Today is Friday, October 21, the 294th day of 2011. There are 71 days left in the year.
2137 B.C. ― First recorded total eclipse of the sun seen in China
1520 ― Magellan entered the strait which bears his name
1553 ― Volumes of the Talmud are burned
1805 ― Battle of Trafalgar, Admiral Nelson defeats French & Spanish fleet and dies
1879 ― Thomas Edison perfects the carbonized cotton filament light bulb
1945 ― Women in France allowed to vote for first time
1948 ― Facsimile high-speed radio transmission demonstrated (Washington, D.C.)
1950 ― Chinese forces occupy Tibet
1967 ― Thousands opposing Vietnam War try to storm the Pentagon
1988 ― Ferdinand & Imelda Marcos indicted on racketeering charges