August 21 :: Historical Events

Famous 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.


• 1689 - The Battle of Dunkeld in Scotland.


• 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 himself 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.


• 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.


• 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.

Famous 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, 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 - Maurice Pialat, French actor and director (d. 2003)


• 1925 - Jorge Rafael Videla, ex-dictator of Argentina


• 1927 - Thomas S. Monson, 16th president of the (Mormon) Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


• 1928 - Art Farmer, American trumpet player (d. 1999)


• 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


• 1934 - Paul Panhuysen, Dutch composer, visual and sound artist


• 1936 - Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player (d. 1999)


• 1936 - Radish Tordia, Painter Of Figurative Art From Georgia


• 1937 - Robert Stone, American novelist


• 1938 - Kenny Rogers, American singer and actor


• 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


• 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


• 1976 - Jeff Cunningham, Jamaican American soccer 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 union player


• 1979 - Kelis Rogers-Jones, American singer


• 1980 - Burney Lamar, American race car driver


• 1980 - Paul Menard, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Driver


• 1981 - Andreas Glyniadakis, Greek basketball player


• 1981 - Collie Buddz, (Colin Harper) Reggae & Dancehall artist


• 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


• 1986 - Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter


• 1987 - Kim Kibum, one of the 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


• 1996 - Jamia Simone Nash, American singer and actress

Famous 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)


• 1870 - Ma Xinyi Viceroy of Liangjiang of the late Qing Dynasty in China,(b. 1821)


• 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)


• 1971 - George Jackson, American prisoner, Soledad Brother, Black Panther (b. 1941)


• 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)


• 1992 - Dai Vernon, Canadian magician (b. 1894)


• 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 - Dahlia Ravikovitch, Israeli poet (b. 1936)


• 2005 - Martin Dillon, tenor, American opera singer (b. 1957)


• 2006 - Paul Fentener van Vlissingen, Dutch businessman and philanthropist (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)


• 2007 - Haley Paige, American pornographic actress (b. 1981)

Famous Holidays and observances

• Ninoy Aquino Day - special holiday in the Philippines.


• Roman festivals - Consualia, in honor of Consus, is held.


• Roman Catholic saints - Pope Pius X.


• Orthodox - Thaddaeus, Abraham of Smolensk.