First American Indian Recognized by the Catholic Church

October 21, 2012

Kateri Tekakwitha is canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.
She was known as the Lily of the Mohawks.

Madonna's Sex Book

October 21, 1992

Madonna's $50 book Sex hits the bookstores, complete with compact disc. It sold over 150,000 copies on its first day in the United States and went on to sell more than 1.5 million copies worldwide. It remains the best-selling coffee table book.

Fastest Woman

October 21, 1979

Norwegian runner Grete Waitz becomes the first woman to run a marathon in under 2½ hours (NYC, 2:27:32.6).

My Ding-a-Ling

October 21, 1972

Chuck Berry's cover of the audience participation song My Ding-a-Ling hits #1. Despite that many radio stations refused to play it due to its double entendre, it was Berry's biggest hit and his only #1 Billboard Hot 100 single in the United States. Berry had recorded it during a live performance the previous February.
The song was originally written and recorded by Dave Bartholomew twenty years earlier in 1952.

World War II - Rickenbacker's Plane Goes Down

October 21, 1942

U.S. Navy pilot Eddie Rickenbacker's plane goes down in the South Pacific. He and two of his crew drifted on a raft for three weeks before they were rescued.
Rickenbacker, with 26 aerial victories in World War I and known as "The Ace of Aces", was the most decorated pilot of the war.

First Transatlantic Transmission of Speech

October 21, 1915

AT&T transmits from Arlington, Virginia to Paris.

Battle of Trafalgar

October 21, 1805

The British Royal Navy defeats the Spanish and French fleets ending Napoleon Bonaparte's threat of invading England.

Carrie Fisher

Born October 21, 1956 d. 2016

American actress. Film: Star Wars (Princess Leia) and When Harry Met Sally… (1989, Marie). She is the daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher and is the author of Postcards From the Edge.

Charlotte Caffey

Born October 21, 1953

American guitarist. With the Go-Go's. Music: We Got the Beat (1981) and Vacation (1982).

Elvin Bishop

Born October 21, 1942

American blues guitarist. Music: Fooled Around And Fell In Love (1976).

Manfred Mann (Michael Lubowitz)

Born October 21, 1940

British rock musician. Music: Do Wah Diddy Diddy (1964, #1) and Blinded By the Light (1976).

Carl Baugh

Born October 21, 1936

American young Earth creationist. He claims to have found human and dinosaur footprints together near the Paluxy River in Texas.
Baugh promoted young earth creationism as the former host of the TV program Creation in the 21st Century on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. In 1984, Baugh started the Creation Evidence Museum near Dinosaur Valley State Park, Texas.
The scientific community considers his claims pseudoscience and even other creationist groups consider his claims misleading and deceptive.

Georgia Brown (Lillian Klot)

Born October 21, 1933 d. 1992

English singer, actress. Best known for her portrayal of Nancy in Oliver! (1960).

Martin Gardner

Born October 21, 1914 d. 2010

American mathematician, magician. His Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science (1957) is considered a classic in the field of scientific skepticism. He also wrote the "Mathematical Games" column in Scientific American.

Alfred Bernhard Nobel

Born October 21, 1833 d. 1896

Swedish chemist, inventor of dynamite. The terms of his will established Nobel prizes.

Samuel Francis Smith

Born October 21, 1808 d. 1895

American poet, songwriter. Music: My Country, 'Tis of Thee (1832) which served as the U.S. national anthem prior to the adoption of The Star-Spangled Banner.

William Shippen, Jr.

Born October 21, 1736 d. 1808

American physician. He was the first systematic teacher of anatomy, surgery, and obstetrics in the United States and one of the first to use cadavers in the teaching of anatomy (1762). He gave the First anatomy lecture in America.

George McGovern

Died October 21, 2012 b. 1922

American politician, U.S. Representative (1957-61, South Dakota), U.S. Senator (1963-81, South Dakota), 1972 Presidential candidate, losing in a landslide to Richard Nixon.

Maxene Andrews

Died October 21, 1995 b. 1916

American singer, with the Andrews Sisters.

Jim Garrison (Earling Carothers Garrison)

Died October 21, 1992 b. 1921

American lawyer, New Orleans district attorney. His investigation into the Kennedy assassination was the basis of Oliver Stone's film JFK (1991).

Twinkie Murderer

Daniel James White

Died October 21, 1985 b. 1946

American assassin. In 1978, he killed Harvey Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone. At his trial, White claimed diminished capacity due to depression caused by a diet of junk food and sugary drinks. This has become known as the "Twinkie Defense". Even though he avoided metal detectors, which would have detected his gun and 10 rounds of ammunition, by entering the building through a side window and later stated he intended to kill two other people as well, he was only convicted of voluntary manslaughter rather than first-degree murder and sentenced to seven years in prison. He served five years in prison before being paroled, but committed suicide less than two years later.
White had resigned from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, but then applied for reappointment. White was angry because Moscone and Milk had opposed his reappointment.

John Thomas Scopes

Died October 21, 1970 b. 1900

American educator. His arrest for teaching evolution in Tennessee led to the Scopes Monkey Trial (1925). He was convicted and fined $100, although it was overturned on a technicality.

Jack Kerouac

Died October 21, 1969 b. 1922

American author, On the Road (1957). He was one of the founders of the beatnik movement of the late 1950s and is known as the godfather of the '60s hippie movement.

Alfred T. Ringling

Died October 21, 1919 b. 1861

American circus operator, with Ringling Brothers Circus.

Horatio Nelson

Died October 21, 1805 b. 1758

British naval commander. He died while leading the British fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar in which he defeated the Spanish and French fleets ending Napoleon Bonaparte's threat of invading England.