So you want to have a drink but you aren't sure why? Here are some GREAT reasons to call your friends over and have a party.

October 21st


- Apple Day (United Kingdom)
- Christian Feast Day:
- International Day of the Nacho (Mexico and USA)
- National Nurses' Day (Thailand)
- Overseas Chinese Day (Republic of China)
- Trafalgar Day (the British Empire in the 19th and early 20th Century)

October 21st


- 2003 - Images of the dwarf planet Eris are taken and subsequently used in documenting its discovery by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz.
- 1994 - North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea and the United States sign an agreement that requires North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons program and agree to inspections.
- 1994 - In Seoul, 32 people are killed when the Seongsu Bridge collapses.
- 1987 - Jaffna hospital massacre is carried out by Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 70 ethnic Tamil patients, doctors and nurses.
- 1986 - In Lebanon, pro-Iranian kidnappers claim to have abducted American writer Edward Tracy (he is released in August 1991).
- 1983 - The metre is defined at the seventeenth General Conference on Weights and Measures as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.
- 1979 - Moshe Dayan resigns from the Israeli government because of strong disagreements with Prime Minister Menachem Begin over policy towards the Arabs.
- 1978 - Australian civilian pilot Frederick Valentich vanishes in a Cessna 182 over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft.
- 1977 - The European Patent Institute is founded.
- 1973 - John Paul Getty III's ear is cut off by his kidnappers and sent to a newspaper in Rome; it doesn't arrive until November 8.
- 1973 - Fred Dryer of the then Los Angeles Rams becomes the first player in NFL history to score two safeties in the same game.
- 1969 - A coup d'état in Somalia brings Siad Barre to power.
- 1967 - Vietnam War: More than 100,000 war protesters gather in Washington, D.C.. A peaceful rally at the Lincoln Memorial is followed by a march to The Pentagon and clashes with soldiers and United States Marshals protecting the facility. Similar demonstrations occurred simultaneously in Japan and Western Europe.
- 1966 - Aberfan disaster: A slag heap collapses on the village of Aberfan in Wales, killing 144 people, mostly schoolchildren.
- 1965 - Comet Ikeya-Seki approaches perihelion, passing 450,000 kilometers from the sun.
- 1959 - In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, opens to the public.
- 1959 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order transferring Wernher von Braun and other German scientists from the United States Army to NASA.
- 1945 - Women's suffrage: Women are allowed to vote in France for the first time.
- 1945 - Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón marries actress Evita.
- 1944 - The first kamikaze attack: A Japanese plane carrying a 200 kilograms (440 lb) bomb attacks HMAS Australia off Leyte Island, as the Battle of Leyte Gulf began.
- 1921 - President Warren G. Harding delivers the first speech by a sitting President against lynching in the deep south.
- 1921 - George Melford's silent film, The Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino, premiers.
- 1912 - During the First Balkan War, Kardzhali is liberated by Bulgarian forces
- 1902 - In the United States, a five month strike by United Mine Workers ends.
- 1895 - The Republic of Formosa collapses as Japanese forces invade.
- 1892 - Opening ceremonies for the World's Columbian Exposition are held in Chicago, though because construction was behind schedule, the exposition did not open until May 1, 1893.
- 1879 - Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric incandescent light bulb (it lasted 13˝ hours before burning out).
- 1867 - Manifest Destiny: Medicine Lodge Treaty – Near Medicine Lodge, Kansas a landmark treaty is signed by southern Great Plains Indian leaders. The treaty requires Native American Plains tribes to relocate a reservation in western Oklahoma.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Battle of Ball's Bluff – Union forces under Colonel Edward Baker are defeated by Confederate troops in the second major battle of the war. Baker, a close friend of Abraham Lincoln, is killed in the fighting.
- 1854 - Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses are sent to the Crimean War.
- 1824 - Joseph Aspdin patents Portland cement.
- 1816 - The Penang Free School is founded in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, by the Rev Hutchings. It is the oldest English-language school in Southeast Asia.
- 1805 - Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Trafalgar: A British fleet led by Vice Admiral Lord Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet off the coast of Spain under Admiral Villeneuve. It signals almost the end of French maritime power and leaves Britain's navy unchallenged until the twentieth century.
- 1805 - Napoleonic Wars: Austrian General Mack surrenders his army to the Grand Army of Napoleon at the Battle of Ulm. 30,000 prisoners are captured and 10,000 casualties inflicted on the losers.
- 1797 - In Boston Harbor, the 44-gun United States Navy frigate USS Constitution is launched.
- 1774 - First display of the word "Liberty" on a flag, raised by colonists in Taunton, Massachusetts in defiance of British rule in Colonial America.
- 1600 - Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats the leaders of rival Japanese clans in the Battle of Sekigahara, which marks the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate that in effect rules Japan until the mid-nineteenth century.
- 1520 - Ferdinand Magellan discovers a strait now known as Strait of Magellan.
- 1512 - Martin Luther joins the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg.
- 1096 - People's Crusade: The Turkish army annihilates the People's Army of the West.

