Today in history: Aug. 21
In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order making Hawaii the 50th state, and more events that happened on this day in history.
1911: "Mona Lisa"
In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. (The painting was recovered two years later in Italy.)
1959: Hawaii
In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order making Hawaii the 50th state.
1986: Cameroon
In 1986, more than 1,700 people died when toxic gas erupted from a volcanic lake in the West African nation of Cameroon.
1991: Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin
In 1991, the hard-line coup against Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev collapsed in the face of a popular uprising led by Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin.
1992: Ruby Ridge, Idaho
In 1992, an 11-day siege began at the cabin of white separatist Randy Weaver in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, as government 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.
2000: Submarine Kursk
In 2000, rescue efforts to reach the sunken Russian nuclear submarine Kursk ended with divers announcing none of the 118 sailors had survived.
2010: Iranian Nuclear Power Plant
In 2010, 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 potential weapons production.
2011: Tripoli
In 2011, Euphoric Libyan rebels raced into Tripoli and took control of the center with little resistance as Moammar Gadhafi’s defenses collapsed and his four-decade regime appeared to be crumbling.
2013: Chelsea Manning
In 2013, an Army private now known as Chelsea Manning was sentenced at Fort Meade, Maryland, to up to 35 years in prison for spilling an unprecedented trove of government secrets. (The sentence for the former intelligence analyst was commuted by President Barack Obama in his final days in office.)
2015: Train Attack
In 2015, a trio of Americans, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Spencer Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and college student Anthony Sadler, and a British businessman, Chris Norman, tackled and disarmed a Moroccan gunman on a high-speed train between Amsterdam and Paris.
2016: The Olympics
In 2016, shaking to samba and sharing reflections in uniquely Brazilian words, Olympians and fans said goodbye to the Rio Games with one last big bash inside Maracana Stadium. Earlier in the day, Kevin Durant scored 30 points and helped the Americans rout Serbia 96-66 for their third straight gold medal, capping an Olympics in which the U.S. dominated the medal tables, both the gold (46) and overall totals (121).
2020: Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli
One year ago: “Full House” star Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, were sentenced to prison for paying half a million dollars in bribes to get their daughters into USC as crew recruits. (Giannulli would spend more than four months behind bars, Loughlin served two months.)
2020: The Golden State Killer
One year ago: A former police officer who became known as the Golden State Killer, Joseph James DeAngelo, told victims 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.
2021: Don Everly
Don Everly, one-half of the pioneering rock ‘n’ roll Everly Brothers, died at his home in Nashville at the age of 84.