It happened today – this day in history – October 21

1520: Ferdinand Magellan and his fleet reach Cape Virgenes and become the first Europeans to sail into the Pacific Ocean.

1555: English parliament refuses to recognize Philip of Spain as king.

1772: Birth of poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

1789: The National Assembly declares martial law in France to prevent uprisings in the French Revolution.

1805: Admiral Horatio Nelson defeats the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar. Nelson is killed during the battle.

1833: Birth of Alfred Nobel – inventor of dynamite and founder of Nobel prizes.

1854: Florence Nightingale is sent to the Crimean War with a staff of 38 murses.

1858: Jacques Offenbach’s operetta “Orpheus in the Underworld” premieres in Paris.

1937: General Franco’s troops occupy Gijon in the Spanish Civil War.

1945: French women are allowed to vote for the first time.

1948: The UN rejects Russian proposal to destroy atomic weapons.

1950: Chinese forces occupy Tibet.

1957: The film Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens in Memphis.

1958: Buddy Holly’s last recording session. The songs It Doesn’t Matter Anymore and Raining IN My Heart were recorded.

1959: The Guggenheim museum opens in New York.

1964: The film My Fair Lady, starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison, premieres in New York. On the same day, Ethiopian runner Abebe Bikila wins the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in a world record time.

1965: The Beatles decided to re-record the John Lennon song, Norwegian Wood at EMI Studios in Abbey Road, nailing it in three takes. They also began work on another Lennon song, Nowhere Man. On the same day the Spencer Davis Group recorded Keep On Running at Pye Studios in London and Elvis’ legendary bass player Bill Black died after surgery to remove a brain tumour.

1966: 116 children and 28 adults die when a coal waste heap engulfs the school at Aberfan in Wales.

1967: Tens of thousands of anti-Vietnam War protesters march on the Pentagon.

1969: Death of author Jack Kerouac. On the same day, Willy Brandt becomes Chancellor of West Germany.

1979: Israeli minister of Foreign affairs Moshe Dayan resigns.

1980: Mikhail Gorbachev is elected a member of the Soviet Politburo.

1984: Nikki Lauda wins his third Formula 1 World Drivers Championship in a Ferrari.

1988: Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos of The Phillipines are indicted on racketeering charges.

1990: Ayrton Senna clinches his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship despite crashing his McLaren in Japan.

1992: Madonna’s book Sex goes on sale.

1997: Elton John’s ‘Candle In The Wind 97’ was declared by the Guinness Book Of Records as the biggest selling single record of all time, with 31.8 million sales in less than 40 days and raising more than £20 million for charity.

2007: Kimi Raikonnen wins the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship in a Ferrari.

2017: The Spanish government suspends Catalonia’s autonomy in the face of a deepening political crisis over the region’s push for independence.

BIRTHDAYS: Sir Geoffrey Boycott, cricket commentator, 79; Mannfred Mann (Michael Lubowitz) musician, 79; Steve Cropper, guitarist, 78; Judge Judy (Judith Sheindlin), TV personality, 77; Tetsu Yamauchi, bass player (The Faces/Free) 72; John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick, musician (Free/The Who) 71; Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, 70; Charlotte Caffey, guitarist (The Go-Gos) 67; Julian Cope (Kevin Stapleton), musician 62; Steve Lukather, guitarist (Toto), 62; Paul Ince, former footballer, 52; Kim (Kimberly) Kardashian West 39.