October 21 Birthday
On October 21, 1805, Admiral Horatio Nelson defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar. Nelson's fleet of 27 ships destroyed 22 of 33 enemy ships without losing a single one. Nelson was shot by a French sniper and died on the deck of HMS Victory. His last words: "Kiss me, Hardy." Nelson's body was preserved in a cask of brandy for the voyage home. Trafalgar ensured British naval supremacy for a century. Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square is 169 feet tall and guarded by four bronze lions. Carrie Fisher, born this day in 1956, was nineteen when she played Princess Leia in Star Wars. She struggled with bipolar disorder and addiction, and wrote about both with brutal honesty. Postcards from the Edge (1987) was semi-autobiographical. She died in 2016. Her mother, Debbie Reynolds, died the next day. People born on October 21 fall under the zodiac sign of Libra. The birthstone is Opal and the birth flower is Marigold. Historical events on October 21 include 1797: USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") launched in Boston, 1805: Battle of Trafalgar — Nelson defeats combined French-Spanish fleet, 1879: Thomas Edison demonstrates first practical incandescent light bulb. Famous people born on October 21 include Carrie Fisher (1956), Ken Watanabe (1959), Kim Kardashian (1980).