21 August History
- 1129 - The warrior Yoritomo is made Shogun without equal in Japan.
- 1525 - Estavao Gomes returns to Portugal after failing to find a clear waterway to Asia.
- 1794 - France surrenders the island of Corsica to the British.
- 1808 - Napoleon Bonaparte's General Junot is defeated by Wellington at the first Battle of the Peninsular War at Vimiero, Portugal.
- 1831 - Nat Turner leads a slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia that kills close to 60 whites.
- 1858 - The first of a series of debates begins between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. Douglas goes on to win the Senate seat in November, but Lincoln gains national visibility for the first time.
- 1863 - Confederate raiders under William Quantrill strike Lawrence, Kansas, leaving 150 civilians dead.
- 1864 - Confederate General A.P. Hill attacks Union troops south of Petersburg, Va., at the Weldon railroad. His attack is repulsed, resulting in heavy Confederate casualties.
- 1915 - Italy declares war on Turkey.
- 1942 - U.S. Marines turn back the first major Japanese ground attack on Guadalcanal in the Battle of Tenaru.
- 1944 - The Dumbarton Oaks conference, which lays the foundation for the establishment of the United Nations, is held in Washington, D.C.
- 1945 - President Harry S. Truman cancels all contracts under the Lend-Lease Act.
- 1959 - Hawaii is admitted into the Union.
- 1963 - The South Vietnamese Army arrests over 100 Buddhist monks in Saigon.
- 1968 - Soviet forces invade Czechoslovakia because of the country's experiments with a more liberal government.
- 1996 - The new Globe theater opens in England.
21 August Birthdays
- 1798 - Jules Michelet, French historian who wrote the 24-volume Historie de France.
- 1904 - William "Count" Basie, American band leader and composer.
- 1936 - Wilt Chamberlin, four-time MVP for the National Basketball Association and only player to score 100 points in a professional basketball game.
- 1938 - Kenny Rogers, country singer.