From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
August 21 is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 132 days remaining until the end of the year.
[edit] Events
- 1192 – Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the de facto ruler of Japan. (Traditional Japanese date: July 12, 1192)
- 1331 – King Stephen Uroš III, after months of anarchy, surrenders to his son and rival Stephen Dušan, who succeeds as King of Serbia.
- 1680 – Pueblo Indians capture Santa Fe from Spanish during the Pueblo Revolt.
- 1689 – The Battle of Dunkeld in Scotland.
- 1770 – James Cook formally claims eastern Australia for Great Britain, naming it New South Wales.
- 1772 – King Gustav III completes his coup d'état by adopting a new Constitution, ending half a century of parliamentary rule in Sweden and installing himself as an enlightened despot.
- 1778 – American Revolutionary War: British forces begin besieging the French outpost at Pondicherry.
- 1808 – Battle of Vimeiro: British and Portuguese forces led by General Arthur Wellesley defeat French force under Major-General Jean-Andoche Junot near the village of Vimeiro, Portugal, the first Anglo-Portuguese victory of the Peninsular War.
- 1810 – Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France, is elected Crown Prince of Sweden by the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates.
- 1821 – Jarvis Island is discovered by the crew of the ship, Eliza Frances.
- 1831 – Nat Turner leads black slaves and free blacks in a rebellion.
- 1852 – Tlingit Indians destroy Fort Selkirk, Yukon Territory.
- 1863 – Lawrence, Kansas is destroyed by Confederate guerrillas Quantrill's Raiders in the Lawrence Massacre.
- 1879 – The Virgin Mary, along with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist, reportedly appears at Knock Shrine in Knock, County Mayo, Ireland.
- 1888 – The first successful adding machine in the United States is patented by William Seward Burroughs.
- 1911 – The Mona Lisa is stolen by a Louvre employee.
- 1918 – World War I: The Second Battle of the Somme begins.
- 1942 – World War II: a Nazi flag is installed atop the Mount Elbrus.
- 1942 – World War II: the Guadalcanal campaign: American forces defeat an attack by Imperial Japanese Army soldiers in the Battle of the Tenaru.
- 1944 – Dumbarton Oaks Conference, prelude to the United Nations, begins.
- 1944 – World War II: Canadian and Polish units capture the strategically important town of Falaise, France.
- 1945 – Physicist Harry K. Daghlian, Jr. is fatally irradiated in a criticality incident during an experiment with the Demon core at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
- 1959 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order proclaiming Hawaii the 50th state of the union. Hawaii's admission is currently commemorated by Hawaii Admission Day
- 1961 – Motown releases what would be its first #1 hit, "Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes.
- 1963 – Xa Loi Pagoda raids: the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces loyal to Ngo Dinh Nhu, brother of President Ngo Dinh Diem, vandalises Buddhist pagodas across the country, arresting thousands and leaving an estimated hundreds dead.
- 1968 – Soviet Union-dominated Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia, crushing the Prague Spring; on the same day, Nicolae Ceauşescu, leader of Communist Romania, publicly condemns the Soviet maneuver, encouraging the Romanian population to arm itself against possible Soviet reprisals.
- 1968 – James Anderson, Jr. posthumously receives the first Medal of Honor to be awarded to an African American U.S. Marine.
- 1969 – An Australian, Michael Dennis Rohan, sets the Al-Aqsa Mosque on fire, a major catalyst of the formation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
- 1971 – A bomb exploded in the Liberal Party campaign rally in Plaza Miranda, Manila, Philippines with several anti-Marcos political candidates injured.
- 1976 – Operation Paul Bunyan at Panmunjeom, Korea.
- 1979 – Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defects to the United States.
- 1982 – Lebanese Civil War: The first troops of a multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the Palestine Liberation Organization's withdrawal from Lebanon.
- 1983 – Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr. is assassinated at the Manila International Airport (now renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport).
