On this day in History - Aug. 21

• 0230 -Papa Ponciano is elected as 18th Pope.
• 1153 - Bernard of Clairvaux dies. Christian theologian.
• 1157 - King Alfonso VII of Castile dies (b. 1104/1105).
• 1165 - King Philip II of France was born (d. 1223).
• 1192 - Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the de facto ruler of Japan. (Traditional Japanese date: July 12, 1192).
• 1271 - Alphonse of Toulouse dies (b. 1220). Son of Louis VIII of France.
• 1415 - As tropas portugueses sob o comando do Rei D. João I, desembarcam em Ceuta.
• 1535 - Shimazu Yoshihiro was born (d. 1619). Japanese samurai and warlord.
• 1567 - San Francisco de Sales was born (d. 28 Dez 1622). French saint.
• 1581 - Sakuma Nobumori dies (b. 1527). Japanese retainer and samurai.
• 1597 - Roger Twysden was born (d. 1672). English antiquarian and royalist.
• 1614 - Elizabeth Báthory dies (b. 1560). The world's most prolific female serial killer.
• 1627 - Jacques Mauduit dies (b. 1557). French composer.
• 1643 - King Afonso VI of Portugal (O Vitorioso) was born (d. 1683). King of Portugal ("O Vitorioso").
• 1660 - Hubert Gautier was born (d. 27 Sep 1737). French scientist and engineer, who authored the first book on bridge building, Traité des Ponts, in 1716.
• 1665 - Giacomo F. Maraldi was born (d. 1729). French-Italian astronomer.
• 1670 - James Fitz James, 1st Duke of Berwick was born (d. 1734). French military leader.
• 1673 - Reinier de Graaf dies (b. 30 July 1641) Dutch physician who discoveredthe follicles of the ovary (known as Graafian follicles), in which the individual egg cells are formed (1672) and also published on male reproductive organs (1668).
• 1673 - Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford dies. English soldier.
• 1680 - Pueblo Indians capture Santa Fe from Spanish during the Pueblo Revolt.
• 1689 - William Cleland dies. Scottish poet and soldier.
• 1725 - Jean-Baptiste Greuze was born (d. 1805). French painter.
• 1754 - William Murdoch was born (d. 15 Nov 1839). Scottish inventor, the first to make extensive use of coal gas for illumination and a pioneer in the development of steam power.
• 1754 - Banastre Tarleton was born (d. 1833). British soldier and politician.
• 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.
• 1762 - Lady Mary Wortley Montagu dies (b. 1689). English writer.
• 1763 - Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont dies (b. 1710). British statesman.
• 1765 - William IV of the United Kingdom was born (d. 1837).
• 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.
• 1789 - Augustin Louis Cauchy was born (d. 23 May 1857). French mathematician who pioneered in analysis and the theory of substitution groups (groups whose elements are ordered sequences of a set of things).
• 1796 - John McKinly dies (b. 1721). American physician and President of Delaware.
• 1798 - Jules Michelet was born (d. 1874). French historian.
• 1800 - Hiram Walden was born (d. 1880). American politician.
• 1801 - Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer was born (d. 1876). Dutch politician.
• 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 /Batalha do Vimeiro, em Portugal na qual o exército de Napoleão comandado pelo General Junot foi derrotado pelo exército anglo-luso do General Wellesley (futuro duque de Wellington).
• 1810 - Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France, is elected Crown Prince of Sweden by the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates.
• 1811 - William Kelly was born (d. 11 Feb 1888. American ironmaster who invented the pneumatic process of steelmaking, in which air is blown through molten pig iron to remove unwanted impurities.
• 1813 - Jean Stas was born (d. 1891). Belgian chemist.
• 1814 - Benjamin Thompson dies (b. 26 Mar 1753). American-born British physicist, government administrator, and a founder of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, London.
• 1816 - Charles Frédéric Gerhardt was born (d. 1856). French chemist.
• 1821 - Jarvis Island is discovered by the crew of the Eliza Frances.
• 1821 - João Lustosa da Cunha was born in Crentes, Piauí (d. 9 Feb 1912). Brazilian plitician, anj judge, abolicionist (Marquês de Paranaguá II).
• 1822 - O Banco de Lisboa abre as portas ao público.
