Today August 21st in history click read more below to view detail events, deaths, births, Holidays and observances, and video clips in hisotry. Please comments, last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
1192 – Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shogun 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.
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.
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 guerrillas 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 appears 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.
1928 – WRNY began regularly scheduled television broadcasts in New York City.
1942 – World War II: the Battle of Stalingrad begins.
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 Ceausescu, 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. 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.
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.
2006 – A UFO was sighted at Ajax, Ontario (Canada) by the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station
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)
1869 – William Henry Ogilvie, Scottish/Australian poet (d. 1963)
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 – Judy Grable, American professional wrestler (d. 2008)
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)
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
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 – Patty McCormack, American actress
1945 – Basil Poledouris, American film score composer (d. 2006)
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 – Jirí 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.
1956 – Kim Cattrall, English-born actress
1956 – John Tester, US Senator from Montana
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 – 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
1965 – Caryn Mower, American actress, stuntwoman and former professional wrestler
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 – Mamadou Diallo, Senegalese Soccer player
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 – Peter Buxton, English rugby union player
1978 – Reuben Droughns, American football player
1978 – Lee Gronkiewicz, American baseball player
1978 – Alan Lee, Irish footballer
1978 – Jason Marquis, American baseball player
1979 – Kelis Rogers-Jones, American singer
1980 – Burney Lamar, American race car driver
1980 – Paul Menard, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Driver
1981 – Collie Buddz, (Colin Harper) Reggae & Dancehall artist
1981 – Andreas Glyniadakis, Greek basketball player
1981 – Jarrod Lyle, Australian Golfer
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 – Melissa M, French singer
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
1989 – Judd Trump, English snooker player
1992 – Brad Kavanagh, English songwriter and actor
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)
1854 – Thomas Clayton, American lawyer and politician (b. 1777)
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)
2008 – Gene Upshaw, NFL Player, NFLPA President (b. 1945)
2008 – Jerry Finn, American record producer (b. 1969)
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.