- 1986 – Carbon dioxide gas erupts from volcanic Lake Nyos in Cameroon, killing up to 1,800 people within a 20-kilometer range.
- 1991 – Latvia declares renewal of its full independence after the occupation of Soviet Union.
- 1991 – Coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev collapses.
- 1992 – Ruby Ridge Standoff in Idaho
- 1993 – NASA loses contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft.
- 2001 – NATO decides to send a peace-keeping force to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
- 2001 – The Red Cross announces that a famine is striking Tajikistan, and calls for international financial aid for Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
- 2007 – Hurricane Dean makes its first landfall in Costa Maya, Mexico with winds at 165 mph (266 km/h). Dean is the first storm since Hurricane Andrew to make landfall as a Category 5.
[edit] Births
- 1165 – King Philip II of France (d. 1223)
- 1535 – Shimazu Yoshihiro, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1619)
- 1567 – Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva and saint (d. 1622)
- 1597 – Roger Twysden, English antiquarian and royalist (d. 1672)
- 1643 – King Afonso VI of Portugal (d. 1683)
- 1660 – Hubert Gautier, French scientist and civil engineer (d. 1737)
- 1665 – Giacomo F. Maraldi, French-Italian astronomer (d. 1729)
- 1670 – James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, French military leader (d. 1734)
- 1725 – Jean-Baptiste Greuze, French painter (d. 1805)
- 1754 – William Murdoch, Scottish inventor (d. 1839)
- 1754 – Banastre Tarleton, British soldier and politician (d. 1833)
- 1765 – William IV of the United Kingdom (d. 1837)
- 1789 – Augustin Louis Cauchy, French mathematician (d. 1857)
- 1798 – Jules Michelet, French historian (d. 1874)
- 1800 – Hiram Walden, American politician (d. 1880)
- 1801 – Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, Dutch politician (d. 1876)
- 1813 – Jean Stas, Belgian chemist (d. 1891)
- 1816 – Charles Frédéric Gerhardt, French chemist (d. 1856)
- 1826 – Karl Gegenbaur, German anatomist (d. 1903)
- 1858 – Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria (d. 1889)
- 1869 – William Henry Ogilvie, Scottish/Australian poet (d. 1963)
- 1872 – Aubrey Beardsley, English illustrator (d. 1898)
- 1878 – Richard Girulatis, German football manager (d. 1963)
- 1879 – Claude Grahame-White, British pioneer aviator and builder (d. 1959)
- 1891 – Emiliano Mercado del Toro, World's oldest living man 2004-2007 (d. 2007)
- 1892 – Charles Vanel, French actor and director (d. 1989)
- 1902 – Angel Karaliychev, Bulgarian writer (d. 1972)
- 1904 – William "Count" Basie, American bandleader (d. 1984)
- 1906 – Friz Freleng, American movie animator (d. 1995)
- 1908 – M. M. Kaye, British writer (d. 2004)
- 1909 – Nikolay Bogolyubov, Russian mathematician (d. 1992)
- 1912 – Hector "Toe" Blake, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1995)
- 1915 – Raquel Rastenni, Danish singer (d. 1998)
- 1918 – Billy Reay, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Christopher Robin Milne, inspiration for the Winnie-the-Pooh stories (d. 1996)
- 1924 – Jack Buck, American sports announcer (d. 2002)
- 1924 – Chris Schenkel, American sports journalist (d. 2005)
- 1924 – Jack Weston, American actor (d. 1996)
- 1925 – Judy Grable, American professional wrestler (d. 2008)
- 1925 – Maurice Pialat, French actor and director (d. 2003)
- 1927 – Thomas S. Monson, 16th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)
