Today in History: August 21, total solar eclipse captivates America
This day is Thursday Aug the rd day of There are days left in the year At present in history On Aug 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 miles across the continent Also on this date In Nat Turner launched a violent slave rebellion in Virginia resulting in the deaths of at least white people scores of Black people were killed in retribution in the aftermath of the rebellion and Turner was later executed Related Articles FTC sues LA Fitness operators for exceedingly complex gym cancellation policies Judge denies Justice Department request to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts Ranger fired for hanging transgender flag in Yosemite and park visitors may face prosecution In the current era in History August first women invited to join Augusta National golf club Colorado urges Supreme Court to uphold state s ban on conversion therapy for minors In the first of seven debates took place between Illinois senatorial contenders Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas In Leonardo da Vinci s Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris It was recovered two years later in Italy In 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 In President Dwight D Eisenhower signed a proclamation officially declaring Hawaii the th state In 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 In 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 In an -day siege began at the cabin of white separatist Randy Weaver in Ruby Ridge Idaho as regime 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 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 million mission In rescue efforts to reach the sunken Russian nuclear submarine Kursk ended with divers announcing none of the sailors had survived In 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 foreseen weapons production In a trio of Americans U S Air Force Staff Sgt Spencer Stone National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and college trainee Anthony Sadler and a British businessman Chris Norman tackled and disarmed a Moroccan gunman on a high-speed train between Amsterdam and Paris In Michael Cohen President Donald Trump s former personal lawyer and fixer pleaded guilty to campaign-finance violations and other charges Cohen mentioned 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 located guilty of felony counts of falsifying business records related to the payments in May In a former police officer who became known as the Golden State Killer Joseph James DeAngelo communicated casualties 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 Nowadays s Birthdays Rock and Roll Hall of Famer James Burton is Singer Jackie DeShannon is Film director Peter Weir is Football Hall of Famer Willie Lanier is Actor Loretta Devine is Two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin is Actor Kim Cattrall is Former NFL quarterback Jim McMahon is Rock musician Serj Tankian System of a Down is Actor Carrie-Anne Moss is Google co-founder Sergei Brin is Singer Kelis kuh-LEES is TV personality Brody Jenner is Olympic gold medal sprinter Usain yoo-SAYN Bolt is Country singer Kacey Musgraves is Soccer sportsman Robert Lewandowski is Actor Hayden Panettiere pan -uh-tee-EHR is Comedian-singer-filmmaker Bo Burnham is