• 1826 - Karl Gegenbaur was born (d. 1903). German anatomist.
• 1827 - William Blake dies. English poet and painter.
• 1831 - Nat Turner leads slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia.
• 1836 - Claude-Louis Navier dies (b. 1785). French physicist.
• 1838 - Adelbert von Chamisso dies (b. 1781). German writer.
• 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.
• 1853 - Maria Quitéria (de Jesus Medeiros) dies (b. 27 Jul 1792) Brasilian patriot and soldier.
• 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.
• 1862 - Emilio Salgari was born (d. 25 Apr. 1911). Italian novelist, author of books of adventures.
• 1863 - Lawrence, Kansas is destroyed by Confederate guerillas Quantrill's Raiders in the Lawrence Massacre.
• 1870 - Ma Xinyi dies (b. 1821). Viceroy of Liangjiang of the late Qing Dynasty in China.
• 1872 - Aubrey Beardsley was born (d. 1898). English illustrator.
• 1876 - Leon Trotsky dies. Russian revolutionary.
• 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.
• 1887 - Inauguração na cidade do México de um monumento ao último imperador dos índios aztecas, Guatimozín (ou Cuauhtemoc).
• 1888 - The first successful adding machine in the United States was patented by William Seward Burroughs.
• 1891 - Florencio Molina Campos was born in Buenos Aires. Argentinian painter and illustrator.
• 1891 - Emiliano Mercado del Toro was born (d. 2007). World's oldest living man 2004-2007.
• 1892 - Charles Vanel was born (d. 1989). French actor and director.
• 1894 - Joaquim Pedro de Oliveira Martins dies. Portuguese journalist and writer.
• 1895 - Dionélio Machado was born. Brazilian writer.
• 1898 - Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama is founded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• 1901 - É fundada a Cadillac Motor Company em Detroit, no Michigan, EUA, designada com o nome do explorador francês Antoine Cadillac.
• 1901 - Edward Thomas Copson was born (d. 21 Aug 1901). Scottish mathematician known for his contributions to analysis and partial differential equations, especially as they apply to mathematical physics.
• 1903 - Transcontinental Packard : a 12 horsepower single-cylinder Model F Packard mud-covered automobile arrived in New York, completing a trip across the U.S. from San Francisco. It was driven by "Tommy" Fetch from the Packard Motor Car works, with Marius Krarup, a journalist who left San Fransisco on 21 Jun after.
• 1904 - William "Count" Basie was born (d. 1984). American bandleader.
• 1906 - Friz Freleng was born (d. 1995). American movie animator.
• 1907 - Roy K. Marshall was born (d. 27 May 1972). Astronomer with the Fels Planetarium, Philadelphia, then the first director of Morehead Planetarium, Chapel Hill.
• 1908 - M. M. Kaye was born (d. 2004). British writer.
• 1909 - Nikolay Bogolyubov was born (d. 1992). Russian mathematician.
• 1911 - Portugal: First Republican Constitution is promulgated /Portugal promulga a primeira constituição de sua história, conhecida por Constituição de 1911, que instituiu o regime republicano em Portugal.
• 1911 - The Mona Lisa is stolen by a Louvre employee / O quadro de Leonardo da Vinci Mona Lisa é roubado do Louvre, em Paris, sendo recuperado dois anos mais tarde.
• 1912 - Toe Blake was born (d. 1995). National Hockey League player and coach (Montreal Canadiens).
• 1914 - Primeira Guerra Mundial: os alemães ganham a Batalha das Ardenas, na França.
• 1915 - Raquel Rastenni was born (d. 1998). Danish singer.
• 1918 - Billy Reay was born (d. 2004). Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1920 - Christopher Robin Milne was born (d. 1996). English son of A. A. Milne, inspiration for the Winnie-the-Pooh stories.
• 1921 - Milton Ribeiro was born (d. 1972). Brazilian actor.
• 1923 - Shimon Peres was born. Prime Minister of Israel.
• 1924 - Chris Schenkel was born (d. 2005). American sports journalist.
• 1924 - Jack Weston was born (d. 1996). American actor.
• 1924 - Jack Buck was born (d. 2002). American sports announcer.
• 1925 - Jorge Rafael Videla was born. Ex-dictator of Argentina.