- 1928 – Art Farmer, American trumpet player (d. 1999)
- 1928 – Bud McFadin, American football player (d. 2006)
- 1929 – X. J. Kennedy, American poet
- 1929 – Marie Severin, American comic book artist and colorist
- 1930 – Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (d. 2002)
- 1930 – Frank Perry, American film director (d. 1995)
- 1932 – Melvin Van Peebles, American actor and screenwriter
- 1933 – Janet Baker, English mezzo-soprano
- 1933 – Michael Dacher, German mountaineer (d. 1994)
- 1934 – Paul Panhuysen, Dutch composer, visual and sound artist
- 1934 – Sudhakarrao Naik, Indian politician( d. 2001)
- 1936 – Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player (d. 1999)
- 1936 – Radish Tordia, painter of Figurative Art from Georgia
- 1937 – Donald Dewar, First Minister of Scotland (d. 2000)
- 1937 – Robert Stone, American novelist
- 1937 – Gustavo Noboa, former President of Ecuador
- 1938 – Kenny Rogers, American singer and actor
- 1939 – James Burton, American guitarist
- 1939 – Clarence Williams III, American actor
- 1939 – Festus Mogae, president of Botswana
- 1940 – Endre Szemerédi, Hungarian mathematician
- 1943 – Hugh Wilson, American director, writer and actor
- 1944 – Jackie DeShannon, American singer
- 1944 – Peter Weir, Australian film director
- 1944 – Perry Christie, former prime minister of the Bahamas
- 1945 – Jerry DaVanon, baseball player
- 1945 – Patty McCormack, American actress
- 1945 – Basil Poledouris, American film score composer (d. 2006)
- 1947 – Carl Giammarese, American musician
- 1947 – Sándor Erdős, Hungarian fencer
- 1949 – Loretta Devine, American actress
- 1950 – Patrick Juvet, Swiss singer
- 1950 – Arthur Bremer, American criminal, who shot George C Wallace in May 1972.
- 1951 – Eric Goles, Chilean mathematician and computer scientist
- 1951 – Char Margolis, American medium
- 1951 – Harry Smith, American television journalist
- 1951 – Margo Kane, Canadian playwright.
- 1952 – Keith Hart, Canadian professional wrestler
- 1952 – Glenn Hughes, British bassist and vocalist (Finders Keepers/Trapeze/Deep Purple)
- 1952 – Jiří Paroubek, former Czech prime minister
- 1952 – Joe Strummer, British musician and singer (The Clash) (d. 2002)
- 1953 – Ivan Stang, American writer
- 1954 – Archie Griffin, former American football player and only two-time Heisman Trophy winner.
- 1954 – Chip Coffey, American psychic, medium and television personality.
- 1956 – Kim Cattrall, English-born actress
- 1956 – Jon Tester, US Senator from Montana
- 1957 – Steve Smith, American drummer (Journey)
- 1959 – Jim McMahon, American football player
- 1961 – David Morales, American disc jockey
- 1961 – Stephen Hillenburg, American animator and cartoonist
- 1961 – V. B. Chandrasekhar, Indian cricketer
- 1962 – John Korfas, Greek basketball player
- 1962 – Jeff Stryker, American actor
- 1962 – Tsutomu Miyazaki Japanese Serial killer (d. 2008)
- 1963 – King Mohammed VI of Morocco
- 1963 – Richmond Arquette, American actor
- 1964 – Trinity Loren, American actress and model (d. 1998)
- 1965 – Jim Bullinger, American baseball player
- 1965 – Caryn Mower, American actress, stuntwoman and former professional wrestler
- 1966 – John Wetteland, American player
- 1967 – Carrie-Anne Moss, Canadian actress
- 1967 – Serj Tankian, Armenian-born singer (System of a Down)
- 1967 – Darren Bewick, AFL footballer
- 1968 – Dina Carroll, British singer
- 1968 – Goran Ćurko, Serbian footballer
- 1969 – Josée Chouinard, Canadian figure skater
