October 21
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1520
Magellan finds a route to the Pacific
Ferdinand Magellan was not the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean; he wasnât the first to name it either, but his was the name that stuck. And on this day he became the first European sailor to find a sea route to the Pacificâthe Tierra del Fuegoâthe strait that now bears his name.
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© Three LionsâHulton Archive/Getty Images; Photo Illustration EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
Featured Event
Aram BoghosianâThe Boston Globe/Getty Images
The Constitutionis launched in Boston
On this day in 1797, the Constitution, one of the first frigates built for the U.S. Navy, was launched in Boston. It became known as âOld Ironsidesâ after it carried U.S. sailors to victory over the British in a naval battle during the War of 1812. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about submarines, ships, and other watercraft.]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
UPI/Bettmann Archive
Now our music is universal. It shares the rhythmic content of African music, music of the Western Hemisphere and various lands of the East, and has merged this rhythm with European harmonies, the soul of the slaves, the blues, and the spirituals to create jazz.
Born this day in 1917, Dizzy Gillespie, an American trumpeter, composer, and bandleader, helped to found the modern jazz style known as bebop, and his improvisations also influenced later jazz trumpeters such as Miles Davis.
Famous Birthdays
More on October 21
© Prime Minister's Office of Japan
2025
Politician Sanae Takaichi becomes the first woman to be elected prime minister of Japan. [Which countries have had women leaders?]
© Andrea RenaultâAFP/Getty Images
2018
American actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who starred in such sitcoms as Seinfeld and Veep, was officially awarded the Kennedy Centerâs Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the highest award in comedy. [How much do you know about Seinfeld?]
Warren K. LefflerâU.S. News & World Report Magazine/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ppmsca-19602)
2012
American politician and liberal activist George McGovern, who ran unsuccessfully as a reformist Democratic challenger in the 1972 presidential race against incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon, died at age 90.
© Ron BurtonâMirrorpix/Getty Images
1966
A landslide caused by mining waste destroyed a school in the Welsh village of Aberfan, killing 116 children and 28 adults.
© 1964 Warner Brothers, Inc.; photograph from a private collection
1964
The American musical film My Fair Lady, starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn, had its world premiere, and it later won eight Academy Awards, including that for best picture. [Test your knowledge of the Academy Awards.]
© Hulton ArchiveâArchive Photos/Getty Images
1960
John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon debated for the fourth and final time before the 1960 U.S. presidential election. [Take our U.S. presidents quiz.]
© Photos.com/Jupiterimages
1959
The Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opened in New York City. [Take our quiz about what you can find in museums.]
EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica, Inc.
1940
American novelist Ernest Hemingway published his classic novel For Whom the Bell Tolls; it was later adapted into an acclaimed film. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about famous books.]
Print CollectorâHulton Archive/Getty Images
1907
Franz LehĂĄrâs operetta The Merry Widow opened in New York City. [How much do you know about the opera?]
© Photos.com/Jupiterimages
1833
Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist Alfred Nobel, who invented dynamite and other more powerful explosives and who also founded the Nobel Prizes, was born in Stockholm. [Test your knowledge of the history of the Nobel Prize.]
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B1981.25.554
1805
A fleet of 33 ships (18 French and 15 Spanish) under Admiral Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve fought and was defeated by a British fleet of 27 ships under Admiral Horatio Nelson in the Battle of Trafalgar (combat was waged west of Cape Trafalgar, Spain). [Take our history of warfare quiz.]