Summary of the Day ✨ 21 August (21/08)
A solar eclipse traversed the continental United States while hundreds were killed in chemical attacks in Syria’s Ghouta region, creating a stark contrast between natural wonder and human tragedy. In sports, Tiger Woods won the PGA Championship to become the first golfer since 1953 to win three majors in a calendar year, while two separate plane crashes in Georgia and Morocco claimed 53 lives.
Historical Events 📜
- 2017: A solar eclipse traverses the continental United States.
- 2013: Hundreds of people are reported killed by chemical attacks in the Ghouta region of Syria.
- 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.
- 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.
- 1994: Royal Air Maroc Flight 630 crashes in Douar Izounine, Morocco, killing all 44 people on board.
- 1993: NASA loses contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft.
- 1991: Latvia declares renewal of its full independence after its occupation by the Soviet Union since 1940.
- 1991: Coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev collapses.
- 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.
- 1986: Carbon dioxide gas erupts from volcanic Lake Nyos in Cameroon, killing up to 1,800 people within a 20-kilometre (12 mi) range.
- 1983: Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. is assassinated at Manila International Airport (now renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport in his honor).
- 1982: Lebanese Civil War: The first troops of a multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the Palestine Liberation Organization’s withdrawal from Lebanon.
- 1971: A bomb exploded in the Liberal Party campaign rally in Plaza Miranda, Manila, Philippines with several anti-Marcos political candidates injured.
- 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.
- 1968: James Anderson Jr. posthumously receives the first Medal of Honor to be awarded to an African American U.S. Marine.
Famous Births 👶
- 2002: Kenji Fan, Hong Kong model and actor
- 2000: Corbin Carroll, American baseball player
- 1999: Maxim Knight, American actor
- 1996: Karolína Muchová, Czech tennis player
- 1995: Dominik Kubalík, Czech ice hockey player
- 1994: Alexandra Cooper, American podcaster
- 1994: Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, British-Turkish reality television personality, actress and model
- 1993: Millie Bright, English footballer
- 1993: Mike Evans, American football player
- 1992: Brandon Drury, American baseball player
- 1992: RJ Mitte, American actor
- 1992: Felipe Nasr, Brazilian race car driver
- 1991: Leandro Bacuna, Dutch footballer
- 1991: Jesse Rutherford, American singer and songwriter
- 1990: Bo Burnham, American comedian, musician, actor, filmmaker and poet
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: Nell McCafferty, Northern Irish journalist, playwright and civil rights campaigner (born 1944)
- 2024: Bill Pascrell, American politician (born 1937)
- 2024: John Amos, American actor (born 1939)
- 2019: Celso Piña, Mexican singer, composer, arranger, and accordionist (born 1953)
- 2018: Stefán Karl Stefánsson, Icelandic actor and singer (born 1975)
- 2017: Bajram Rexhepi, First Kosovan Prime Ministers of UN mission administration in Kosovo (born 1954)
- 2015: Colin Beyer, New Zealand lawyer and businessman (born 1938)
- 2015: Wang Dongxing, Chinese commander and politician (born 1916)
- 2015: Jimmy Evert, American tennis player and coach (born 1924)
- 2014: Gerry Anderson, Irish radio and television host (born 1944)
- 2014: Helen Bamber, English psychotherapist and academic (born 1925)
- 2014: Steven R. Nagel, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (born 1946)
- 2014: Jean Redpath, Scottish singer-songwriter (born 1937)
- 2014: Albert Reynolds, Irish businessman and politician, ninth Taoiseach of Ireland (born 1932)
- 2013: Jean Berkey, American lawyer and politician (born 1938)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian Feast Day:
Abraham of Smolensk (Eastern Orthodox Church) - Christian Feast Day:
Euprepius of Verona - Christian Feast Day:
Maximilian of Antioch - Christian Feast Day:
Our Lady of Knock - Christian Feast Day:
Pope Pius X - Christian Feast Day:
Sidonius Apollinaris - Christian Feast Day:
August 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Ninoy Aquino Day (Philippines)
- Youth Day (Morocco)
- World Senior Citizen’s Day