Year 1680
Pueblo Indians capture Santa Fe from the Spanish during the Pueblo Revolt.
AUGUST 21
Daily Historical Chronicle
UPSC CSE • State PSC • SSC CGL Matrix
21 August: What Happened On This Day in History
Curated historical timeline of momentous political pacts, freedom struggle uprisings, constitutional developments, scientific breakthroughs, and prominent birthdays recorded on 21 August.
Observances & Special Days
World senior citizen day: The day is celebrated on August 21 each year and recognizes the achievements of senior citizens worldwide. The day has been globally observed since then. The number of senior citizens is expected to be more than twice what it is now in the next three decades.
Year 1852
Tlingit Indians destroy Fort Selkirk, Yukon Territory.
Year 1888
The first successful adding machine in the United States was patented by William Seward Burroughs.
Year 1911
The Mona Lisa painting was stolen by Vincenzo Perugia, a Louvre employee.
Year 1959
Hawaii became the 50th State of the USA.
Year 1972
The Wildlife Protection Act was passed in India. A law was passed for protecting wild animals, including lions and tigers, from extinction.
Year 1976
25-year-old Mary Langdon joins the East Sussex fire brigade to become Britain’s first female fireman.
Year 1987
Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma elected the Vice President of India (1987 - 1992).
Year 1990
Prasar Bharati Bill moved in the Lok Sabha .
Year 1991
Latvia declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
Year 1993
NASA lost contact with the Mars Observer Spacecraft.
Year 1997
Government extends the provision of the payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 to all those societies and trusts which employed 10 or more people.
Year 1997
Krishan Kant assumes office as tenth Vice President of India.
Born 1540
Badauni Abdul Kadir, the famous Muslim historian, was born.
Born 1746
William IV of the United Kingdom.
Born 1879
Jahangir Bemanji Petit, famous industrialist, was born.
Born 1905
Bipin Gupta, Indian actor and producer (d. 1981)
Born 1907
P Jeevanandham, Indian Lawyer and politician.
Born 1934
Sudhakar Rao Naik, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
Born 1949
Ahmed Patel, an Indian politician and Member of Parliament.
Born 1961
V. B. Chandrasekhar, Indian cricketer and coach (d. 2019)
Born 1963
Mohammad VI, King of Morocco.
Born 1973
Sergey Brin, a Russian American Computer scientist, and internet entrepreneur. Co-founder of Google.
Born 1986
Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter.
Died 1931
Pandit Vishnu Dingambar Paluskar, famous singer and the blind musician of Maharashtra, passed away.
Died 1947
Ettore Bugatti, an Italian French engineer, and businessman. Founder of Bugatti.
Died 1955
Ramnarayan Vishwanath Pathak, noted critic of Gujarati literature, poet and story writer, passed away.
Died 1974
Kirpal Singh, Indian spiritual master (b. 1894)
Died 1978
Vinu Mankad, an Indian cricket player. He played 44 tests for India and had 2109 runs and took 162 wickets.
Died 1981
Dattatrey Balkrishna Kalelkar "Kakasaheb", Indian Hindi Writer, freedom fighter (B.1885)
Died 1989
American fashion journalist Diana Vreeland.
Died 1991
Gopinath Mahant, famous Odissi litterateur and Gyanpeeth awardee, died.
Died 1995
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Indian-American astrophysicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910). He was one of the world's leading astro-physicists for his contributions to the study of stars. Chandrasekhar had received the highest award in Science--the Noble Prize in Physics in 1983.
Died 2000
Mahatma Gandhi's daughter-in-law Mrs. Nirmala Gandhi dies in Wardha. She was 91.
Died 2004
Sachidananda Routray, an Indian Oriya-language poet, novelist and short-story writer.
Died 2005
Robert Moog, American electronic engineer.
Died 2006
Bismillah Khan, Indian musician, Bharat ratna awardi (b. 1916)