Today in History

Today is Monday, Aug. 21, the 233rd day of 2023. There are 132 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Aug. 21, 1831, Nat Turner launched a violent slave rebellion in Virginia, resulting in the deaths of at least 55 white people; scores of Black people were killed in retribution in the aftermath of the rebellion, and Turner was later executed.

On this date:

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

In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. (It was recovered two years later in Italy.)

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.

In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order making Hawaii the 50th state.

In 1991, the hardline coup against Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev collapsed in the face of a popular uprising led by Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin.

In 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; on the first day of the siege, Weaver’s teenage son, Samuel, and Deputy U.S. Marshal William Degan were killed.

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.

In 2000, rescue efforts to reach the sunken Russian nuclear submarine Kursk ended with divers announcing none of the 118 sailors had survived.

In 2010, Iranian and Russian engineers began loading fuel into Iran’s first nuclear power plant, which Moscow promised to safeguard to prevent material at the site from being used in any potential weapons production.

In 2015, a trio of Americans, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Spencer Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and college student Anthony Sadler, and a British businessman, Chris Norman, tackled and disarmed a Moroccan gunman on a high-speed train between Amsterdam and Paris.

In 2020, a former police officer who became known as the Golden State Killer, Joseph James DeAngelo, told victims and family members in a Sacramento courtroom that he was “truly sorry” before he was sentenced to multiple life prison sentences for a decade-long string of rapes and murders.

Ten years ago: Army Pfc. Chelsea Manning was sentenced at Fort Meade, Maryland, to up to 35 years in prison for spilling an unprecedented trove of government secrets. (The former intelligence analyst was later sentenced to up to 35 years in prison, but the term was commuted by President Barack Obama.) The National Security Agency declassified three secret court opinions showing how in one of its surveillance programs, it scooped up as many as 56,000 emails and other communications by Americans not connected to terrorism annually over three years.

Five years ago: Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, pleaded guilty to campaign-finance violations and other charges; Cohen said Trump directed him to arrange the payment of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and a former Playboy model to fend off damage to his White House bid. Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty of eight financial crimes in the first trial victory of the special counsel investigation into Trump’s associates. The body of college student Mollie Tibbetts was found in an Iowa cornfield; authorities say they were led to the body by a farmworker from Mexico who was suspected of being in the country illegally and that he confessed to kidnapping and killing her while she was out running.

One year ago: The daughter of an influential Russian political theorist often referred to as “Putin’s brain” was killed in a car bombing on the outskirts of Moscow. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killing of 29-year-old TV commentator Daria Dugina, but the bloodshed gave rise to suspicions that the intended target was her father, Alexander Dugin, a nationalist philosopher and writer. Leon Vitali, the “Barry Lyndon” actor who became one of Stanley Kubrick’s closest associates, died at age 74. “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero” topped the box office in its first weekend in theaters, bringing in $20.1 million.

Today’s Birthdays: Rock-and-roll musician James Burton is 84. Singer Jackie DeShannon is 82. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Willie Lanier is 78. Actor Patty McCormack is 78. Pop singer-musician Carl Giammarese (jee-ah mah-REE’-see) is 76. Actor Loretta Devine is 74. NBC newsman Harry Smith is 72. Singer Glenn Hughes is 71. Actor Kim Cattrall is 67. College Football Hall of Famer and former NFL quarterback Jim McMahon is 64. Actor Cleo King is 61. Rock singer Serj Tankian (System of a Down) is 56. Actor Carrie-Anne Moss is 53. Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell is 53. Rock musician Liam Howlett (Prodigy) is 52. Actor Alicia Witt is 48. Singer Kelis (kuh-LEES’) is 44. TV personality Brody Jenner is 40. Singer Melissa Schuman is 39. Retired Olympic gold medal sprinter Usain (yoo-SAYN’) Bolt is 37. Actor Carlos Pratts is 37. Actor-comedian Brooks Wheelan is 37. Actor Cody Kasch is 36. Country singer Kacey Musgraves is 35. Actor Hayden Panettiere (pan’-uh-tee-EHR’) is 34. Actor RJ Mitte is 31. Actor Maxim Knight is 24.