Anniversaries and commemorations come and go daily. Most of us, even the best historians, miss most occasions. If we think of history as events then we are faced with a continually showering in the grains of sand. Nevertheless, we do pick out certain patterns in the remembrance of historical dates. The blog here reminds us of some dates where the local, state, national, and global perspectives entwine.

On 21, Thursday October 1869, William Edward Dodd, American historian, diplomat, born (d. 1940)
On 21, Saturday October 1944, The heavy cruiser HMAS Australia, operating in the Philippines, is hit by a kamikaze aircraft, killing 20 and wounding 54, in what is believed to be the first attack of its kind.
On 21, Saturday October 1944, Emile Dechaineux, died (born 1902), naval officer, captain of HMAS Australia
On 21, Saturday October 1944, WWII: Aachen, the first German city to fall, is captured by American troops.
On 21, Saturday October 1944, Jean-Pierre Sauvage, French scientist; recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016, born
On 21, Saturday October 1944, Alois Kayser, German missionary, died (b. 1877)
On 21, Saturday October 1944, Hilma af Klint, Swedish abstract painter, died (b. 1862)
On 21, Wednesday October 1959, In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) opens to the public.
On 21, Wednesday October 1959, Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor, born
On 21, Tuesday October 1969, Willy Brandt becomes Chancellor of West Germany.
On 21, Tuesday October 1969, General Siad Barre comes to power in Somalia in a coup, 6 days after the assassination of President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke.
On 21, Tuesday October 1969, Michael Hancock, Australian rugby league footballer, born
On 21, Tuesday October 1969, Jack Kerouac, American author, died (b. 1922)
On 21, Tuesday October 1969, Wacław Sierpiński, Polish mathematician, died (b. 1882)
On 21, Saturday October 1989, The Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations issue the Langkawi Declaration on the Environment, making environmental sustainability one of the Commonwealth’s main priorities.
On 21, Friday October 1994, Benoît Régent, French actor, died (b. 1953)
On 21, Thursday October 1999, Lars Bo, Danish artist and writer, died (b. 1924)
On 21, Thursday October 1999, John Bromwich, Australian tennis player, died (b. 1918)
On 21, Tuesday October 2014, Gough Whitlam, Australia’s 21st Prime Minister, dies at the age of 98. He was well known for the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, which saw him dismissed from Parliament
On 21, Tuesday October 2014, Peter Trotter, 58, Paralympic wheelchair racer, died
On 21, Tuesday October 2014, Gough Whitlam, 98, Prime Minister (1972–1975), died
On 21, Tuesday October 2014, Ben Bradlee, American journalist, died (b. 1921)
On 21, Tuesday October 2014, Gough Whitlam, 21st Prime Minister of Australia, died (b. 1916)

Other On This Day days in history

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Neville Buch

Professional Historian at Professional Historians Association (Queensland) Inc.

Neville Buch (Pronounced Book) Ph.D. is a certified member of the Professional Historians Association (Queensland). Since 2010 he has operated a sole trade business in history consultancy. He was a Q ANZAC 100 Fellow 2014-2015 at the State Library of Queensland. Dr Buch was the PHA (Qld) e-Bulletin, the monthly state association’s electronic publication, and was a member of its Management Committee. He is the Managing Director of the Brisbane Southside History Network.

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