CIIC:Selected anniversaries/October 21

1874: The patriotic overseas Chinese Tan Kah Kee's birthday

1944: In consideration of the vacancies for Special Forces and lower graded cadres in the army garrison in India and the expeditionary force in Burma, and also because the Allies needed a large number of translators in China, Chiang Kai-shek launched a campaign that appealed to 100,000 educated youth to volunteer for service.

1949: The Government Administrative Council, the cabinet of the People's Republic of China, established.

1994: Seventeen people were killed and more than 30 others injured when a train collided with a shuttle bus of Beinei Group at an unattended crossing in Chaoyang district, Beijing.

1997: Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting, the inaugural volume of The Cultural and Civilization of China series of books co-published by the U.S. and China was issued in Beijing.

2001: The 9th APEC Informal Leadership Meeting was held in Shanghai.