Date·Lore

On This Day · The 233rd day of the year

August 21

August 21 carries 10 recorded events spanning between 1140 and 2000. Song dynasty general Yue Fei defeats an army led by Jin dynasty general Wuzhu at the Battle of Yancheng during the Jin–Song Wars.

♌ZodiacLeo ◈BirthstonePeridot ❀Birth flowerGladiolus

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed July 13, 2026

What happened on August 21?

August 21 is the 233rd day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1140 and 2000. Famous people born on August 21 include Usain Bolt, Augustin-Louis Cauchy and Philip II of France.

The shape of the day

August 21's record stretches 860 years, from 1140 to 2000. Its center of gravity is the 20th century, and conflict is a recurring thread.

Leo is the sign for August 21 — read more on the Leo page, or see August's birthstone & birth flower.

Released on August 21

Movies, games, albums & shows

2025

  • Game Discounty
  • Game Herdling

2022

  • TV House of the Dragon

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1140

    Song dynasty

    Song dynasty general Yue Fei defeats an army led by Jin dynasty general Wuzhu at the Battle of Yancheng during the Jin–Song Wars.

  2. 1716

    Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–1718)

    Seventh Ottoman–Venetian War: The arrival of naval reinforcements and the news of the Battle of Petrovaradin force the Ottomans to abandon the Siege of Corfu, thus preserving the Ionian Islands under Venetian rule.

  3. 1770

    James Cook

    James Cook formally claims eastern Australia for Great Britain, naming it New South Wales.

  4. 1914

    World War I

    World War I: The Battle of Charleroi, a successful German attack across the River Sambre that pre-empted a French offensive in the same area.

  5. 1942

    World War II

    World War II: The Guadalcanal campaign: American forces defeat an attack by Imperial Japanese Army soldiers in the Battle of the Tenaru.

  6. 1945

    Harry Daghlian

    Physicist Harry Daghlian is fatally irradiated in a criticality accident during an experiment with the Demon core at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

  7. 1968

    Cold War

    Cold War: Nicolae Ceaușescu, leader of the Socialist Republic of Romania, publicly condemns the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, encouraging the Romanian population to arm itself against possible Soviet reprisals.

  8. 1986

    Volcano

    Carbon dioxide gas erupts from volcanic Lake Nyos in Cameroon, killing up to 1,800 people within a 20-kilometre (12 mi) range.

  9. 1991

    Latvia

    Latvia declares renewal of its full independence after its occupation by the Soviet Union since 1940.

  10. 2000

    Tiger Woods

    American golfer Tiger Woods wins the 82nd PGA Championship and becomes the first golfer since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in a calendar year.

Famous birthday twins

Born on August 21

Usain Bolt

b. 1986

Jamaican sprinter

Augustin-Louis Cauchy

b. 1789

French mathematician and academic

Philip II of France

b. 1165

King of France from 1180 to 1223

Charlison Benschop

b. 1989

Dutch footballer

Peter Weir

b. 1944

Australian director, producer, and screenwriter

Mohammed VI of Morocco

b. 1963

King of Morocco

Perry Christie

b. 1944

Bahamian politician, third Prime Minister of the Bahamas

Carl Gegenbaur

b. 1826

German anatomist and academic

Deaths

  • 2012Georg Leber
  • 2005Marcus Schmuck
  • 1940Leon Trotsky
  • 1905Alexander von Oettingen
  • 1814Benjamin Thompson
  • 1131Baldwin II of Jerusalem

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian Feast Day: Abraham of Smolensk (Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • —Christian Feast Day: Euprepius of Verona
  • —Christian Feast Day: Maximilian of Antioch
  • —Christian Feast Day: Our Lady of Knock
  • —Christian Feast Day: Pope Pius X
  • —Christian Feast Day: Sidonius Apollinaris
  • —Christian Feast Day: August 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • —Ninoy Aquino Day (Philippines)

Historical facts, event summaries, and biographical lines above are adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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