21st August, on this day

1192 Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shogun and the de facto ruler of Japan. (Traditional Japanese date: July 12, 1192)
1560 Tycho Brahe becomes interested in astronomy
1680 Pueblo Indians took possession of Santa Fe from Spanish
1689 The Battle of Dunkeld in Scotland.
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 French forces, commanded by General Junot, are beaten by the British, lead by the Duke of Wellington, at the Battle of Virniero
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 slave revolt kills 55 (Southampton County, Virginia)
1841 John Hampson patents venetian blind
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 Victoria Cross winner Sir Sam Browne invents the Sam Browne belt to hold his sword and pistol after he had lost an arm in action. It soon becomes standard military kit
1858 In US, 1st Lincoln-Douglas debate (Illinois)
1862 The Vienna Stadtpark opens its gates.
1863 Lawrence, Kansas is destroyed by Confederate guerrillas Quantrill's Raiders in the Lawrence Massacre.
1878 American Bar Association organizes at Sarasota, NY
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.
1901 Founding of the Cadillac Motor Company in Detroit, Michigan, USA named after the French explorer Antoine Cadillac
1911 Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre Gallery in Paris by Italian waiter Vinvenzo Perruggia posing as an official photographer.The painting is recovered 2 years later
1928 WRNY began regularly scheduled television broadcasts in New York City.
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.
1944 Dumbarton Oaks Conference, prelude to the United Nations, begins.
1945 President Truman ends Lend-Lease program
1953 Marion Carl in Douglas Skyrocket reaches record 25,370 m
1959 Hawaii becomes 50th US state
1962 Savannah, the world's first nuclear-powered merchant ship, begins its' maiden voyage
1963 Martial law declared in S Vietnam
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.
1965 Gemini 5 launched into Earth orbit (2 astronauts)
1968 After 5 years Russia once again jams Voice of America radio
1968 Democratic Convention opens in Chicago
1968 Radio Prague (Czech) at 12:50 AM announces a soviet led invasion. Warsaw Pact forces enter Czechoslovakia to end reform movement
1968 William Dana reaches 80 km (last high-altitude X-15 flight)
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.
1972 1st hot air balloon flight over the Alps
1972 US orbiting astronomy observatory Copernicus launched
1975 3 truck pile up kills 10, injures 26 on French highway
1976 Operation Paul Bunyan at Panmunjeom, Korea.
1976 Mary Langdon, aged 25, becomes Britian's first female firefighter when she joins the East Sussex Brigade
1977 Donna Patterson Brice sets high speed water skiing rec (111.11 mph)
1982 Palestinian terrorists are dispersed from Beirut
1983 Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr. was assassinated at the Manila International Airport (now renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport).
1985 Mary Decker Slaney runs mile in world record 4:16.71
1986 Lake Nios Volcanic eruption in Cameroon releases poison gas, killing 1,746
1987 Clayton Lonetree, 1st marine court-martialed for spying, convicted
1988 Cease fire between Iran and Iraq takes effect after 8 years of war
1989 Voyager 2 begins a flyby of the planet Neptune
1991 Communist coup is crushed in USSR in 2 days
1991 Latvia declares renewal of its full independence after the occupation of Soviet Union
1993 NASA loses contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft.
1995 Ex-world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson wins his first fight since his release from jail, knocking out Peter McNeely in 89 seconds
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.

21st August 2006

Bush pledges Lebanon aid

Scores die in Egypt train crash

Eleven charged over 'bomb plot'

21st August 2007

Hurricane Dean hits Mexican coast

Greek riots over Nigerian's death

Egypt footprint 'could be oldest'

21st August 2008

Pakistan bombers hit arms factory

Six dead in fresh Afghan attack

Russians halt Nato co-operation

21st August 2009

Deadly missile strike in Pakistan

Baghdad market struck by bombing

Markets rise on US recovery hopes

21st August 2010

'Ten killed' in Mogadishu blast

Iran begins loading reactor

China floods cause mass evacuation

Birthdates which occurred on 21st August :

1165 Philip II Augustus 1st great Capetian king of France (1179-1223)
1660 Hubert Gautier engineer, wrote 1st book on bridge building
1765 William IV king of England (1830-37)
1789 Augustin-Louis Baron Cauchy, French mathematician
1872 Aubrey Beardsley England, artist (Salome)
1890 Bill Henry SF Calif, newscaster (Who Said That?)
1896 Roark Bradford writer/humorist (Ol' Man Adan an' His Chillun)
19-- Callan White actor (Loving)
19-- Steve Nathan Buffalo NY, actor (Allan-Busting Loose)
19-- Tammy Amerson actress (Mari Lynn-One Life to Live)
1906 William "Count" Basie jazz pianist
1906 Friz Freleng animator (Bugs Bunny-Emmy 1982)
1907 Dr Roy K Marshall Glen Carbon Ill, TV scientist (Nature of Things)
1909 C Dillon Douglas Geneva Switz, US Secretary of Treasury (1961-65)
1915 Jack Weston [Morris Weinstein], Cleveland, actor (4 Seasons, Rad)
1921 Nancy Kulp Harrisburg Pa, actress (Jane-Beverly Hillbillies)
1923 Chris Schenkel Biuppus Ind, sportscaster (Monday Night Fights)
1928 Gillian Sheen England, foils (Olympic-gold-1956)
1930 Princess Margaret England (Sister of Queen Elizabeth)
1931 Nancy Hadley LA Calif, actress (Love That Jill, Joey Bishop Show)
1933 Dame Janet Baker York England, mezzo-soprano (Owen Wingrave)
1936 Mart Crowley playwright (Boys in the Band)
1936 Wilt Chamberlain NBA great center (LA Laker, 5 time MVP)
1938 Kenny Rogers singer (Lady) actor (Coward of the County)
1939 Clarence Williams III NYC, actor (Mod Squad, 52 Pick Up, Purple Rain)
1944 Jackie DeShannon Hazel Kentucky, singer (What the World Needs Now)
1945 Patty McCormack Bkln NY, actress (Mama, Peck's Bad Girl, Ropers)
1946 Lev Alburt USSR, International Chess Master (1976)
1951 Bernhard Germeshausen German DR, bobsled (Olympic-gold-1976, 80)
1951 Harry Smith Indiana, TV host (CBS Morning Show)
1953 Joe Strummer [John Mellor], rocker (Clash-Rock the Casbah)
1956 Kim Cattrall Liverpool England, actress (Mannequin, Star Trek VI)
1957 Budgie rocker (Siouxsie & the Banshees-Wild Thing)
1957 Janice Thomas WBL guard (NY Stars)
1957 Kim Sledge Phila, vocalist (Sister Sledge-We are Family)
1959 Jim McMahon NFL QB (Chicago Bears, SD Chargers, Phila Eagles)
1962 Matthew Broderick actor (Ferris Buehler, Biloxi Blues)
1967 Michael Bendetti actor (Officer Tony McCann-21 Jump Street)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Deaths which occurred on August 21st:
1940 Leon Trotsky dies of wounds inflicted by an assailant the day before
1958 Walter Schumann choral director (Ford Show), dies at 44
1971 George Jackson murdered
1982 Benigno S Aquino Jr Philippines opposition leader, killed in Manila