• 1925 - Maurice Pialat was born (d. 2003). French actor and director.
• 1926 - Artur Varatojo was born in Lisbon (d. 28 Oct. 2006). Portuguese writer and criminologist.
• 1928 - WRNY began regularly scheduled television broadcasts in New York City.
• 1928 - Art Farmer was born (d. 1999). American trumpet player.
• 1929 - X. J. Kennedy was born. American poet.
• 1930 - Frank Perry was born (d. 1995). American film director.
• 1930 - Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon was born (d. 2002).
• 1932 - Melvin Van Peebles was born. American actor and screenwriter.
• 1933 - Janet Baker was born. English mezzo-soprano.
• 1934 - Guennadi Aigui was born in Chaïmourzino, Tchouvachia (d. 2006). Russian poet.
• 1935 - John Hartley dies (b. 1849). English tennis player, double winner of Wimbledon.
• 1936 - Wilt Chamberlain was born (d. 1999). American basketball player.
• 1937 - Robert Stone was born. American novelist.
• 1938 - Kenny Rogers was born. American singer and actor.
• 1939 - Clarence Williams III was born. American actor.
• 1939 - James Burton was born. American rock guitarist.
• 1939 - Festus Mogae was born. President of Botswana.
• 1940 - Ernest Lawrence Thayer dies (b. 1863). American poet.
• 1940 - Hermann Obrecht dies (b. 1882). Member of the Swiss Federal Council.
• 1940 - Leon Trotsky dies (b. 1879). Russian revolutionary.
• 1942 - The Battle of Stalingrad began.
• 1942 - A Nazi flag is installed atop the Mount Elbrus.
• 1942 - Allied forces involved in the Guadalcanal campaign defeated an attack by Imperial Japanese Army soldiers in the Battle of the Tenaru.
• 1943 - Henrik Pontoppidan dies (b. 1857). Danish writer who was 1917 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate.
• 1944 - Dumbarton Oaks Conference, prelude to the United Nations, begins.
• 1944 - Jackie DeShannon was born. American singer.
• 1944 - Peter Weir was born. Australian film director.
• 1944 - Perry Christie was born. Former prime minister of the Bahamas.
• 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.
• 1945 - Jerry DaVanon was born. Baseball player.
• 1945 - Basil Poledouris was born (d. 2006). American film score composer.
• 1946 - El Senado de la Nación Argentina aprueba el proyecto de ley sobre Derechos Políticos de la Mujer, que establece el voto femenino.
• 1947 - Ettore Bugatti dies (b. 1881). Italian automobile manufacturer.
• 1950 - Patrick Juvet was born. Swiss singer.
• 1951 - Eric Goles was born. Chilean mathematician and computer scientist.
• 1951 - Char Margolis was born. American medium.
• 1951 - Constant Lambert dies (b. 1905). English composer.
• 1952 - Joe Strummer was born (d. 2002). British musician and singer (The Clash).
• 1952 - Glenn Hughes was born. British bassist and vocalist (Finders Keepers/Trapeze/Deep Purple).
• 1954 - Archie Griffin was born. American football player and two-time Heisman Trophy winner.
• 1954 - Ivan Stang was born. American writer and publisher of the first screed of the Church of the SubGenius.
• 1956 - Kim Cattrall was born. English-born actress.
• 1957 - Harald Ulrik Sverdrup dies (b. 15 Nov 1888). Norwegian meteorologist and oceanographer known for his studies of the physics, chemistry, and biology of the oceans.
• 1957 - Nels Stewart was born (d. 1902). Professional ice hockey player.
• 1959 - Jim McMahon was born. National Football League quarterback.
• 1959 - USA President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order proclaiming Hawaii the 50th state of the union.
• 1960 - A OEA aprova medidas condenatórias do regime de Héctor Trujillo, ao ser provada a cumplicidade dominicana no atentado contra o presidente venezuelano Rómulo Betancourt.
• 1960 - David Barnard Steinman dies (b. 11 Jun 1886) American civil engineer whose studies of airflow and wind velocity helped make possible the design of aerodynamically stable bridges.
• 1961 - David Morales was born. American disc jockey.
• 1961 - Stephen Hillenburg was born. American animator and cartoonist.
• 1962 - Jeff Stryker was born. American actor.
