'The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner' and 'Kubla Khan'.
