WHAT HAPPENED ON 21. AUGUST
Want to find out what all happened on 21. August

World War II: the Guadalcanal Campaign: American forces defeat an attack by Imperial Japanese Army soldiers in the Battle of the Tenaru. (21. August 1942)

Dumbarton Oaks Conference, prelude to the United Nations, begins. (21. August 1944)

World War II: Canadian and Polish units capture the strategically important town of Falaise, Calvados, France. (21. August 1944)

Physicist Harry K. Daghlian, Jr. is fatally irradiated in a criticality accident during an experiment with the Demon core at Los Alamos National Laboratory. (21. August 1945)

The Soviet Union successfully conducts a long-range test flight of the R-7 Semyorka, the first intercontinental ballistic missile. (21. August 1957)

United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order proclaiming Hawaii the 50th state of the union. Hawaii's admission is currently commemorated by Hawaii Admission Day (21. August 1959)

Motown releases what would be its first #1 hit, "Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes. (21. August 1961)

Xá Lợi Pagoda raids: the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces loyal to Ngo Dinh Nhu, brother of President Ngo Dinh Diem, vandalizes Buddhist pagodas across the country, arresting thousands and leaving an estimated hundreds dead. (21. August 1963)

Nicolae Ceaușescu, leader of Communist Romania, publicly condemns the Soviet led Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, encouraging the Romanian population to arm itself against possible Soviet reprisals. (21. August 1968)

James Anderson, Jr. posthumously receives the first Medal of Honor to be awarded to an African American U.S. Marine. (21. August 1968)

An Australian, Denis Michael Rohan, sets the Al-Aqsa Mosque on fire, a major catalyst of the formation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. (21. August 1969)

A bomb exploded in the Liberal Party campaign rally in Plaza Miranda, Manila, Philippines with several anti-Marcos political candidates injured. (21. August 1971)

Operation Paul Bunyan at Panmunjom, South Korea. (21. August 1976)

Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defects to the United States. (21. August 1979)

Lebanese Civil War: The first troops of a multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the Palestine Liberation Organization's withdrawal from Lebanon. (21. August 1982)

Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr. is assassinated at the Manila International Airport (now renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport). (21. August 1983)

Carbon dioxide gas erupts from volcanic Lake Nyos in Cameroon, killing up to 1,800 people within a 20-kilometer range. (21. August 1986)

Latvia declares renewal of its full independence after the occupation of Soviet Union. (21. August 1991)

Coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev collapses. (21. August 1991)

Ruby Ridge Standoff in Idaho (21. August 1992)