• 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.
• 1963 - King Mohammed VI of Morocco.
• 1963 - Richmond Arquette was born. American actor.
• 1964 - Trinity Loren was born (d. 1998). American actress and model.
• 1964 - Palmiro Togliatti dies (b. 1893). Italian communist leader.
• 1967 - Carrie-Anne Moss was born. Canadian actress.
• 1967 - Darren Bewick was born. Australian rules football player.
• 1967 - Serj Tankian was born. Armenian-born singer (System of a Down).
• 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.
• 1969 - Uma junta militar assume o poder no Brasil quando o presidente Costa e Silva sofre uma trombose cerebral.
• 1969 - Josée Chouinard was born. Canadian figure skater.
• 1970 - O tufão "Anita" devasta o sul e oeste do Japão.
• 1970 - Nathan Jones was born. American professional wrestler.
• 1970 - Erik Dekker was born. Dutch cyclist.
• 1971 - Black Panther George Jackson is shot and killed in the prison yard at California's San Quentin prison.
• 1971 - A bomb exploded in the Liberal Party campaign rally in Plaza Miranda, Manila, Philippines with several anti-Marcos political candidates injured.
• 1971 - A military coup in Bolívia - Hugo Banzer becomes President.
• 1971 - Liam Howlett was born. British musician (The Prodigy).
• 1971 - Matthew Noonan was born. American Concert Organist.
• 1971 - George Jackson dies (b. 1941). American prisoner, Soledad Brother, Black Panther.
  
• 1973 - Steve McKenna was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1973 - Sergey Brin was born. Co-founder of Google.
• 1975 - Alicia Witt was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. American actress (Dune).
• 1975 - Simon Katich was born. Australian cricketer.
• 1976 - Operation Paul Bunyan at Panmunjeom, Korea.
• 1976 - Alex Brooks was born. American ice hockey player.
• 1976 - José Luis Lanuza dies. Argentinian poet, writer and journalist who was President of Sociedad Argentina de Escritores.
• 1978 - Reuben Droughns was born. American football player.
• 1978 - Jason Marquis was born. American baseball player.
• 1978 - Alan Lee was born. Irish footballer.
• 1978 - Lee Gronkiewicz was born. American baseball player.
• 1978 - Charles Eames dies (b. 1907). American designer and architect.
• 1979 - Kelis Rogers-Jones was born. American singer.
• 1979 - Giuseppe Meazza dies (b. 1910). Italian footballer.
  
• 1980 - Burney Lamar was born. American race car driver.
• 1981 - Andreas Glyniadakis was born. Greek basketball player.
• 1981 - Michael Devine dies (b. 1954). The last man to die in the 1981 Irish hunger strike.
• 1982 - Sobhuza II dies (b. 1899). King of Swaziland.
• 1983 - Josh Harrington was born. American professional BMX rider.
• 1983 - Chantelle Houghton was born. British TV personality.
• 1983 - Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr. (b. 1962) is assassinated at the Manila International Airport (now renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport) / O líder da oposição filipina Benigno Aquino é morto, no Aeroporto de Manila, quando descia do avião. A revolta contra este assassinato levou à queda do regime de Ferdinand Marcos, e a nomeação de Corazon Aquino, viúva do chefe da oposição, para presidente das Filipinas.
• 1984 - Alizée Jacotey was born. French singer.
• 1984 - B.J. Upton was born. American baseball player.
• 1984 - Melissa Schuman was born. American actress.
• 1984 - Neil Dexter was born. Cricketer.
• 1986 - Carbon dioxide gas erupts from volcanic Lake Nyos in Cameroon, killing up to 1,800 people within a 20-kilometer range.
• 1986 - Conor Clapton was born (d. 1991). Son of Eric Clapton.
• 1986 - Alexandre O'Neill dies (b. 1924). Portuguese surealist poet./ Morre Alexandre Manuel Vahia de Castro O'Neill de Bolhões (n. 19 Dez 1924). Poeta português cultivou uma poesia lúdica e subversiva, sentimental e sarcástica, cheia de desencanto e humor.
• 1986 - Usain Bolt was born. Jamaican sprinter.
• 1987 - Hard rock band Guns 'N Roses release their classic debut Appetite for Destruction.
