Historical events on August 21
AUGUST 21, 1716
Seventh Ottoman–Venetian War: Ottoman forces suddenly abandoned their siege of Corfu, allowing the Republic of Venice to preserve its rule over the Ionian Islands.
The Seventh Ottoman–Venetian War was fought between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire between 1714 and 1718. It was the
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AUGUST 21, 1689
Jacobite clans clashed with a regiment of Covenanters in the streets of Dunkeld, Scotland.
Jacobitism was a political ideology advocating the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the British throne. When
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AUGUST 21, 1717
Austro-Turkish War: Austrian troops under the command of Prince Eugene of Savoy captured the strategically important city of Belgrade from the Ottoman Empire.
The Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718) was fought between Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire. The 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz was not an acceptable
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AUGUST 21, 1789
The national colours of Italy first appeared on a tricolour cockade in Genoa.
The national colours of Italy are green, white, and red, collectively known in Italian as il Tricolore. The three Italian national colours
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AUGUST 21, 2013
Syrian civil war: Areas controlled by the Syrian opposition in Ghouta, Damascus, were attacked by rockets (launcher pictured) containing sarin, killing at least 281 people.
The Syrian civil war is an ongoing conflict in Syria that began with the Syrian Revolution in March 2011 when popular discontent
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AUGUST 21, 1808
Peninsular War: British–Portuguese forces put an end to the first French invasion of Portugal at the Battle of Vimeiro.
The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying
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AUGUST 21, 1944
World War II: A combined Canadian–Polish force captured the town of Falaise, France, in the final offensive of the Battle of Normandy.
World War II or the Second World War was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all
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AUGUST 21, 1971
Six people were killed during an escape attempt and riot at San Quentin State Prison in California; the subsequent trial of six inmates was the longest in state history at the time.
The San Quentin Six were six inmates—Fleeta Drumgo, David Johnson, Hugo Pinell, Johnny Spain, Willie Tate, and Luis Talamantez—at California's San Quentin
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AUGUST 21, 1986
A limnic eruption of Lake Nyos in Cameroon released a cloud of carbon dioxide, suffocating 1,746 people and 3,500 livestock.
A limnic eruption, also known as a lake overturn, is a very rare type of natural hazard in which dissolved carbon dioxide
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AUGUST 21, 1942
World War II: The Imperial Japanese Army lost the Battle of the Tenaru, the first of its three major land offensives during the Guadalcanal Campaign.
World War II or the Second World War was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all
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AUGUST 21, 1911
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa (pictured) was stolen from the Louvre by museum employee Vincenzo Peruggia and was not recovered until two years later.
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer,
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AUGUST 21, 1963
South Vietnamese special forces loyal to Ngô Đình Nhu, the brother of President Ngô Đình Diệm, raided and vandalised Buddhist pagodas across the country, arresting thousands and leaving hundreds dead.
The Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces were the elite military units of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam
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AUGUST 21, 2015
Passengers on a Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris confronted and subdued an attacker who attempted a mass shooting.
Thalys was a brand name used for high-speed train services between Paris Gare du Nord and both Amsterdam Centraal and German cities
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AUGUST 21, 1945
American physicist Harry Daghlian accidentally dropped a tungsten carbide brick onto a plutonium bomb core, exposing himself to neutron radiation and later becoming the first Manhattan Project fatality due to a criticality accident.
Haroutune Krikor Daghlian Jr. was an American physicist with the Manhattan Project, which designed and produced the atomic bombs that were used
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