DAY IN HISTORY
Saturday, August 21, 2021
Today is the 234th day of 2021 and the 64th day of summer.
TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1851, the American yacht America won the first America’s Cup.
In 1864, the first Geneva Convention, which established protections for those wounded in active warfare, was signed by 12 European nations.
In 1902, the Cadillac Automobile Co. was founded.
In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Personal
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act - a major welfare reform bill -- into law.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:
Claude Debussy (18621918), composer; George Herriman (1880-1944), cartoonist; Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), author; Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003), film director/actress; John Lee Hooker (1917-2001), singer-songwriter/guitarist; Ray Bradbury (19202012), author; Norman Schwarzkopf (1934-2012), general; Valerie Harper (1939-2019), actress; Bill Parcells (1941- ), football coach; David Chase (1945- ), screenwriter/producer; Tori Amos (1963- ), singer-songwriter; Layne Staley (1967-2002), singersongwriter; Kristen Wiig (1973- ), actress/comedian; James Corden (1978- ), TV personality.
TODAY’S FACT: The Comics Journal named George Herriman’s “Krazy Kat” the best American comic strip of the 20th century in 1999.
TODAY’S SPORTS:
In 1989, Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan struck out Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A’s, becoming the first major league pitcher to reach 5,000 strikeouts.
TODAY’S QUOTE:
“I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.” — Ray Bradbury, “Zen in the Art of Writing”
TODAY’S NUMBER: 30 — Major League Baseball record number of runs scored by the Texas Rangers in a 30-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on this day in 2007.
TODAY’S MOON: Full moon (Aug. 22).