August 21 is the Expression
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Events
- 1192 - Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the de facto ruler of Japan. (Traditional Japanese date: July
12, 1192)
- 1680 - Pueblo Indians capture Santa Fe from Spanish during the Pueblo Revolt.
- 1760 - The church (later cathedral) of "Our Lady of
Candlemas of Mayagüez
(Puerto Rico)" is founded, establishing the basis for the founding of the city.
- 1770 - James Cook formally claims eastern Australia for Great Britain, naming it New South Wales.
- 1772 - King Gustav III completes his
coup d'etat by adopting a new Constitution, ending half a century of parliamentary
rule in Sweden and installing him as an enlightened despot.
- 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
Eliza Frances.
- 1831 - Nat Turner leads black slaves and free blacks in a
rebellion.
- 1841 - The Venetian blind is first patented in the
United States by John Hampson.
- 1842 - The city of Hobart, Tasmania, is founded.
- 1852 - Tlingit Indians destroy Fort Selkirk, Yukon Territory.
- 1856 - America's first consul to Japan, Townsend Harris, arrives
in Shimoda. (Traditional Japanese date:
July 21, 1856)
- 1858 - The Lincoln-Douglas debates
begin.
- 1862 - The Vienna Stadtpark opens its gates.
- 1863 - Lawrence, Kansas is destroyed by
Confederate guerillas Quantrill's
Raiders in the Lawrence Massacre.
- 1878 - The American Bar Association is
founded.
- 1879 - The Virgin Mary, along with
St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist
reportedly appear to the people of 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.
- 1942 - World War II: The Battle of Stalingrad began.
- 1942 - World War II: A Nazi flag is installed atop the Mount
Elbrus.
- 1942 - World War II: Allied forces involved in the Guadalcanal campaign defeated an attack by Imperial
Japanese Army soldiers in the Battle of the Tenaru.
- 1944 - Dumbarton Oaks Conference, prelude to
the United Nations, begins.
- 1959 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order proclaiming Hawaii
the 50th state of the union.
- 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
- 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.
- 1983 - Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr. was 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.
- 1993 - NASA loses contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft.
- 1997 - British rock band Oasis release their 3rd album Be Here Now - the fastest selling
album of all time in the UK.
- 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. Dean is the first storm since Hurricane Andrew
to make landfall as a Category 5.
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)
- 1872 - Aubrey Beardsley, English illustrator (d.
1898)
- 1891 - Emiliano Mercado del Toro, World's
oldest living man 2004-2007 (d. 2007)
- 1892 - Charles Vanel, French actor and director (d.
1989)
- 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 - Toe Blake, National Hockey League player and coach (Montreal
Canadiens) (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 - Maurice Pialat, French actor and director (d.
2003)
- 1925 - Jorge Rafael Videla, ex-dictator of Argentina
- 1928 - Art Farmer, American trumpet player (d.
1999)
- 1929 - X. J. Kennedy, American poet
- 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
- 1934 - Paul Panhuysen, Dutch composer, visual and sound
artist
- 1936 - Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player
(d. 1999)
- 1938 - Kenny Rogers, American singer and actor
- 1937 - Robert Stone, American novelist
- 1939 - James Burton, American guitarist
- 1939 - Clarence Williams III, American actor
- 1939 - Festus Mogae, president of Botswana
- 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 - Basil Poledouris, American film score composer (d. 2006)
- 1949 - Loretta Devine, American actress
- 1950 - Patrick Juvet, Swiss singer
- 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 - Joe Strummer, British musician and singer
(The Clash) (d. 2002)
- 1952 - Glenn Hughes, British bassist and vocalist (Finders Keepers/Trapeze/Deep
Purple)
- 1954 - Archie Griffin, former American football player
and only two-time Heisman Trophy winner.
- 1954 - Ivan Stang, American writer
- 1956 - Kim Cattrall, English-born actress
- 1959 - Jim McMahon, American football player
- 1960 - Mario Leduc, Mexican Adimistrador
- 1961 - David Morales, American disc
jockey
- 1961 - Stephen Hillenburg, American animator and cartoonist
- 1962 - Jeff Stryker, American actor
- 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
- 1966 - John Wetteland, Major League Baseball player
- 1967 - Carrie-Anne Moss, Canadian actress
- 1967 - Serj Tankian, Armenian-born singer (System of
a Down)
- 1967 - Darren Bewick, AFL footballer
- 1969 - Josée Chouinard, Canadian figure skater
- 1970 - Nathan Jones, American professional
wrestler
- 1970 - Erik Dekker, Dutch cyclist
- 1971 - Liam Howlett, British musician (The Prodigy)
- 1971 - Matthew Noonan, American Concert Organist
- 1971 - Robert Harvey, Australian Rules Footballer (St Kilda Football Club)
- 1973 - Steve McKenna, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1973 - Sergey Brin, Co-founder of Google
- 1975 - Alicia Witt, American actress
- 1975 - Simon Katich, Australian cricketer
- 1976 - Alex Brooks, American ice hockey player
- 1978 - Reuben Droughns, American football player
- 1978 - Jason Marquis, American baseball player
- 1978 - Alan Lee, Irish footballer
- 1978 - Lee Gronkiewicz, American baseball player
- 1978 - Peter Buxton, English rugby player
- 1979 - Kelis Rogers-Jones, American singer
- 1980 - Burney Lamar, American race car driver
- 1981 - Andreas Glyniadakis, Greek basketball
player
- 1983 - Josh Harrington, American professional
BMX rider
- 1983 - Chantelle Houghton, British TV personality
- 1984 - Alizée Jacotey, French singer
- 1984 - B.J. Upton, American baseball player
- 1984 - Melissa Schuman, American actress
- 1984 - Neil Dexter, Cricketer
- 1987 - Ryan Peters, English football player
- 1989 - Hayden Panettiere, American actress/model and
singer
- 1996 - Jamia Simone Nash, American singer and
actress
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, the world's most prolific
female 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)
- 1935 - John Hartley, English tennis player,
double winner of Wimbledon (b. 1849)
- 1940 - Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary (b.
1879)
- 1940 - Ernest Lawrence Thayer, American poet (b. 1863)
- 1940 - Hermann Obrecht, member of the Swiss Federal Council (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, professional 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)
- 1978 - Charles Eames, American designer and architect
(b. 1907)
- 1979 - Giuseppe Meazza, Italian footballer (b.
1910)
- 1981 - Michael Devine, the last man to die in the
1981 Irish hunger strike (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)
- 1989 - Raul Seixas, Brazilian singer (b. 1945)
- 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)
- 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 pioneer of electronic music (b. 1934)
- 2005 - Dalia Rabikovich, Israeli poet (b. 1936)
- 2005 - Martin Dillon, tenor, American opera singer (b. 1957)
- 2006 - Paul Fentener van Vlissingen,
Dutch businessman and philantropher (b. 1941)
- 2006 - Ustad Bismillah Khan, Indian musician (b. 1916)
- 2007 - Siobhan Dowd, British/Irish writer (b.
1960)
- 2007 - Elizabeth P. Hoisington, American Brigadier General (b.
1918)
Holidays and observances
References
- ^ *Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin
Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4.
External links