Unix Timestamp: 1597968000
Friday, August 21. 2020, 12:00:00 AM UTC

A North Korean delegation arrives in South Korea to mourn the death of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung. //english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/08/200982175326101794.html (Al Jazeera) //english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2009/08/21/44/0301000000AEN20090821008800315F.HTML (Yonhap) //www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2009-08/21/content_8601376.htm ("China Daily")

U.S. President Barack Obama condemns Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's homecoming in Libya. //edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/08/21/scotland.lockerbie.bomber/index.html (CNN)

2008 Wah bombing: Two suicide bombings occur in the cantonment city of Wah Cantonment in Pakistan killing at least 76 people and injuring 110. //news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/21/content_9595477.htm (Xinhua)

The United States Food and Drug Administration approves irradiation of lettuce and spinach to kill "E. coli" and other dangerous germs. //ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iA5hZT7HxWkBxoW1U2IS-nAOoq-wD92MPDG81 (AP via Google News)

At least 60 die following twin suicide bombings outside the Pakistan Ordnance Factories in Wah, Pakistan.

The Bank of Japan and Reserve Bank of Australia inject more funds into money markets to ensure stock market liquidity. //www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2007/08/22/2003375338 (AP via Taipei Times)

Dr Mohamed Haneef wins his bid in the Federal Court to have his Australian work visa reinstated after Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews canceled it after Dr Haneef was charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization. //www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/21/2010804.htm (ABC News Australia) Andrews later says the Australian government would appeal against the court ruling.

A series of blasts rocks an opposition party rally in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing at least 13 people.

The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning is set up in Northern Ireland, as part of a peace process.

"Be Here Now", the third album from English rock band Oasis, becomes the fastest selling album in UK history.

60–100 are killed in the Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria.

Former president of South Africa, F. W. de Klerk, makes an official policy for crimes committed under Apartheid to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Cape Town.

NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Observer orbiter 3 days before the spacecraft is scheduled to enter orbit around Mars.

August 22 – Events at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, are sparked by a Federal Marshal surveillance team, resulting in the death of a Marshal, Sam Weaver and his dog and the next day the wounding of Randy Weaver, the death of his wife Vicki and the wounding of Kevin Harris.

Dissolution of the Soviet Union: Latvia declares its independence from the Soviet Union.

Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone send peacekeepers to intervene in the First Liberian Civil War.

Major earthquake of magnitude 6.6 hits the Nepal-India Border. Estimated 1,004 people killed and more than 16,000 injured

Aeroméxico Flight 498, a Douglas DC-9, collides with a Piper PA-28 over Cerritos, California, killing 67 on both aircraft and 15 on the ground.

The Lake Nyos disaster occurs in Cameroon, killing nearly 2,000 people.

The Soviet passenger liner "Admiral Nakhimov" collides with the bulk carrier "Pyotr Vasev" in the Black Sea and sinks almost immediately, killing 398.

The cargo ship "Khian Sea" departs from the docks of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, carrying 14,000 tons of toxic waste. It wanders the seas for the next 16 months trying to find a place to dump its cargo.

Half a million people in Manila demonstrate against the regime of Ferdinand Marcos.

Benigno Aquino, Jr., Philippines opposition leader, is assassinated in Manila just as he returns from exile.

The Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida renominates U.S. President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew for a second term.

Australian Denis Michael Rohan sets the Al-Aqsa Mosque on fire.

The Medal of Honor is posthumously awarded to James Anderson, Jr.mdashhe is the first black U.S. Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

The United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), predecessor of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), is formed.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) established.

Seven men are sentenced to death in Egypt, for anti-Nasser agitation.

"Gemini 5" (Gordon Cooper, Pete Conrad) is launched on the first 1-week flight, as well as the first test of fuel cells for electrical power.

An avalanche buries a damconstruction site at Saas-Fee, Switzerland killing 90 workers.

Rock musician Bob Dylan releases his influential album "Highway 61 Revisited", featuring the song Like a Rolling Stone.

Casey Stengel announces his retirement after 55 years in baseball.

Jomo Kenyatta is released from prison in Kenya.

Hawaii is admitted as the 50th U.S. state.

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces a 2-year suspension of nuclear testing.

Deportivo Saprissa enters Costa Rica ndash soccer's first division.

Leon Trotsky dies of injuries sustained.

Her Royal Highness The Princess Margaret,was born. The younger daughter of Prince Albert, Duke of York (second son of King George V and Queen Mary, and later King George VI) and Elizabeth, Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother), and sister to The Princess Elizabeth NB. Prince Albert becomes King George VI in December 1936 after the abdication of his older brother, Edward VIII.

Peru declares neutrality

The Oldsmobile is founded in Lansing, MI by Ransom E. Olds.

An F5 tornado strikes Rochester, Minnesota, leading to the creation of the Mayo Clinic.

The Virgin Mary, along with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist, allegedly appears in Knock, Ireland to local people.

American Civil War ndash Battle of Lawrence: Lawrence, Kansas is attacked by William Quantrill's raiders, who kill an estimated 200 men and boys. The raid becomes notorious in the North as one of the most vicious atrocities of the Civil War.

September ndash The Western Railroad from Fayetteville, North Carolina to the coal fields of Egypt, North Carolina is completed.//www.historync.org/railroad-WRR.htm CommunicationSolutions/ISI, Railroad — Western Railroad Company, "North Carolina Business History", 2006, accessed 1 Feb 2010

The ViennaStadtpark opens its gates.

The first of the Lincoln-Douglas debates is held.

Jarvis Island is discovered by the crew of the "Eliza Frances".

Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France, is elected Crown Prince of Sweden by the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates.

August 21 ndash Battle of Vimiero: British troops under Duke of Wellington defeat the French under General Junot.

A proposal for a Bill of Rights is adopted by the United States House of Representatives.

American Revolution ndash Battle of Fort St. Jean: American rebels launch an invasion of Canada.

The coup d'état by King Gustav III is completed by adopting a new Constitution, ending half a century of parliamentary rule in Sweden and making him an enlightened despot.

The church (later cathedral) of "Our Lady of Candlemas of Mayagüez (Puerto Rico)" is founded, establishing the basis for the founding of the city.

Catherine the Great marries Peter III of Russia in Saint Petersburg.

First Jacobite rising: Battle of Dunkeld: Covenanters defeat the Jacobites in Scotland.

Pueblo Revolt: Pueblo Indians capture Santa Fe (New Mexico) from the Spanish.

Battle of Kijkduin: The Dutch United fleet under Michiel de Ruyter defeats the English and French fleet.

Concerned about the wintry weather, the Parliament of England holds an intercessary fast.

First Battle of Lostwithiel.

Huguenot rebellions: Montauban, one of the last Huguenot strongholds, surrenders without a fight to Richelieu's troops.

The Tuscans fight the Turks.

A total eclipse of the sun is observable in Europe.

Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar becomes the first European to sight the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Emperor Go-Hanazono of Japan abdicates, and is succeeded by his son, Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado.

Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, is elected as Holy Roman Emperor.

Battle of Örlygsstaðir: Sighvatur Sturluson and Sturla Sighvatsson defeat Kolbeinn ungi Arnorsson and Gissur Thorvaldsson for control of Iceland.

Minamoto no Yoritomo is granted the title of shogun, thereby officially establishing the first shogunate in the history of Japan.

Sancho III and Ferdinand II, the sons of King Alfonso VII of Castile, divide his kingdom between them upon his death.