About the day » Thursday October 21, 1897Calender converter

• Aldegonda Agnes Steegs, Venlo, Limburg, Nederland († 1978)
• Ada Smith, Mount Olive, Macoupin County, Illinois († 1983)
• Aagje Zwaan, Graft, Noord-Holland, Nederland
• Albert Sier, Volendam
• Aaltje Koopman, Veenoord, Sleen
• Afke Uilkes Nijenhuis, Schoterland, Friesland, Nederland
• Aaltje Libbes Bergsma, ,, Haulerwijk, Ooststellingwerf, Friesland, Netherlands († 1977)
• Adrianus Johannes van Dijk, Moergestel, Noord-Brabant, Nederland
• Akke Jetzes WILDSCHUT, Wymbritseradeel Friesland Netherlands († 1985)
• Adrianus van Lit, Geldermalsen († 1958)

• Anthonie Boidin (97), Oostburg
• Anna van den Bleek (71), Ede, Ede, Gelderland, Netherlands
• Adriana Paula Bourgoignie (4), Oostende
• Anna Marie Gerhardine Bartels (31), Neuenwege, Niedersachsen, Deutschland
• Ann Eliza Payn (48), Saint Pancras, Middlesex, England
• Berendje de Kleine (77), Marum, Groningen, Nederland
• Arnoldus Grob (64), Herwen en Aerdt, Gelderland, Nederland
• Janzen (0), Altharen, Haren (Ems), Landkreis Emsland, Lower Saxony, Germany
• Adriaan Arie Rossen (62), Dinteloord en Prinsenland, Noord-Brabant, Nederland
• Aleida Johanna Meinen (1), Sheboygan County, Wisconsin

• 1886 » Eugene Burton Ely, American soldier and pilot († 1911)
• 1887 » Krishna Singh, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Bihar († 1961)
• 1894 » Edogawa Ranpo, Japanese author and critic († 1965)
• 1895 » Edna Purviance, American actress († 1958)
• 1895 » Paavo Johansson, Finnish javelin thrower and decathlete († 1983)
• 1896 » Esther Shumiatcher-Hirschbein, Russian-Canadian poet and screenwriter (d.1985)
• 1898 » Eduard Pütsep, Estonian wrestler and actor († 1960)
• 1900 » Andrée Boisson, French Olympic fencer († 1973)
• 1907 » Nikos Engonopoulos, Greek painter and poet († 1985)
• 1908 » Niyazi Berkes, Cypriot-English sociologist and academic († 1988)

• 1861 » Edward Dickinson Baker, American congressman and colonel (b. 1811)
• 1872 » Jacques Babinet, French physicist, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1794)
• 1873 » Johan Sebastian Welhaven, Norwegian author, poet, and critic (b. 1807)
• 1896 » James Henry Greathead, South African-English engineer (b. 1844)
• 1903 » Jinmaku Kyūgorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 12th Yokozuna (b. 1829)
• 1904 » Isabelle Eberhardt, Swiss explorer and journalist (b. 1877)
• 1907 » Jules Chevalier, French priest, founded the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (b. 1824)
• 1931 » Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian author and playwright (b. 1862)
• 1938 » Dorothy Hale, American actress (b. 1905)
• 1940 » William G. Conley, American journalist, lawyer, and politician, 18th Governor of West Virginia (b. 1866)

• Koningin Wilhelmina (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1890 till 1948 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• Regentes Emma (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1890 till 1898 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from May 9, 1894 to July 27, 1897 the cabinet Roëll, with Jonkheer mr. J. Roëll (oud-liberaal) as prime minister.
• In The Netherlands , there was from July 27, 1897 to August 1, 1901 the cabinet Pierson, with Mr. N.G. Pierson (unie-liberaal) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 5.1 million citizens.
• February 1 » Shinhan Bank, the oldest bank in South Korea, opens in Seoul.
• April 18 » The Greco-Turkish War is declared between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.
• May 26 » Dracula, a Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, is published.
• September 1 » The Tremont Street Subway in Boston opens, becoming the first underground rapid transit system in North America.
• September 11 » After months of pursuit, generals of Menelik II of Ethiopia capture Gaki Sherocho, the last king of Kaffa, bringing an end to that ancient kingdom.
• December 30 » The British Colony of Natal annexes Zululand.

The temperature on October 21, 1897 was about 13.2 °C. The airpressure was 78 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 75%.