21 August in history

6 events that happened on 21 August, from 1680 to 2017.

  1. ✦ Anniversary of the day

    1680 CE 346 years ago

    Spanish colonists abandon Santa Fe during the Pueblo Revolt

    Besieged by Pueblo fighters led by Popé, the Spanish governor and settlers retreated from Santa Fe towards El Paso. The Pueblo peoples kept New Mexico free of Spanish rule for twelve years.

    Mexico

  2. 1689 CE 337 years ago

    Cameronians repel the Jacobites at Dunkeld

    A small regiment of Cameronians held the town of Dunkeld against a much larger Jacobite force. The defeat broke the momentum of the rising that had followed Killiecrankie.

  3. 1858 CE 168 years ago

    Lincoln and Douglas hold their first debate

    Abraham Lincoln and Senator Stephen Douglas met in Ottawa, Illinois, for the first of seven debates on the spread of slavery. Lincoln lost the Senate race but won national attention.

  4. 1911 CE 115 years ago

    The Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre

    Italian handyman Vincenzo Peruggia walked out of the Louvre with the Mona Lisa under his smock. The theft made the painting world-famous; it was recovered in Florence in 1913.

    FlorenceLouvre

  5. 1959 CE 67 years ago

    Hawaii becomes the 50th US state

    President Eisenhower proclaimed Hawaii's admission as the 50th state. It was the first state outside North America and the first with an Asian American plurality.

    North America

  6. 2017 CE 9 years ago

    Total solar eclipse crosses the United States coast to coast

    The Moon's shadow swept from Oregon to South Carolina, the first total eclipse to cross the whole country since 1918. Tens of millions watched along the path of totality.

    United States

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