A Brief History
This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on August 21st. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event.
Digging Deeper
On August 21, 1791, a voodoo, or alternately “vodou,” ceremony at Bois Caïman, Haiti, was the scene of the first major assembly of African slaves in Haiti, an event that led to the slave rebellion known as the Haitian Revolution.
On August 21, 1888, American inventor William Seward Burroughs of New York patented the first successful American adding machine, a device that remained in service until superseded by electronic calculators in the 1970s.
On August 21, 1897, Ransom Eli Olds founded the car company that became the first assembly line producer of automobiles in the world.
On August 21, 1897, Ransom Eli Olds founded the car company that bore his name, Oldsmobile.
On August 21, 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia, an employee of the Louvre in Paris, stole perhaps the most famous painting in the world, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
On August 21, 1961, Motown Records of Detroit, Michigan released what became their first #1 hit song, “Please Mr. Postman” by the Marvelettes.
On August 21, 1968, the Medal of Honor, the highest military award for bravery and courage in battle that can be earned by an American fighting person, was awarded posthumously to James Anderson, Jr., the first African American US Marine to earn the Medal of Honor.
On August 21, 1982, elements of the 860 man French contingent of the Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF) arrived in Beirut.
On August 21, 1986, a volcano in Cameroon hidden beneath Lake Nyos erupted and released a mass quantity of carbon dioxide gas, suffocating and killing nearly 1,800 and 3,500 of their farm animals.
On August 21, 2012, the fourth game in the Counter-Strike series was released for Windows, OS X, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.
On August 21, 2017, we looked back on the past week, a week that has been incredible for the news cycle, most of the news bad!
On August 21, 2019, we eagerly awaited the next NFL season.
On August 21, 2019, a report came out that “derogatory student loan debt is growing at ‘stunning’ pace.”
On August 21, 2019, the country was treated to a great “The Most Dangerous Game” (short story, 1924, film, 1932) themed horror movie when Ready or Not hits the public.
On August 21, 2025, Australian science fiction action horror film Primitive War was released in theaters in the United States by Fathom Entertainment.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Which event that occurred on today’s date would you like to learn more about?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Andrews, John and Matt Baker. Timeline of World History. Thunder Bay Press, 2020.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.