21 October It Happened Today

1772  Birth of the English poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

1789  Martial law is declared in France.

1805  Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson the British commander at Trafalgar, defeats the French under Admiral Villeneuve but is mortally wounded by a French sniper and dies aboard HMS Victory.

1923  The worlds first Planetarium is opened in Munich.

1966  The small Welsh mining village of Aberfan is hit by disaster when the local school is engulfed by a coal tip which slipped down the mountainside.

1967  Norman Mailer, the American writer and journalist is arrested at an anti-vietnam peace demonstration.

1969  Willy Brandt elected Chancellor of West Germany.

1969  The writer Jack Kerouac dies aged 47.

1973  Sydney Opera House is officially opened.