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Made for the 250thOn this day › October 21
What happened on October 21 in American history
October 21 is the 294th day of the year (the 295th in leap years). Patriot Compass has published 7 stories from October 21 spanning 1774 to 2011. Among them: in 1774, a Massachusetts town raises the first flag to carry the word "liberty"; and in 1797, Third time holds: Constitution finally slides into Boston Harbor.
1774Member story · 1776 Club
A Massachusetts town raises the first flag to carry the word "liberty"
The banner still flies the King's colors, with Liberty and Union stitched across the bottom.
1797Member story · 1776 Club
Third time holds: Constitution finally slides into Boston Harbor
Two failed launches in September gave way to a bottle of Madeira and a long-awaited splash.
1861
A sitting senator falls at Ball's Bluff; his men are driven into the Potomac
Boats swamp under the weight of fleeing soldiers as a Mississippi regiment breaks the Union line at dusk.
1879Member story · 1776 Club
A carbon filament glows for thirteen and a half hours straight at Menlo Park
The test convinces Edison his lamp is ready for the patent office.
1959
Eisenhower signs over the Army's rocket men; von Braun now works for NASA
The order strips most of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and hands its hardware and people to the year-old civilian space agency.
1959
Wright's spiral museum opens its doors on Fifth Avenue
The architect died in April; the building he fought sixteen years to see built opened without him in October.
2011Member story · 1776 Club
Obama says all U.S. troops leave Iraq by December 31
The announcement follows a collapsed deal to keep an American training force in the country past the deadline.
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