New York Times Archive
On This Day
October 21
What the New York Times reported on October 21 throughout history — spanning 1969 to 2021.
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October 21 in History
— 1980s · 6 stories
1989
37y ago
1980s
In Honduras, 131 people are killed when a Boeing 727 crashes on approach to Toncontín International Airport near the nation's capital Tegucigalpa.
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1987
39y ago
1980s
The Jaffna hospital massacre is carried out by Indian peacekeeping forces in Sri Lanka, killing 70 Tamil patients, doctors and nurses.
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1986
40y ago
1980s
In Lebanon, pro-Iran kidnappers claim to have abducted American writer Edward Tracy (he is released in August 1991).
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1984
42y ago
1980s
Niki Lauda claims his third and final Formula One Drivers' Championship Title by half a point ahead of McLaren team-mate Alain Prost at the Portuguese Grand Prix.
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1983
43y ago
1980s
The metre is defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.
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1981
45y ago
1980s
Andreas Papandreou becomes Prime Minister of Greece, ending an almost 50-year-long system of power dominated by conservative forces.
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