TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

Aug. 21, 1831

Nat Turner launched a violent slave rebellion in Virginia resulting in the deaths of at least 55whites.

ALSO ON THIS DATE

1609

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

1858

The first of seven debates between Illinois senatorial contenders Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took place.

1912

The Boy Scouts of America named its first Eagle Scout, Arthur Rose Eldred of Troop 1in Rockville Centre, N.Y.

1959

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order making Hawaii the 50th state.

1963

Martial law was declared in South Vietnam as police and army troops began a violent crackdown on Buddhist anti-government protesters.

1987

Sgt. Clayton Lonetree, the first Marine court-martialed for spying, was convicted in Quantico, Va., of passing secrets to the KGB.

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.

1992

An 11-day siege began at the cabin of white separatist Randy Weaver in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, as government agents tried to arrest Weaver for failing to appear in court on charges of selling two illegal sawed-off shotguns.

2013

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning was sentenced at Fort Meade, Maryland, to up to 35years in prison for spilling an unprecedented trove of government secrets.