- 1970 – Craig Counsell, American baseball player
- 1970 – Nathan Jones, American professional wrestler
- 1970 – Erik Dekker, Dutch cyclist
- 1971 – Liam Howlett, British musician (The Prodigy)
- 1971 – Mamadou Diallo, Senegalese Soccer player
- 1971 – Robert Harvey, Australian Rules Footballer (St Kilda Football Club)
- 1973 – Steve McKenna, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1973 – Sergey Brin, Co-founder of Google
- 1973 – Nikolay Valuev, Russian boxer
- 1975 – Alicia Witt, American actress
- 1975 – Simon Katich, Australian cricketer
- 1976 – Alex Brooks, American ice hockey player
- 1976 – Jeff Cunningham, Jamaican American soccer player
- 1976 – Ramón Vázquez, Puerto Rican baseball player
- 1976 – Nikos Vertis, Greek singer
- 1978 – Peter Buxton, English rugby union player
- 1978 – Bhumika Chawla, Indian Actress
- 1978 – Reuben Droughns, American football player
- 1978 – Lee Gronkiewicz, American baseball player
- 1978 – Alan Lee, Irish footballer
- 1978 – Jason Marquis, American baseball player
- 1978 – Annie Wu, Taiwanese Actress
- 1979 – Kelis Rogers-Jones, American singer
- 1980 – Burney Lamar, American racing driver
- 1980 – Paul Menard, American racing driver
- 1980 – Jasmin Wöhr, German tennis player
- 1981 – Collie Buddz, Reggae & Dancehall artist
- 1981 – Jarrod Lyle, Australian Golfer
- 1981 – Tyler Winklevoss, American rower and entrepreneur
- 1981 – Cameron Winklevoss, American rower and entrepreneur
- 1982 – Jason Eaton, New Zealand All Black rugby player
- 1983 – Josh Harrington, American professional BMX rider
- 1983 – Chantelle Houghton, British TV personality
- 1983 – Brody Jenner, American actor
- 1983 – Scott McDonald, Australian footballer
- 1984 – Neil Dexter, South African cricketer
- 1984 – Alizée Jacotey, French singer
- 1984 – Melissa Schuman, American actress
- 1984 – B.J. Upton, American baseball player
- 1985 – Aleksandra Kiryashova, Russian pole vaulter
- 1985 – Melissa M, French singer
- 1985 – Kevin Nee, American strongman
- 1986 – Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter
- 1986 – Wout Brama, Dutch international footballer
- 1987 – Kim Kibum, a member of Korean boy band Super junior. actor and singer
- 1988 – Louise Setara, English singer-songwriter
- 1988 – Paris Bennett, American singer and finalist on American Idol (season 5)
- 1989 – Hayden Panettiere, American actress, model and singer
- 1989 – Judd Trump, English snooker player
- 1990 – Cameron Argon, American electronic and death metal musician
- 1990 – Bo Burnham, American comedic singer-songwriter and Internet Celebrity
- 1990 – Fabian Heimpel, German rugby player
- 1992 – Brad Kavanagh, English songwriter and actor
- 1996 – Jamia Simone Nash, American singer and actress
[edit] Deaths
- 1157 – King Alfonso VII of Castile (b. 1104/1105)
- 1153 – Bernard of Clairvaux, French theologian (b. 1090)
- 1271 – Alphonse of Toulouse, son of Louis VIII of France (b. 1220)
- 1581 – Sakuma Nobumori, Japanese retainer and samurai (b. 1527)
- 1614 – Elizabeth Báthory, Hungarian noble and alleged serial killer (b. 1560)
- 1627 – Jacques Mauduit, French composer (b. 1557)
- 1673 – Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford, English soldier
- 1689 – William Cleland, Scottish poet and soldier
- 1762 – Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer (b. 1689)
- 1763 – Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont, British statesman (b. 1710)
- 1796 – John McKinly, American physician and President of Delaware (b. 1721)