October 21st


- 1992 - Bernard Tomic, Australian tennis player
- 1990 - Ricky Rubio, Spanish basketball player
- 1986 - Chibuzor Chilaka, Nigerian footballer
- 1986 - Natalee Holloway, American missing person (missing since 2005)
- 1984 - Tom Brandstater, American football player
- 1984 - Kenny Cooper, American footballer
- 1984 - Anouk Leblanc-Boucher, Canadian speed skater
- 1984 - Marvin Mitchell, American football player
- 1984 - Kieran Richardson, English footballer
- 1983 - Ninet Tayeb, Israeli singer
- 1983 - Shelden Williams, American basketball player
- 1983 - Zack Greinke, American baseball player
- 1983 - Andy Marté, Dominican baseball player
- 1983 - Charlotte Sullivan, Canadian actress
- 1982 - James White, American basketball player
- 1982 - Matt Dallas, American actor
- 1982 - Ray Ventrone, American football player
- 1982 - Lee Chong Wei, Malaysian badminton player
- 1982 - Tim Wildsmith, American musician
- 1981 - Martin Castrogiovanni, Argentine-born Italian rugby player
- 1981 - Nemanja Vidi?, Serbian footballer
- 1980 - Kim Kardashian, American socialite, model and reality television star
- 1980 - Brian Pittman, American musician (Relient K)
- 1979 - Khalil Greene, American baseball player
- 1979 - Gabe Gross, American baseball player
- 1978 - Will Estes, American actor
- 1978 - Joey Harrington, American football player
- 1978 - Henrik Klingenberg, Member of Finnish band, Sonata Arctica
- 1976 - Jeremy Miller, American actor
- 1976 - Lavinia Milo?ovici, Romanian gymnast
- 1976 - Josh Ritter, American musician
- 1976 - Mélanie Turgeon, Canadian alpine skier
- 1975 - Toby Hall, American baseball player
- 1975 - Henrique Hilário, Portuguese footballer
- 1974 - Costel Busuioc, Romanian tenor
- 1973 - Lera Auerbach, Russian composer
- 1972 - Felicity Andersen, Australian actress
- 1972 - Saffron Burrows, English actress
- 1972 - Masakazu Morita, seiyu and actor
- 1972 - Matthew Friedberger, American musician (The Fiery Furnaces)
- 1972 - Evhen Tsybulenko, Ukrainian professor of international law
- 1971 - Paul Norman Telfer, Scottish footballer
- 1971 - Thomas Ulsrud, Norwegian curler
- 1971 - Conor O'Shea, Irish rugby player
- 1971 - Damien Martyn, Australian cricketer
- 1971 - Jade Jagger, Socialite and Jewellery Designer
- 1971 - Nick Oliveri, American musician
- 1970 - Louis Koo, Hong Kong actor
- 1969 - Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, crown prince of Bahrain
- 1969 - Mo Lewis, American football player
- 1969 - Michael Hancock, Australian rugby league footballer
- 1968 - Alexandros Alexandris, Greek footballer
- 1968 - Kerstin Andreae, German politician
- 1968 - Melora Walters, American actress
- 1967 - Paul Ince, English footballer
- 1965 - Hisashi Imai, Japanese musician (BUCK-TICK, Lucy)
- 1965 - Ion Andoni Goikoetxea, Spanish footballer
- 1964 - Jon Carin, American musician (Pink Floyd, The Who)
- 1962 - David Campese, Australian rugby union footballer
- 1959 - George Bell, Dominican baseball player
- 1959 - Tony Ganios, American Actor
- 1959 - Andy Picheta, English film director
- 1959 - Rose McDowall, Scottish musician
- 1959 - Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
- 1957 - Julian Cope, English musician and writer
- 1957 - Wolfgang Ketterle, German physicist, Nobel laureate
- 1957 - Steve Lukather, American musician
- 1956 - Carrie Fisher, American actress and writer
- 1955 - Rich Mullins, American musician (d. 1997)
- 1954 - Brian Tobin, Canadian premier of Newfoundland
- 1953 - Keith Green, American musician (d. 1982)
- 1953 - Peter Mandelson, British politician
- 1953 - Charlotte Caffey, American musician (The Go-Go's)
- 1952 - Allen Hoey, American poet and novelist
