Today in History: August 21, total eclipse captivates the U.S.
Brenda Ellinwood, center, watches as the sun emerges from behind the moon after totality Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, at Rosecrans Memorial Airport in St. Joseph, Mo. (Jessica A. Stewart/The St. Joseph News-Press via AP)
Today in history:
On Aug. 21, 2017, Americans witnessed their first full-blown coast-to-coast solar eclipse since World War I, with eclipse-watchers gathering along a path of totality extending 2,600 miles across the continent.
Also on this date:
In 1831, Nat Turner launched a violent slave rebellion in Virginia, resulting in the deaths of at least 55 white people; around three dozen Black people were killed in retribution in the aftermath of the rebellion. Turner was later executed.
This painting depicts the Lincoln-Douglas debate between Republican Abraham Lincoln, standing, and Democratic incumbent Stephen A. Douglas during the Illinois senatorial campaign of 1858. (AP Photo)
This painting depicts the Lincoln-Douglas debate between Republican Abraham Lincoln, standing, and Democratic incumbent Stephen A. Douglas during the Illinois senatorial campaign of 1858. (AP Photo)
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.)
American, British and Russian delegations take their places around the conference table at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C., Aug. 21, 1944, to commence post-war security talks. At the main table at top, from left: Sir Alexander Cadogan, chairman of the British delegation; Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, British ambassador to the U.S.; Secretary of State Cordell Hull, who opened the conference; Andrei Gromyko, Russian ambassador to the U.S. and chairman of the Russian delegation; Edward R. Stettinius Jr., Undersecretary of State, and chairman of the U.S. delegation. Newsmen are seen on the outer edges of the room, making the first session filled with 200 persons. (AP Photo/John Rous)
American, British and Russian delegations take their places around the conference table at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C., Aug. 21, 1944, to commence post-war security talks. At the main table at top, from left: Sir Alexander Cadogan, chairman of the British delegation; Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, British ambassador to the U.S.; Secretary of State Cordell Hull, who opened the conference; Andrei Gromyko, Russian ambassador to the U.S. and chairman of the Russian delegation; Edward R. Stettinius Jr., Undersecretary of State, and chairman of the U.S. delegation. Newsmen are seen on the outer edges of the room, making the first session filled with 200 persons. (AP Photo/John Rous)
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.
President Eisenhower in a White House ceremony signs a proclamation making Hawaii the 50th state of the union in Washington on August 21, 1959. From left are: Seated, Vice President Richard Nixon, Eisenhower and House Speaker Sam Rayburn, standing, Lorrin Thurston, chairman of the Hawaii statehood commission; Edward Johnston, Secretary of Hawaii, representing Hawaii Gov.-elect William Quinn; Secretary of Interior Fred Seaton; E. Long, Democratic senator-elect from Hawaii, and Daniel Inouye, Democratic congressman from Hawaii. (AP Photo)
President Eisenhower in a White House ceremony signs a proclamation making Hawaii the 50th state of the union in Washington on August 21, 1959. From left are: Seated, Vice President Richard Nixon, Eisenhower and House Speaker Sam Rayburn, standing, Lorrin Thurston, chairman of the Hawaii statehood commission; Edward Johnston, Secretary of Hawaii, representing Hawaii Gov.-elect William Quinn; Secretary of Interior Fred Seaton; E. Long, Democratic senator-elect from Hawaii, and Daniel Inouye, Democratic congressman from Hawaii. (AP Photo)
In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation officially declaring Hawaii the 50th state.
Airport security men lift the body of Benigno Aquino Jr., into a security van after he was shot by an assassin as he deplaned in Manila, Philippines, on Aug. 21, 1983. Aquino died with a single bullet wound to the back of the head. The assassin, body at left, was killed by security. (AP Photo)
Airport security men lift the body of Benigno Aquino Jr., into a security van after he was shot by an assassin as he deplaned in Manila, Philippines, on Aug. 21, 1983. Aquino died with a single bullet wound to the back of the head. The assassin, body at left, was killed by security. (AP Photo)
In 1983, Filipino politician Benigno Aquino Jr. was assassinated as he exited an aircraft at Manila International Airport. (His widow, Corazon Aquino, would become president of the Philippines three years later.)
Russian Republic President Boris Yeltsin, using a microphone, addresses a crowd of thousands outside the Russian Federation building in Moscow, Tuesday, August 20, 1991. Yeltsin?s body guards hold bullet-proof shield in front of him from either side. (AP Photo)
Russian Republic President Boris Yeltsin, using a microphone, addresses a crowd of thousands outside the Russian Federation building in Moscow, Tuesday, August 20, 1991. Yeltsin?s body guards hold bullet-proof shield in front of him from either side. (AP Photo)
In 1991, a hardline coup against Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev collapsed in the face of a popular uprising led by Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin.
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents stand next to the outbuilding located near the Randy Weaver home near Naples, Idaho, Sept. 1, 1992. The building is where agents found the body of Samuel Weaver during the 11-day standoff which ended with the surrender of Randy Weaver to federal authorities. (AP Photo/Gary Stewart)
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents stand next to the outbuilding located near the Randy Weaver home near Naples, Idaho, Sept. 1, 1992. The building is where agents found the body of Samuel Weaver during the 11-day standoff which ended with the surrender of Randy Weaver to federal authorities. (AP Photo/Gary Stewart)
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.
French President Francois Hollande bids farewell to U.S. Airman Spencer Stone as U.S. National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos of Roseburg, Ore., second from left, and Anthony Sadler, a senior at Sacramento State University in California, right, look on at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, after Hollande awarded them with the French Legion of Honor on Monday, Aug. 24, 2015. The three American travelers say they relied on gut instinct and a close bond forged over years of friendship as they took down a heavily armed man on a passenger train speeding through Belgium on Friday, Aug. 21. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French President Francois Hollande bids farewell to U.S. Airman Spencer Stone as U.S. National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos of Roseburg, Ore., second from left, and Anthony Sadler, a senior at Sacramento State University in California, right, look on at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, after Hollande awarded them with the French Legion of Honor on Monday, Aug. 24, 2015. The three American travelers say they relied on gut instinct and a close bond forged over years of friendship as they took down a heavily armed man on a passenger train speeding through Belgium on Friday, Aug. 21. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
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.
Michael Cohen, former lawyer to President Donald Trump, departs following his appearance in Federal Court on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018, in New York. Cohen, has pleaded guilty to charges including campaign finance fraud stemming from hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)
Michael Cohen, former lawyer to President Donald Trump, departs following his appearance in Federal Court on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018, in New York. Cohen, has pleaded guilty to charges including campaign finance fraud stemming from hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)
In 2017, Americans witnessed their first full-blown coast-to-coast solar eclipse since World War I, with eclipse-watchers gathering along a path of totality extending 2,600 miles across the continent
In 2018, 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 former Playboy model Karen McDougal to fend off damage to his White House bid. (Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to the payments in May 2024.)
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.
