October 21 edit
1638: A severe storm known as The Great Thunderstorm produced an occurrence of what may have been ball lightning in a church in Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor, England, killing four people.
1971: The ITOS-B weather satellite was launched but failed to reach orbit and burnt up on reentry, due to a malfunction in the Delta rocket meant to deliver it.
1972: Cyclone Bebe struck Funafuti atoll in the Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu), completely flooding the island and killing 6 people.
1998: Typhoon Babs struck the Philippines just days after the destructive landfall of Typhoon Zeb, killing more than 300 people.