TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SUNDAY, AUG. 21, the 234th day of 2016. There are 132 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1831, Nat Turner launched a violent slave rebellion in Virginia resulting in the deaths of at least 55 whites. (Turner was later executed.)
In 1858, the first of seven debates between Illinois senatorial contenders Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took place.
In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. (The painting was recovered two years later in Italy.)
In 1940, exiled Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky died in a Mexican hospital from wounds inflicted by an assassin the day before.
In 1944, the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union and China opened talks at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington that helped pave the way for establishment of the United Nations. (The talks concluded on Oct. 7.)
In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order making Hawaii the 50th state.
In 1963, martial law was declared in South Vietnam as police and army troops began a violent crackdown on Buddhist anti-government protesters.
In 1972, the Republican National Convention opened in Miami Beach.
In 1983, Philippine opposition leader Benigno S. Aquino Jr., ending a self-imposed exile in the United States, was shot dead moments after stepping off a plane at Manila International Airport.
In 1986, more than 1,700 people died when toxic gas erupted from a volcanic lake in the West African nation of Cameroon.
In 1991, the hard-line coup against Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev collapsed in the face of a popular uprising led by Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin.
In 1993, in a serious setback for NASA, engineers lost contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft as it was about to reach the red planet on a $980 million mission.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Former NFL player and general manager Pete Retzlaff is 85. Actor-director Melvin Van Peebles is 84. Singer Kenny Rogers is 78. Actor Clarence Williams III, rock-and-roll musician James Burton and singer Harold Reid (The Statler Brothers) are 77. College and Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Willie Lanier and actress Patty McCormack are 71. Pop singer-musician Carl Giammarese is 69. Actress Loretta Devine is 67. NBC newsman Harry Smith is 65. Singer Glenn Hughes is 64. Country musician Nick Kane is 62. Actress Kim Cattrall is 60. College Football Hall-of-Famer and former NFL quarterback Jim McMahon is 57. Actress Cleo King is 54. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher John Wetteland is 50. Rock singer Serj Tankian (System of a Down) is 49. Actress Carrie-Anne Moss and MLB player-turned-manager Craig Counsell are 46. Actress Alicia Witt is 41. Singer Kelis and actor Diego Klattenhoff are 37. TV personality Brody Jenner is 33. Olympic gold medal sprinter Usain Bolt, actor Carlos Pratts and actor-comedian Brooks Wheelan are 30. Actor Cody Kasch is 29. Actress Hayden Panettiere is 27. Actor RJ Mitte is 24. Actor Maxim Knight is 17.