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

Events

1600-1799

• 1680 - Pueblo Indians captured 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 Sweden and creating him an enlightened despot.

1800-1899

• 1831 - Nat Turner leads slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia
• 1841 - The venetian Blind was first patented.
• 1842 - City of Hobart founded.
• 1852 - Tlingit Indians destroy Fort Selkirk, Yukon Territory
• 1858 - Lincoln-Douglas debates begin
• 1862 - The Vienna Stadtpark opens its gates.
• 1863 - Lawrence, Kansas destroyed by William Quantrill, Jesse and Frank James, the Younger Brothers, et. al.
• 1879 - Virgin Mary, along with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist appeared in Knock to local people.

1900-1999

• 1944 - Dumbarton Oaks Conference, prelude to the United Nations
• 1959 - Hawaii is admitted as the 50th U.S. state.
• 1968 - Soviet tanks under Czechoslovakia
• 1971 - Black Panther George Jackson was 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.

2000-2099

• 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 Tajikistan, and calls for international financial aid for Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
• 2002 - Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister of Canada, announced that he would not seek re-election and would resign within eighteen months.

Births

1100-1799

• 1165 - Philip II of France
• 1535 - Shimazu Yoshihiro, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1619)
• 1765 - William IV of the United Kingdom (d. 1837)

1800-1899

• 1811 - William Kelly, iron manufacturer, inventor (d. 1888)
• 1872 - Aubrey Beardsley, illustrator (d. 1898)

1900-1999

• 1904 - Count Basie (William Allen Basie), bandleader (d. 1984)
• 1906 - Friz Freleng, movie animator
• 1920 - Christopher Robin Milne, propotype of the Christopher Robin in the Winnie the Pooh stories
• 1923 - Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel
• 1924 - Chris Scheknel, sports journalist
• 1924 - Jack Weston, actor (d. 1996)
• 1928 - Art Farmer, trumpet player
• 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
• 1944 - Jackie DeShannon, singer
• 1944 - Peter Weir, film director
• 1952 - Joe Strummer, musician
• 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 - Joseé Chouinard, Canadian figure skater
• 1978 - Reuben Droughns, American football player
• 1984 - Alizée, singer
• 1985 - Mark Milbrett, A United States Sailor

Deaths

1100-1899

• 1157 - Alfonso VII, king of Castile (b. 1104/5)
• 1153 - Bernard of Clairvaux, Christian theologian
• 1581 - Sakuma Nobumori, Japanese retainer and samurai (b. 1527)
• 1614 - Elizabeth Bathory, serial killer

1900-1999

• 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

2000-2099

• 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

August 20 - August 22 - July 21 - September 21 -- listing of all days