1945
Oct 21, Women in France were allowed to vote for the first time.
1979
Oct 21, In SF the body of Mary Frances Bennett was found at Lands End. She had been stabbed at least 25 times. In 2010 DNA evidence tied her murder to David Joseph Carpenter, who was on death row at San Quentin for 7 other murders.
1992
Oct 21, Shirley Booth, actress (Hazel), died at 94.
1994 Oct 21, The wife of CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames, Rosario Ames, was sentenced to five years in prison for her role in her husband's espionage.

2007
Oct 21, In Brazil a girl (15) was arrested on accusations of breaking and entering a house and jailed with male inmates in Abaetetuba, Para state. She was locked up for weeks with 21 men who she said would only let her eat in return for sex. By her account, officials did nothing, until the story erupted in the national media and outraged Brazilians demanded her transfer.

2009
Oct 21, Alyssa Bustamante (15) of St. Martins, Mo., strangled, stabbed and cut the throat of Elizabeth Olten (9). She told authorities she did it because she wanted to know what it was like to kill someone. On Feb 8, 2012, Bustamante was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
2011
Oct 21, In China Wang Yue, a 2-year-old girl who was twice run over by vans and then ignored by passers-by on a busy market street on Oct 13, died today, one week after the accident and after days of bitter soul-searching over declining morality in the country. Police soon arrested two drivers suspected of running over a toddler. Hu Jun (24) was charged with causing the wrongful death of the girl.