“Mona Lisa,” by Leonardo da Vinci

Today in History

• James Cook claims Australia (originally New South Wales) for Great Britain (1770)
• The Haitian Revolution begins (1791)
• Nat Turner’s slave rebellion begins (1831)
• Quantrill’s Raiders destroy Lawrence, Kansas (1863)
• The first adding machine is patented (1888)
• Oldsmobile is founded (1897)
• The Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre; it will not be recovered for more than two years (1911)
• The Dumbarton Oaks Conference, which leads to the United Nations, convenes (1944)
• Hawaii becomes the 50th state (1959)
• Patsy Cline records her hit “Crazy” (1961)
• Motown’s first number one hit, “Please Mr. Postman,” is released (1961)
• Tiger Woods becomes the first golfer since Ben Hogan to win three majors in a calendar year (2000)

Birthdays

• William Murdoch, inventor of gas lighting (1754)
• Aubrey Beardsley, illustrator (1872)
• Count Basie, bandleader (1904)
• Friz Freleng, animation director (1906)
• Jack Weston, actor (1924)
• Art Farmer, trumpet player (1928)
• Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom (1930)
• Melvin Van Peebles, filmmaker (1932)
• Wilt Chamberlain, basketball player (1936)
• Kenny Rogers, musician (1938)
• Clarence Williams III, actor (1938)
• Jackie DeShannon, singer-songwriter (1944)
• Sergey Brin, co-founded Google (1973)
• Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, co-founded Connect U; sued Facebook (1981)
• Usain Bolt, sprinter (1986)
• Hayden Panettiere, actress (1989)

Deaths

• Elizabeth Báthory, countess and serial killer (1614)
• Leon Trotsky, revolutionary (1940)
• Ettore Bugatti, car maker (1947)
• Buford Pusser, police officer (1974)
• Charles Eames, architect (1978)
• Benigno Aquino, Jr., Filipino politician (1983)
• Ray Eames, architect (1988)
• Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, astrophysicist (1995)
• Robert Moog, synthesizer manufacturer (2005)

Holidays and Observances

• National Spumoni Day (US)
• Ninoy Aquino Day (Philippines)
• Poet’s Day (US)
• Youth Day (Morocco)

August 21 is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years). There are 132 days remaining until the end of the year.