21 August
Notable Births
Corbin Carroll
b. 2000
American baseball player (born 2000)
Karolína Muchová
b. 1996
Czech tennis player (born 1996)
Alex Cooper (podcaster)
b. 1994
American social media influencer (born 1994)
Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu
b. 1994
English actress and reality television personality (born 1994)
Millie Bright
b. 1993
English footballer (born 1993)
Mike Evans (wide receiver)
b. 1993
American football player (born 1993)
Brandon Drury
b. 1992
American baseball player (born 1992)
RJ Mitte
b. 1992
American actor and producer (born 1992)
Felipe Nasr
b. 1992
Brazilian racing driver (born 1992)
Leandro Bacuna
b. 1991
Curaçaoan footballer (born 1991)
Bo Burnham
b. 1990
American comedian and musician (born 1990)
Christian Vázquez
b. 1990
Puerto Rican baseball player (born 1990)
Charlison Benschop
b. 1989
Professional footballer (born 1989)
James Davey (rugby league)
b. 1989
English rugby league footballer
Matteo Gentili
b. 1989
Italian footballer (born 1989)
Hayden Panettiere
b. 1989
American actress (born 1989)
Aleix Vidal
b. 1989
Spanish footballer
Robert Lewandowski
b. 1988
Polish footballer (born 1988)
Joanna Mitrosz
b. 1988
Polish rhythmic gymnast (born 1988)
Kacey Musgraves
b. 1988
American singer (born 1988)
Notable Deaths
Nell McCafferty
d. 2024
Irish journalist and playwright (1944–2024)
Bill Pascrell
d. 2024
American politician (1937–2024)
John Amos
d. 2024
American actor (1939–2024)
Celso Piña
d. 2019
Mexican musician and producer (1953–2019)
Stefán Karl Stefánsson
d. 2018
Icelandic actor and singer (1975–2018)
Bajram Rexhepi
d. 2017
Prime Minister of Kosovo (1954–2017)
Wang Dongxing
d. 2015
Chinese general and politician (1916–2015)
Steven R. Nagel
d. 2014
American test pilot, astronaut and engineer (1946–2014)
Albert Reynolds
d. 2014
Taoiseach from 1992 to 1994
Sid Bernstein (impresario)
d. 2013
American music producer and promoter
C. Gordon Fullerton
d. 2013
American astronaut (1936–2013)
Georg Leber
d. 2012
German politician (1920–2012)
Don Raleigh
d. 2012
Ice hockey player
William Thurston
d. 2012
American mathematician (1946–2012)
Rodolfo Enrique Fogwill
d. 2010
Argentine author and businessman (1941-2010)
Rex Shelley
d. 2009
Singaporean author (1930–2009)
Jerry Finn
d. 2008
American record producer (1969–2008)
Siobhan Dowd
d. 2007
English writer and activist (1960–2007)
Elizabeth P. Hoisington
d. 2007
20th-century United States Armed Forces officer
Raul Seixas
d. 1989
Brazilian singer-songwriter and music producer (1945-1989)
On This Day in History
All 52 ›
2017
A solar eclipse traverses the continental United States.
Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017
2013
Hundreds of people are reported killed by chemical attacks in the Ghouta region of Syria.
Ghouta chemical attack
2000
American golfer Tiger Woods wins the 82nd PGA Championship and becomes the first golfer since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in a calendar year.
Tiger Woods
1995
Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529, an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia, attempts to divert to West Georgia Regional Airport after the left engine fails, but the aircraft crashes in Carroll County near Carrollton, Georgia, killing nine of the 29 people on board.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529
1994
Royal Air Maroc Flight 630 crashes in Douar Izounine, Morocco, killing all 44 people on board.
Royal Air Maroc Flight 630
1993
NASA loses contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft.
NASA
1991
Latvia declares renewal of its full independence after its occupation by the Soviet Union since 1940.
Latvia
1991
Coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev collapses.
1991 Soviet coup attempt
1988
The 6.9 Mw Nepal earthquake shakes the Nepal–India border with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving 709–1,450 people killed and thousands injured.
1988 Nepal earthquake
1986
Carbon dioxide gas erupts from volcanic Lake Nyos in Cameroon, killing up to 1,800 people within a 20-kilometre (12 mi) range.
Volcano
1983
Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. is assassinated at Manila International Airport (now renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport in his honor).
Ninoy Aquino
1982
Lebanese Civil War: The first troops of a multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the Palestine Liberation Organization's withdrawal from Lebanon.
Lebanese Civil War
1971
A bomb exploded in the Liberal Party campaign rally in Plaza Miranda, Manila, Philippines with several anti-Marcos political candidates injured.
Liberal Party (Philippines)
1968
Cold War: Nicolae Ceaușescu, leader of the Socialist Republic of Romania, publicly condemns the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, encouraging the Romanian population to arm itself against possible Soviet reprisals.
Cold War
1968
James Anderson Jr. posthumously receives the first Medal of Honor to be awarded to an African American U.S. Marine.
James Anderson Jr.
1965
The Socialist Republic of Romania is proclaimed, following the adoption of a new constitution.
Socialist Republic of Romania
1963
Xá Lợi Pagoda raids: The Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces loyal to Ngô Đình Nhu, brother of President Ngo Dinh Diem, vandalizes Buddhist pagodas across the country, arresting thousands and leaving an estimated hundreds dead.
Xá Lợi Pagoda raids
1959
United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order proclaiming Hawaii the 50th state of the union. Hawaii's admission is currently commemorated by Hawaii Admission Day.
President of the United States
1957
The Soviet Union successfully conducts a long-range test flight of the R-7 Semyorka, the first intercontinental ballistic missile.
Soviet Union
1945
Physicist Harry Daghlian is fatally irradiated in a criticality accident during an experiment with the Demon core at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Harry Daghlian