 "The Rani of Jhansi Regiment was formed as the women’s unit of the INA. Dr. Lakshmi Sehgal led this regiment. File Image")
On October 21 in 1943, Subhas Chandra Bose declared the Provisional Government of Free India, igniting hopes of independence through the Azad Hind movement.
In 1879, Thomas Edison perfected the practical incandescent light bulb, revolutionising human life.
The same date in 1967 saw massive anti-Vietnam War protests in Washington, symbolising a generation’s call for peace.
And in 1966, tragedy struck Aberfan, Wales, when a coal waste collapse killed 144 people, exposing industrial negligence.
We take a look at these events marking October 21 as part of Firstpost’s History Today series.
The birth of the Azad Hind Government
On October 21, 1943, amid the turbulence of the Second World War, Subhas Chandra Bose made one of the most consequential proclamations in India’s struggle for independence — the establishment of the Provisional Government of Free India, or Azad Hind Sarkar, in Singapore.
This was not merely a symbolic act of defiance; it represented a radical attempt to assert India’s sovereignty outside the control of the British Raj and rally international support for liberation through armed struggle.
Bose, known reverently as Netaji, had long grown disillusioned with the pace of India’s non-violent freedom movement led by Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress.
His belief that British rule could not be dismantled through peaceful protest drove him toward revolutionary nationalism.
After escaping house arrest in Calcutta in 1941, he made his way through Afghanistan, the Soviet Union, and eventually to Germany, where he sought Axis support to free India.
By 1943, he had moved to Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia, where he took charge of the Indian National Army (INA) — a force initially organised by Mohan Singh and supported by Japan, composed mainly of Indian prisoners of war captured during the Malayan campaign.
The Provisional Government of Free India was officially inaugurated at Singapore’s Cathay Building, with Bose as its Head of State, Prime Minister, and Minister for War and Foreign Affairs.
The cabinet also included prominent INA figures and civilians such as Captain Lakshmi Swaminathan, who led the Rani of Jhansi Regiment — the first all-female combat unit in Asia.
The Azad Hind Government adopted “Jai Hind” as its national greeting, chose “Kadam Kadam Badaye Ja” as its marching song, and selected the tricolour flag with a springing tiger as its emblem — a bold reimagining of India’s sovereignty under colonial rule.
The newly formed government immediately sought international recognition. Within weeks, the Axis powers — including Japan, Germany, Italy, Croatia, and Thailand — formally acknowledged Azad Hind as a legitimate authority.
The Empire of Japan, under Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, pledged to support Bose’s mission by ceding control of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which Bose renamed Shaheed (Martyr) and Swaraj (Self-Rule) Islands, respectively.
These islands were the first Indian territories claimed to be “liberated” from British control, though actual administrative authority remained heavily dependent on Japan.
The INA, now under Bose’s command, became the military arm of this provisional government. Its aim was audacious — to march into India from Burma (Myanmar) and raise the tricolour on Indian soil.
In early 1944, INA forces advanced alongside Japanese troops into northeastern India, capturing parts of Arakan and Manipur, and even hoisting the Indian flag in Moirang, near Imphal.
However, the advance faltered at the Battle of Imphal and Kohima, where Allied resistance and logistical difficulties led to devastating losses.
The Japanese retreat marked the end of Azad Hind’s military campaign, though the symbolic power of the effort endured long after.
The collapse of Japan in 1945 effectively ended Bose’s short-lived government. On August 18, 1945, he reportedly died in a plane crash in Taipei, though mystery and speculation about his fate persist to this day.
Nevertheless, the INA trials that followed — where captured officers were tried by the British at the Red Fort — galvanised public opinion across India. The defendants were seen as national heroes, and protests erupted in cities demanding their release.
The trials, coupled with widespread discontent in the British Indian armed forces — particularly the Royal Indian Navy mutiny of 1946 — revealed the deepening cracks in Britain’s ability to hold India.
The Azad Hind Government remains one of the most fascinating chapters of India’s independence movement — a revolutionary effort that demonstrated the global dimensions of India’s anti-colonial struggle.
It also reflected Bose’s complex political philosophy: an uncompromising nationalism combined with socialist and authoritarian elements, framed by the realities of global war.
While the Axis alliance tainted the movement in the eyes of some contemporaries, many historians now regard Bose’s actions as a parallel path to freedom that challenged British imperial legitimacy at a critical historical moment.
Today, the Provisional Government of Free India is remembered as a bold assertion of sovereignty before independence was formally achieved.
Thomas Edison’s practical incandescent light bulb
On October 21, 1879, Thomas Edison conducted a successful test of his practical incandescent light bulb at his Menlo Park laboratory in New Jersey, marking a defining moment in technological history.
While Edison did not invent the concept of electric light — several inventors before him, including Humphry Davy and Joseph Swan, had created earlier prototypes — he achieved what they could not: a reliable, long-lasting, and commercially viable solution.
Edison’s breakthrough came from perfecting the filament, the thin wire inside the bulb that glows when electricity passes through it. After testing over 6,000 materials, he found that carbonised bamboo could burn for more than 1,200 hours.
On October 21, his team recorded the first successful 13.5-hour test, proving the concept’s viability. This moment marked the beginning of an electrified age.
Within months, Edison had patented his design and began building the infrastructure for electricity distribution, transforming cities and industries around the world.
His achievement on this day laid the foundation for the modern electric era, bringing artificial light into everyday life and extending the productive hours of human civilisation.
Vietnam war protest
On October 21, 1967, more than 100,000 protesters gathered in Washington, DC, to demonstrate against the escalating Vietnam War, marking one of the largest anti-war protests in US history.
Organised by groups like the National Mobilisation Committee to End the War in Vietnam, the protest symbolised growing public outrage over American involvement in Southeast Asia.
A core group of around 50,000 marchers moved toward the Pentagon, where they were met by thousands of armed troops.
The demonstration, peaceful at first, turned confrontational as protesters attempted to “exorcise” the building in a symbolic act of resistance. More than 600 arrests were made, and the images of young Americans confronting soldiers became defining visuals of the era.
This protest reflected a shifting national mood: the early patriotic consensus around the war had fractured. The demonstration also influenced the cultural movement of the late 1960s, fuelling songs, literature, and films that questioned authority and celebrated dissent.
By the early 1970s, such movements had profoundly changed public discourse, hastening America’s withdrawal from Vietnam and reshaping its understanding of civic protest.
The Aberfan disaster
On October 21, 1966, tragedy struck the Welsh mining village of Aberfan when a massive coal waste tip collapsed and engulfed Pantglas Junior School and nearby homes.
The avalanche of slurry killed 144 people, including 116 children — nearly an entire generation of the small community.
The collapse followed heavy rainfall that destabilised a coal spoil heap placed atop a natural spring. Despite prior warnings from residents and engineers about the site’s instability, the National Coal Board (NCB) failed to act.
The disaster shocked Britain and exposed deep negligence in industrial regulation.
In the aftermath, a tribunal found the NCB responsible, yet none of its officials were criminally prosecuted. Queen Elizabeth II visited Aberfan eight days later, a visit she later described as one of the most difficult of her reign.
The tragedy prompted major reforms in mining safety and waste management laws in the United Kingdom, ensuring that such a disaster would never occur again.
With inputs from agencies