• 1987 - Kim Kibum was born. Member of Korean boy band Super junior. actor and singer.
• 1987 - Ryan Peters was born. English football (soccer) player.
• 1988 - Louise Setara was born. English singer-songwriter.
• 1988 - Paris Bennett was born. American singer and American Idol contestant (season 5).
• 1988 - Ray Eames dies (b. 1912). American designer.
• 1989 - Triton: the U.S. space probe Voyager 2 fired its thrusters to bring it closer to Neptune's mysterious moon Triton.
• 1989 – Clayton Paterson, Canadian musician (Asphalt Lullabies, Ruin of Nations).
• 1989 - Hayden Panettiere was born. American actress, model and singer.
• 1989 – Judd Trump was born. English snooker player.
• 1989 - Raul Seixas dies (b. 28 Jun 1945). Brazilian poet and rock musician.
• 1990 - Bo Burnham was born. American singer-songwriter and Internet Celebrity.
  
• 1991 - Latvia declares its full independence from the Soviet Union.
• 1991 - Coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev collapses.
• 1991 - Tess Gaerthé was born. Dutch singer and actress.
• 1992 - Ruby Ridge Standoff in Idaho.
• 1992 - Brad Kavanagh was born. English songwriter and actor.
• 1992 - Dai Vernon dies (b. 1894). Canadian magician.
• 1993 - NASA loses contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft.
• 1993 - Tatiana Troyanos dies. American opera singer.
• 1994 - O Partido Revolucionário Institucional (PRI) e seu candidato, Ernesto Zedillo, ganham as eleições legislativas e presidenciais no México.
• 1995 - Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar dies (b. 1910). Indian-American astrophysicist who shared with William A. Fowler the 1983 Nobel Prize for Physics for formulating the currently accepted theory on the later evolutionary stages of massive stars, work that subsequently led to the discovery of neutron stars and black holes.
• 1996 - Jamia Simone Nash was born. American singer and actress.
• 1997 - British rock band Oasis release highly anticipated 3rd album Be Here Now which went on to become the fastest selling album of all time in the UK.
• 1997 - Norris Bradbury dies. Physicist.
• 1997 - Misael Pastrana Borrero dies. President of Colombia.
• 1997 - Yuri Nikulin dies (b. 1921). Russian clown and actor.
• 1998 - The United States destroys a pharmaceutical plant (erroneously believed to be a chemical weapons plant) in Sudan.
• 2000 - Daniel Lisulo dies (b. 1930). Prime Minister of Zambia.
• 2000 - Tomata du Plenty dies (b. 1948). Artist and lead singer of The Screamers.
• 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.
• 2001 - Calum MacKay dies (b. 1927). Canadian ice hockey player.
• 2002 - Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister of Canada, announces that he will not seek re-election and would resign within eighteen months.
• 2003 - Kathy Wilkes dies (b. 1946). Oxford philosopher and education worker in Eastern Europe
• 2003 - Wesley Willis dies (b. 1963). American musician.
• 2004 - Grenade attack on Bangladesh Awamee League, the bigest political party in this country. Party president Sheikh Hasina was injured. Total 22 Died, more than 1000 injure.
• 2005 - Dalia Rabikovich dies (b. 1936). Israeli poet.
• 2005 - Marcus Schmuck dies (b. 1925). Austrian mountaineer.
  
• 2005 - Martin Dillon dies (b. 1957). American opera singer.
• 2005 - Robert Moog dies (b. 1934). American pioneer of electronic music.
• 2006 - Paul Fentener van Vlissingen dies (b. 1941). Dutch businessman and philantropher.
• 2006 - Ustad Bismillah Khan dies (b. 1916). Indian musician.
• 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.
• 2007 – Elizabeth P. Hoisington dies (b. 1918). American Brigadier General.
  
• 2007 – Haley Paige dies (b. 1981). American pornographic actress.
• 2007 - Siobhan Dowd dies (b. 1960). British/Irish writer.
• 2008 - Gene Upshaw dies (b. 1945). NFL Player, NFLPA President.
  
• 2008 – Jerry Finn dies (b. 1969). American record producer.
  
• Morocco: King Mohammed VI's Birthday
• Ninoy Aquino Day - special holiday in the Philippines.
• Argentina: Dia del filatelista.