On this day, Aug. 21

1609 Galileo Galilei demonstrated his new telescope to a group of officials atop the Campanile in Venice.

1831 Nat Turner launched a slave rebellion in Virginia that led to the deaths of at least 55 white people. Turner was later executed. 1975 Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. signed a $200 million pollution control agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency assuring J&L’s continued operation and jobs for its 6,000 workers.

1991 The hard-line coup against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev collapsed in the face of a popular uprising led by Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin. 2014 Gov. Jay Nixon ordered the Missouri

National Guard to begin withdrawing from Ferguson, where nightly scenes of unrest had erupted since a white police officer fatally shot a Black 18-year-old nearly two weeks earlier.

Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).

— Compiled by Rick Nowlin Today’s birthdays: Actor-director Melvin Van Peebles, 88. Rock-and-roll musician James Burton, 81. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Willie Lanier, 75. Actor Patty McCormack, 75. Actor Loretta Devine, 71. Singer Glenn Hughes, 68. Country musician Nick Kane, 66. Actor Kim Cattrall, 64. College

Football Hall of Famer and former NFL quarterback Jim McMahon, 61. Actor Cleo King,

58. Retired MLB All-Star John Wetteland,

54. Actor Carrie-Anne Moss, 50. Actor Alicia Witt, 45. Singer Kelis, 41. Actor Diego Klattenhoff, 41. Singer Melissa Schuman, 36. Olympic gold medal sprinter Usain Bolt, 34. Actor Carlos Pratts, 34. Actor-comedian Brooks Wheelan, 34. Actor Cody Kasch,

33. Country singer Kacey Musgraves, 32. Actor Hayden Panettiere, 31.

Thought for today: “To know a little less and to understand a little more: that, it seems to me, is our greatest need.”

— James Ramsey Ullman, American author (1907-1971).