- 1952 - Brent Mydland, American keyboardist (Grateful Dead) (d. 1990)
- 1952 - Trevor Chappell, Australian cricketer
- 1952 - Patti Davis, American actress and novelist, daughter of Ronald Reagan
- 1950 - Ronald McNair, American astronaut (d. 1986)
- 1949 - Michel Bričre, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1971)
- 1949 - Mike Keenan, Canadian ice hockey coach
- 1949 - Benjamin Netanyahu, 9th Prime Minister of Israel
- 1948 - Shaye Cohen, Historian and Professor at Harvard University
- 1948 - Tom Everett, American actor
- 1946 - Jim Hill, American sportscaster
- 1946 - Lux Interior, American singer (The Cramps) (d. 2009)
- 1946 - Lee Loughnane, American musician
- 1945 - Everett McGill, American actor
- 1943 - Tariq Ali, Pakistani author and historian
- 1942 - Elvin Bishop, American musician
- 1942 - Judy Sheindlin, American judge ("Judge Judy")
- 1942 - Allan Grice, Australian racing driver
- 1942 - Lou Lamoriello, New Jersey Devils General Manager
- 1941 - Steve Cropper, American musician
- 1940 - Geoff Boycott, English cricketer
- 1940 - Manfred Mann, English musician
- 1940 - Frances FitzGerald, American journalist and author
- 1938 - Carl Brewer, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2001)
- 1931 - Vivian Pickles, English actress
- 1930 - Ivan Stepanovich Silayev, Last prime minister of the Soviet Union
- 1929 - Ursula K. Le Guin, American author
- 1928 - Whitey Ford, American baseball player
- 1927 - Fritz Wintersteller, Austrian mountaineer who made the first ascent of Broad Peak
- 1925 - Louis J. Robichaud, Canadian premier of New Brunswick (d. 2005)
- 1924 - Celia Cruz, Cuban singer, Queen of Salsa (d. 2003)
- 1924 - Joyce Randolph, American actress
- 1922 - Liliane Bettencourt, heir to L'Oreal
- 1921 - Sir Malcolm Arnold, British composer (d. 2006)
- 1918 - Milton Himmelfarb, American sociographer (d. 2006)
- 1917 - Dizzy Gillespie, American jazz musician (d. 1993)
- 1914 - Martin Gardner, American mathematician and writer (d. 2010)
- 1912 - Sir Georg Solti, Hungarian conductor (d. 1997)
- 1912 - Alfredo Pián, Argentine racing driver (d. 1990)
- 1907 - Nikos Engonopoulos, Greek painter and poet (d. 1985)
- 1906 - Lillian Asplund, last American Titanic survivor (d. 2006)
- 1904 - Patrick Kavanagh, Irish poet (d. 1967)
- 1898 - Eduard Pütsep, Estonian wrestler and Olympic medalist (d. 1960)
- 1895 - Edna Purviance, American actress (d. 1958)
- 1894 - Rampo Edogawa, Japanese author and critic (d. 1965)
- 1886 - Eugene Burton Ely, American aviation pioneer (d. 1911)
- 1884 - Claire Waldoff, German singer and entertainer (d. 1957)
- 1851 - George Ulyett, English cricketer (d. 1898)
- 1847 - Giuseppe Giacosa, Italian writer (d. 1906)
- 1845 - Will Carleton, American poet (d. 1912)
- 1833 - Alfred Nobel, Swedish inventor and founder of the Nobel Prize (d. 1896)
- 1790 - Alphonse de Lamartine, French writer (d. 1869)
- 1775 - Giuseppe Baini, Italian composer (d. 1844)
- 1772 - Samuel Taylor Coleridge, British poet (d. 1834)
- 1762 - Herman Willem Daendels, Dutch statesman (d. 1818)
- 1757 - Pierre Augereau, Marshal of France and duc de Castiglione (d. 1816)
- 1725 - Franz Moritz Graf von Lacy, Austrian field marshal (d. 1801)
- 1712 - Sir James Steuart, British economist (d. 1780)
- 1687 - Nicolaus I Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1759)
- 1675 - Emperor Higashiyama of Japan (d. 1710)
- 1660 - Georg Ernst Stahl, German scientist (d. 1734)
- 1650 - Jean Bart, French admiral (d. 1702)
- 1581 - Domenico Zampieri, Italian painter (d. 1641)
- 1527 - Louis I, Cardinal of Guise, French cardinal (d. 1578)
- 1449 - George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV and Richard III (d. 1478)