On this day: 21 August
Events, births and deaths on 21 August. Every date is checked against Wikidata.
Years ago today
1 year ago2025
- Deaths · Jacques Poulin
10 years ago2016
Nothing recorded for that year.
100 years ago1926
- Births · Can Yücel
1000 years ago1026
Nothing recorded for that year.
Events · 28
- 1169(Julian date)Battle of the Blacks — 1169 battle between Saladin and Fatimids
- 1415(Julian date)Conquest of Ceuta — Portuguese conquest of Ceuta (1415)
- 1673Battle of Texel — naval battle off the island of Texel (1673) between Dutch and combined English and French fleets
- 1689Battle of Dunkeld — battle of the Jacobite rising of 1689
- 1772Swedish Constitution of 1772 — Swedish law
- 1778Siege of Pondicherry — 1778 siege of the American Revolutionary War
- 1808Battle of Vimeiro — 1808 battle during the Peninsular War
- 1863Lawrence Massacre — 1863 raid in the American Civil War
- 1914Battle of Charleroi — 1914 battle
- 1918Second Battle of the Somme — 1918 First World War battle
- 1942Battle of the Tenaru — 1942 battle of World War II
- 1944Dumbarton Oaks Conference — international conference
- 1944Operation Tractable — battle of World War II
- 1945demon core — historical subcritical mass of plutonium
- 1959Hawaii — state of the United States of America
- 1963Xá Lợi Pagoda raids — series of attacks on Buddhist pagodas in South Vietnam on 21 August 1963 by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces and combat police, ordered by Ngô Đình Nhu
- 1965Socialist Republic of Romania — 1965–1989 republic in Southeastern Europe
- 1968Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia — August 1968 unrest in Czechoslovakia
- 1971Plaza Miranda bombing — 1971 bombing of a Liberal Party rally in Manila, Philippines
- 1983assassination of Benigno Aquino, Jr. — 1983 murder of Filipino senator and opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr.
- 1986Lake Nyos disaster — 1986 disaster in Cameroon due to a limnic eruption of Lake Nyos
- 19881988 Nepal earthquake — August 1988 earthquake in India and Nepal
- 1994Royal Air Maroc Flight 630 — 1994 crash of an ATR 42 in Douar Izounine, Morocco
- 1995Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529 — 1995 aviation accident
- 2006Mega International Commercial Bank — Taiwanese commercial bank
- 2013August 2013 Ghouta chemical attack — series of chemical attacks in Syria on 21 August 2013
- 20152015 Thalys train attack — attempted mass shooting on a Thalys train on 21 August 2015
- 2017solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 — total solar eclipse
Births · 60
- 1165(Julian date)Philip II of France — King of France, and the first to be called by that title (1165–1223)
- 1567(Julian date)Francis de Sales — French bishop, saint, writer and Doctor of the Church (1567-1622)
- 1643Afonso VI of Portugal — King of Portugal and the Algarves
- 1725Jean-Baptiste Greuze — French painter (1725 – 1805)
- 1754William Murdoch — Scottish engineer and inventor (1754-1839)
- 1765William IV — King of the United Kingdom and Hanover from 1830 to 1837
- 1789Augustin-Louis Cauchy — French mathematician (1789–1857)
- 1798Jules Michelet — French historian; popularized the historical concept of the Renaissance
- 1858Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria — Austrian archduke (1858-1889)
- 1862Emilio Salgari — Italian writer (1862–1911)
- 1872Aubrey Beardsley — British illustrator and author (1872–1898)
- 1904Count Basie — American jazz musician and composer (1904–1984)
- 1917Leonid Hurwicz — Polish-American economist and mathematician (1917–2008)
- 1927Thomas S. Monson — president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (1927-2018)
- 1928Art Farmer — American jazz trumpeter (1928–1999)
- 1929Ahmed Kathrada — South African politician (1929-2017)
- 1930Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon — British princess (1930–2002)
- 1933Janet Baker — British opera and concert singer
- 1936Wilt Chamberlain — American basketball player (1936–1999)
- 1937Donald Dewar — Scottish politician, 1st First Minister of Scotland (in office from 1999 to 2000)
- 1937Gustavo Noboa — president of Ecuador (2000-2003)
- 1938Kenny Rogers — American country singer (1938–2020)
- 1939Festus Mogae — President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008
- 1943Perry Christie — Bahamian politician
- 1944Peter Weir — Australian film director (born 1944)
Deaths · 60
- 672(Julian date)Kōbun — Emperor of Japan
- 1131(Julian date)Baldwin II of Jerusalem — Count of Edessa (r. 1100-1118) and King of Jerusalem (r. 1118–1131)
- 1148William II, Count of Nevers — French military personnel
- 1157(Julian date)Alfonso VII of Castile — Castilian monarch
- 1245(Julian date)Alexander of Hales — English Franciscan theologian and philosopher (c.1185-1245)
- 1271(Julian date)Alphonse, Count of Poitiers — Count of Poitou
- 1534(Julian date)Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam — Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller (1464–1534)
- 1568Jean de Valette Parisot — nobleman from Quercy, having belonged to the order of the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem of which he was Grand Prior of Saint-Gilles (Langue de Provence) from 1556 to 1557 then Grand Master from 1557 to 1568
- 1614Elizabeth Báthory — Hungarian countess
- 1762Mary Wortley Montagu — noblewoman; writer and poet from England, editor (1689-1762)
- 1775Daher el-Omar — Ottoman Pasha (1689/90–1775)
- 1814Benjamin Thompson — American-born British physicist and inventor (1753–1814)
- 1836Claude-Louis Navier — French engineer and physicist (1785–1836)
- 1836Edward Turner Bennett — British zoologist (1797–1836)
- 1838Adelbert von Chamisso — German poet and botanist (1781–1838)
- 1853Charles Tristan, marquis de Montholon — French army commander (1783-1853)
- 1855Empress Xiaojingcheng — Qing Dynasty empress (1812-1855)
- 1867Juan Álvarez Hurtado — President of Mexico (1790-1867)
- 1901Adolf Fick — German-born physician and physiologist (1829-1901)
- 1910Bertalan Székely — Hungarian artist (1835–1910)
- 1919Laurence Doherty — English tennis player (1875-1919)
- 1935John Hartley — English clergyman and tennis player (1849-1935)
- 1940Leon Trotsky — Russian Marxist revolutionary (1879–1940)
- 1940Hermann Obrecht — member of the Swiss Federal Council (1882-1940)
- 1943Henrik Pontoppidan — Danish writer, Nobel Laureate
Dates verified against Wikidata (CC0). Titles and descriptions come from Wikidata.