October 21 to 24

October 21
1520  Ferdinand Magellan discovered a strait now known as Strait of Magellan.
1805  A British fleet commanded by Adm. Horatio Nelson defeated a French and Spanish fleet in the Battle of Trafalgar; Nelson was killed in battle.
1833  Alfred Bernhard Nobel, Swedish chemist, was born.
1879  Thomas Edison invented a workable electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, NJ.
1917  American soldiers first saw action in WW I on the front lines in France.

October 22
741   Charles Martel, leader of the Franks, died.
1734  Daniel Boone, American pioneer and hunter, was born.
1797  French balloonist Andre-Jacques Garnerin made the first parachute descent, landing safely from a height of 3,200 feet.
1811  Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist and composer, was born.
1964  Canada: A Multi-Party Parliamentary Committee selected the design which became the new official Flag of Canada.

October 23
1707  The first Parliament of Great Britain met.
1885  Lawren Harris, Canadian painter, was born.
1939  Zane Grey, American author, died. (b. 1872)
1946  The United Nations General Assembly convenes for the first time, at an auditorium in Flushing, Queens, New York City.
2001  Apple announced the iPod.

October 24
1260  The spectacular Cathedral of Chartres was dedicated in the presence of King Louis IX of France. The cathedral is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
1601  Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer died. (b. 1546)
1648  The Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Year's War and effectively, the Holy Roman Empire.
1911  Orville Wright remains in the air 9 minutes and 45 seconds in a Wright Glider at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.
1929  "Black Thursday" stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange.
1945  The United Nations charter took effect.
2003  The era of supersonic jet travel came to an end as three British Airways Concordes landed at London's Heathrow Airport.