August 21 is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 132 days remaining.
Events
- 1680 - Pueblo Indians captured Santa Fe from Spanish during the Pueblo Revolt
- 1831 - Nat Turner leads slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia
- 1852 - Tlingit Indians destroy Fort Selkirk, Yukon Territory
- 1858 - Lincoln-Douglas debates begin
- 1863 - Lawrence, Kansas destroyed by William Quantrill, Jesse and Frank James, the Younger Brothers, et. al.
- 1944 - Dumbarton Oaks Conference, prelude to the United Nations
- 1959 - Hawaii is admitted as the 50th U.S. state.
- 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
- 1991 - Latvia declares its 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, announced that he would not seek re-election and would resign within eighteen months
Births
- 1165 - Philip II of France
- 1765 - William IV of the United Kingdom (d. 1837)
- 1811 - William Kelly, iron manufacturer, inventor (d. 1888)
- 1872 - Aubrey Beardsley, illustrator (d. 1898)
- 1904 - Count Basie (William Allen Basie), bandleader (d. 1984)
- 1906 - Fritz 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 - Jack Weston, actor (d. 1996)
- 1924 - Chris Scheknel, sports journalist
- 1928 - Art Farmer, trumpet player
- 1930 - Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom (d. 2002)
- 1932 - Melvin Van Peebles, actor, screenwriter
- 1936 - Wilt Chamberlain, Basketball Hall of Famer (d. 1999)
- 1938 - Kenny Rogers, singer, actor
- 1939 - Clarence Williams III, actor
- 1944 - Jackie DeShannon, singer
- 1956 - Kim Cattrall, actress
- 1959 - Jim McMahon, National Football League quarterback
- 1963 - Mohammed VI of Morocco
- 1967 - Carrie-Anne Moss, actress
- 1969 - Joseé Chouinard, Canadian figure skater
Deaths
- 1153 - Bernard of Clairvaux, Christian theologian
- 1614 - Elizabeth Bathory, serial killer
- 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 - 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