What are the important events that happened on August 21? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
August 21: Facts & Myths About This Day
August 21 is the 234th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 132 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is August 8, 2024 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 28,736,640 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘dihectatriacontatetragon’ day.
Leo is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Peridot is the modern birthstone for this month. Diamond is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 161 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,261 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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August 21 Historical Events
- 1680 –Pueblo Indians capture Santa Fe from Spanish during the Pueblo Revolt.
- 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.
- 1863 –Lawrence, Kansas is destroyed by Confederate guerrillas Quantrill’s Raiders in the Lawrence Massacre.
- 1879 –The Virgin Mary, along with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist, reportedly appears at Knock Shrine in Knock, County Mayo, Ireland.
- 1918 –World War I: The Second Battle of the Somme begins.
- 1942 –World War II: a Nazi flag is installed atop the Mount Elbrus.
- 1942 –World War II: the Guadalcanal campaign: American forces defeat an attack by Imperial Japanese Army soldiers in the Battle of the Tenaru.
- 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.
- 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.
Who were born on August 21?
- 1535 –Shimazu Yoshihiro, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1619)
- 1904 –William “Count” Basie, American bandleader (d. 1984)
- 1909 –Nikolay Bogolyubov, Russian mathematician (d. 1992)
- 1952 –Jiří Paroubek, former Czech prime minister
- 1957 –Steve Smith, American drummer (Journey)
- 1963 –Richmond Arquette, American actor
- 1971 –Liam Howlett, British musician (The Prodigy)
- 1978 –Jason Marquis, American baseball player
- 1984 –Melissa Schuman, American actress
- 1990 –Fabian Heimpel, German rugby player
Who died on August 21?
- 1153 –Bernard of Clairvaux, French theologian (b. 1090)
- 1943 –Henrik Pontoppidan, Danish writer, Nobel Prize (b. 1857)
- 1982 –Sobhuza II, King of Swaziland (b. 1899)
- 1988 –Ray Eames, American designer, artist and architect (b. 1912)
- 2000 –Tomata du Plenty, artist and lead singer of The Screamers. (b. 1948)
- 2003 –Wesley Willis, American musician (b. 1963)
- 2007 –Elizabeth P. Hoisington, American Brigadier General (b. 1918)
- 2007 –Siobhan Dowd, British/Irish writer (b. 1960)
- 2010 –Nancy Dolman, Canadian actress and comedienne (b. 1952)
- 2010 –Rodolfo Enrique Fogwill, Argentinean writer (b. 1941)
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