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 234^th 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, 478,944 hours 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.

August 21 Historical Events

• 1689 –
  The Battle of Dunkeld in Scotland.
• 1863 –
  Lawrence, Kansas is destroyed by Confederate guerrillas Quantrill’s Raiders in the Lawrence Massacre.
• 1918 –
  World War I: The Second Battle of the Somme begins.
• 1959 –
  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
• 1968 –
  Soviet Union-dominated Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia, crushing the Prague Spring; on the same day, Nicolae Ceauşescu, leader of Communist Romania, publicly condemns the Soviet maneuver, encouraging the Romanian population to arm itself against possible Soviet reprisals.
• 1979 –
  Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defects to the United States.
• 1983 –
  Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr. is assassinated at the Manila International Airport (now renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport).
• 1991 –
  Coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev collapses.
• 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.

Who were born on August 21?

• 1597 –
  Roger Twysden, English antiquarian and royalist (d. 1672)
• 1930 –
  Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (d. 2002)
• 1937 –
  Donald Dewar, First Minister of Scotland (d. 2000)
• 1954 –
  Chip Coffey, American psychic, medium and television personality.
• 1970 –
  Craig Counsell, American baseball player
• 1976 –
  Alex Brooks, American ice hockey player
• 1983 –
  Chantelle Houghton, British TV personality
• 1984 –
  Alizée Jacotey, French singer
• 1985 –
  Melissa M, French singer
• 1989 –
  Judd Trump, English snooker player

Who died on August 21?

• 1581 –
  Sakuma Nobumori, Japanese retainer and samurai (b. 1527)
• 1627 –
  Jacques Mauduit, French composer (b. 1557)
• 1926 –
  Ugyen Wangchuck, first king of Bhutan (b.1862)
• 1940 –
  Hermann Obrecht, Swiss jurist (b. 1882)
• 1960 –
  David Barnard Steinman, American civil engineer and bridge designer (b. 1886)
• 1983 –
  Benigno Aquino, Jr., Philippine opposition leader (b. 1932)
• 2000 –
  Daniel Lisulo, Prime Minister of Zambia (b. 1930)
• 2005 –
  Martin Dillon, American opera singer (b. 1957)
• 2006 –
  S. Yizhar (aka Yizhar Smilansky), Israeli author (b. 1916)
• 2009 –
  Rex Shelley, Singaporean author (b. 1930)