August 21

August 21 is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 132 days remaining.

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Events

• 1680 – Pueblo Indians capture Santa Fe from Spanish during the Pueblo Revolt
• 1770 – James Cook formally claims eastern Australia for Great Britain, naming it New South Wales.
• 1772 – The coup d'etat by King Gustav III is completed by adopting a new Constitution, ending half a century of parliamentary rule in Sweden and creating him an enlightened despot.
• 1831 – Nat Turner leads slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia
• 1841 – The venetian blind is first patented.
• 1842 – The city of Hobart, Tasmania, is founded.
• 1852 – Tlingit Indians destroy Fort Selkirk, Yukon Territory
• 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.
• 1879 – The Virgin Mary, along with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist reportedly appear to the people of Knock, County Mayo, Ireland.
• 1944 – Dumbarton Oaks Conference, prelude to the United Nations, begins.
• 1959 – Hawaii is admitted as the 50th U.S. state.
• 1968 – Soviet Union-dominated Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia.
• 1971 – Black Panther George Jackson is shot and killed in the prison yard at California's San Quentin prison.
• 1986 – Toxic gas erupts from volcanic Lake Nyos in Cameroon, killing over 1700 people.
• 1987 – Hard rock band Guns 'N Roses release their classic debut Appetite for Destruction.
• 1991 – Latvia declares its full independence from the Soviet Union.
• 1991 – Coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev collapses.
• 1998 – The United States destroys a pharmaceutical plant (erroneously believed to be a chemical weapons plant) in Sudan.
• 2001 – NATO decides to send a peace-keeping force to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
• 2001 – A sixth-century temple is discovered in central Mexico.
• 2001 – The Red Cross announces that a famine is striking Tajikistan, and calls for international financial aid for Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
• 2002 – Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister of Canada, announces that he will not seek re-election and would resign within eighteen months.

Births

• 1165 – King Philip II of France (d. 1223)
• 1535 – Shimazu Yoshihiro, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1619)
• 1765 – William IV of the United Kingdom (d. 1837)
• 1789 – Augustin Louis Cauchy, mathematician (d. 1857)
• 1811 – William Kelly, iron manufacturer, inventor (d. 1888)
• 1872 – Aubrey Beardsley, illustrator (d. 1898)
• 1904 – William "Count" Basie, bandleader (d. 1984)
• 1906 – Friz Freleng, movie animator (d. 1995)
• 1920 – Christopher Robin Milne, inspiration for the Christopher Robin character in the Winnie the Pooh stories (d. 1996)
• 1923 – Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel
• 1924 – Chris Schenkel, sports journalist
• 1924  – Jack Weston, actor (d. 1996)
• 1928 – Art Farmer, trumpet player (d. 1999)
• 1930 – Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (d. 2002)
• 1932 – Melvin Van Peebles, actor, screenwriter
• 1933 – Janet Baker, English mezzo-soprano
• 1936 – Wilt Chamberlain, Basketball Hall of Famer (d. 1999)
• 1938 – Kenny Rogers, singer, actor
• 1939 – Clarence Williams III, actor
• 1939  – James Burton, rock guitarist
• 1944 – Jackie DeShannon, singer
• 1944  – Peter Weir, film director
• 1952 – Joe Strummer, British musician, guitarist/vocalist with The Clash (d. December 22, 2002)
• 1954 – Ivan Stang, founder of the Church of the SubGenius
• 1956 – Kim Cattrall, actress
• 1959 – Jim McMahon, National Football League quarterback
• 1963 – Mohammed VI of Morocco
• 1967 – Carrie-Anne Moss, actress
• 1967  – Serj Tankian, singer for System of a Down
• 1969 – Josée Chouinard, Canadian figure skater
• 1978 – Reuben Droughns, American football player
• 1978 – Jason Marquis,Major League Baseball pitcher
• 1984 – Alizée, singer

Deaths

• 1157 – King Alfonso VII of Castile (b. 1104/5)
• 1153 – Bernard of Clairvaux, Christian theologian
• 1581 – Sakuma Nobumori, Japanese retainer and samurai (b. 1527)
• 1614 – Elizabeth Báthory, serial killer
• 1838 – Adelbert von Chamisso, German writer (b. 1781)
• 1940 – Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary
• 1940 – Ernest Lawrence Thayer, poet
• 1947 – Ettore Bugatti, automobile manufacturer
• 1951 – Constant Lambert, composer
• 1978 – Charles Eames, American designer and architect
• 1983 – Benigno S. Aquino Jr., Philippine opposition leader
• 1988 – Ray Eames, American designer
• 1997 – Norris Bradbury, physicist
• 2003 – Kathy Wilkes, Oxford philosopher and education worker in Eastern Europe
• 2003 – Wesley Willis, musician

Holidays and observances

• Roman Empire – Consualia, in honor of Consus, is held

External links

• BBC: On This Day

August 20 – August 22 – July 21 – September 21 — listing of all days