- 1814 – Benjamin Thompson, American physicist and inventor (b. 1753)
- 1836 – Claude-Louis Navier, French physicist (b. 1785)
- 1838 – Adelbert von Chamisso, German writer (b. 1781)
- 1854 – Thomas Clayton, American lawyer and politician (b. 1777)
- 1870 – Ma Xinyi, Chinese Viceroy of Liangjiang and statesman (b. 1821)
- 1910 – Bertalan Székely, Hungarian painter (b. 1835)
- 1926 – Ugyen Wangchuck, first king of Bhutan (b.1862)
- 1935 – John Hartley, English tennis player (b. 1849)
- 1940 – Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary (b. 1879)
- 1940 – Ernest Lawrence Thayer, American poet (b. 1863)
- 1940 – Hermann Obrecht, Swiss jurist (b. 1882)
- 1943 – Henrik Pontoppidan, Danish writer, Nobel Prize (b. 1857)
- 1947 – Ettore Bugatti, Italian automobile manufacturer (b. 1881)
- 1951 – Constant Lambert, British composer and conductor (b. 1905)
- 1957 – Harald Ulrik Sverdrup, Norwegian meteorologist and oceanographer (b. 1888)
- 1957 – Nels Stewart, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
- 1960 – David Barnard Steinman, American civil engineer and bridge designer (b. 1886)
- 1964 – Palmiro Togliatti, Italian communist leader (b. 1893)
- 1971 – George Jackson, American Black Panther Party figure (b. 1941)
- 1974 – Buford Pusser, American law enforcement official (b. 1937)
- 1978 – Charles Eames, American designer and architect (b. 1907)
- 1979 – Giuseppe Meazza, Italian footballer (b. 1910)
- 1981 – Michael Devine, 1981 Irish hunger strike figure (b. 1954)
- 1982 – Sobhuza II, King of Swaziland (b. 1899)
- 1983 – Benigno Aquino, Jr., Philippine opposition leader (b. 1932)
- 1988 – Ray Eames, American designer, artist and architect (b. 1912)
- 1988 – Teddy Diaz, Filipino rock guitarist (The Dawn) (b. 1963)
- 1989 – Raul Seixas, Brazilian singer (b. 1945)
- 1992 – Dai Vernon, Canadian magician (b. 1894)
- 1993 – Tatiana Troyanos, American mezzo-soprano (b. 1938)
- 1995 – Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Indian-born astrophysicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1910)
- 1997 – Yuri Nikulin, Russian clown and actor (b. 1921)
- 2000 – Daniel Lisulo, Prime Minister of Zambia (b. 1930)
- 2000 – Tomata du Plenty, artist and lead singer of The Screamers. (b. 1948)
- 2000 – Andrzej Zawada, Polish mountaineer (b. 1928)
- 2001 – Calum MacKay, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1927)
- 2003 – Kathy Wilkes, English philosopher and aid worker (b. 1946)
- 2003 – Wesley Willis, American musician (b. 1963)
- 2005 – Marcus Schmuck, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1925)
- 2005 – Robert Moog, American inventor (b. 1934)
- 2005 – Dahlia Ravikovitch, Israeli poet (b. 1936)
- 2005 – Martin Dillon, American opera singer (b. 1957)
- 2006 – Paul Fentener van Vlissingen, Dutch businessman and philanthropist (b. 1941)
- 2006 – Ustad Bismillah Khan, Indian musician (b. 1916)
- 2006 – S. Yizhar (aka Yizhar Smilansky), Israeli author (b. 1916)
- 2007 – Siobhan Dowd, British/Irish writer (b. 1960)
- 2007 – Elizabeth P. Hoisington, American Brigadier General (b. 1918)
- 2007 – Haley Paige, American pornographic actress (b. 1981)
- 2008 – Jerry Finn, American record producer (b. 1969)
- 2009 – Rex Shelley, Singaporean author (b. 1930)
- 2009 – Dean Turner, Australian musician (b. 1972)
- 2010 – Rodolfo Enrique Fogwill, Argentinean writer (b. 1941)
- 2010 – Nancy Dolman, Canadian actress and comedienne (b. 1952)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] External links
