TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Monday, Aug. 21, the 233rd day of 2017. There are 132 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On August 21, 1858, the first of seven debates between Illinois senatorial contenders Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took place.

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 1911, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. (The painting was recovered two years later in Italy.) Ten years ago: Space shuttle Endeavour, with teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan aboard, safely returned to Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Five years ago: An insurgent rocket attack damaged the plane of the top U.S. general as it sat parked at a coalition base in Afghanistan; U.S. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was unhurt.

One year ago: Shaking to samba and sharing reflections in uniquely Brazilian words, Olympians and fans said goodbye to the Rio Games with one last big bash inside Maracana Stadium.

Today’s Birthdays: Former NFL player and general manager Pete Retzlaff is 86. Actor-director Melvin Van Peebles is 85. Playwright Mart Crowley is 82. Singer Kenny Rogers is 79. Actor Clarence Williams III is 78. Rock-and-roll musician James Burton is 78.

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 (19071971).