OCTOBER 21 | Birthdays and Events

Notable Birthdays for October 21

Eugene Burton Ely (1886-1911) - Aviator to fly the first shipboard aircraft to takeoff and land on a ship.

Edna Purviance (1895-1958) - Silent film actress and leading lady in most of Charlie Chaplin's films.

Edmond Hamilton (1904-1977) - Science fiction author of City at World's End and The Star Kings.

Lillian Asplund (1906-2006) - The last American Titanic survivor at the time of her death.

Mary Blair (1911-1978) - One of the female animators that worked for Disney.

Martin Gardner (1914-2010) - Mathematician and author for the Scientific American as a math and puzzles columnist.

Owen Bradley (1915-1998) - Country music record producer in Nashville who helped shape country music and rockabilly music in the 1950s and 60s.

Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993) - Acclaimed trumpet player and bandleader.

Judy Sheindlin (1942-Still Living) - Judge and television host of Judge Judy.

Lee Loughnane (1946-Still Living) - Founding member of the rock band Chicago.

Ronald McNair (1950-1986) - Physicist and astronaut who died on the Space Shuttle Challenger.

Charlotte Caffey (1953-Still Living) - Musician and member of the band the Go-Go's.

Keith Green (1953-1982) - Musician and pioneer of the Christian music genre.

Carrie Fisher (1956-2016) - Actress known as Princess Leia in the original Star Wars saga.

Steve Lukather (1957-Still Living) - Founding member of the rock band Toto.

Jeremy Miller (1976-Still Living) - Child actor known for his character Ben Seaver on Growing Pains.

Will Estes (1978-Still Living) - Actor known as Jameson on Blue Bloods.

Memorable Events for October 21

1774 - The first flag to include the word "Liberty" is flown in Massachusetts.

1867 - The Medicine Lodge Treaty is signed Great Plains Indian leaders, relocating the tribes to a reservation in Indian Territory.

1869 - The first shipment of fresh oysters is delivered from Baltimore.

1871 - The first amateur outdoor athletic games begin in NY.

1879 - Thomas Edison applies for a patent for an incandescent light bulb.

1915 - The first radiotelephone message overseas is made from Arlington, VA to Paris, France.

1917 - The first U.S. troops see action on the front lines in WWI.

1921 - President Harding delivers the first speech by a sitting U.S. president in opposition of lynching in the South.

1940 - Ernest Hemingway's first novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, is published.

1944 - American forces take the city of Aachen, Germany, after three weeks.

1959 - The Guggenheim Museum opens to the public in NY.

1959 - President Eisenhower approves the transfer of all US Army space-related activities to NASA.

1964 - My Fair Lady, starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn, premieres in NY.

1975 - Women are allowed to enroll in the Coast Guard Academy for the first time.

1989 - Bertram Lee and Peter Bynoe become the first major sports team owners after they purchase the Denver Nuggets for $65 million.

2019 - Facebook takes down disinformation campaigns from Iran and Russia.