1. On October 21, 1944, the USS Massachusetts participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines during World War II. The battleship helped sink several Japanese naval vessels and received a Navy Presidential Unit Citation for its actions during the battle.

2. In 1795, the first turnpike in the United States was chartered in Massachusetts on October 21. The Worcester and Charlton Turnpike was a toll road that connected Worcester to Charlton.

3. On October 21, 1774, the first Provincial Congress of Massachusetts met in Concord to discuss the Coercive Acts, a series of punitive measures passed by the British government in response to the Boston Tea Party. The Congress issued a Declaration of Rights that declared taxation without representation to be unjust.

4. The Beverly Cotton Manufactory, the first factory in America to combine spinning and weaving in one building, was established on October 21, 1787. The factory was founded by John Cabot and became a model for future textile mills in New England.

5. On October 21, 1790, John Adams, the second president of the United States, laid the cornerstone of the Massachusetts State House in Boston. The building, which was completed in 1798, is still the seat of the state government today.