Today in History for 21st August 2022

[CoM Moderators]

Historical Events

1856 - America's first consul to Japan, Townsend Harris, arrives in Shimoda. (Traditional Japanese date: July 21, 1856)
1891 - Dutch Mackay government resigns
1920 - PGA Championship Men's Golf, Flossmoor CC: American based Scotsman Jock Hutchison beats J. Douglas Edgar of England, 1-up; first of Hutchinson's 2 majors
1942 - Walt Disney's animated movie "Bambi", based on the book by Felix Salten, is released
1983 - Jerry Herman's musical "La Cage aux Folles", based Jean Poiret's French play of the same name, opens at Palace Theater, NYC; runs for 1761 performances, wins 6 Tony Awards
2004 - American super-swimmer Michael Phelps wins his 6th gold medal of the Athens Olympics even though he doesn't swim the final of men's 4 x 100m medley relay; US wins in world record 3:30.68

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Famous Birthdays

1800 - Hiram Walden, American politician, born in Pawlet, Vermont (d. 1880)
1882 - Rik Wouters, Belgian painter (Lady in Blue), and sculptor (The Nymph), born in Mechelen, Belgium (d. 1916)
1941 - Jackie DeShannon [Sharon Lee Myers], American singer-songwriter ("What the World Needs Now Is Love"; "When You Walk In The Room"), born in Hazel, Kentucky
1957 - Janice Thomas, WBL guard (NY Stars)
1970 - Steve Everitt, NFL center (Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles), born in Miami, Florida
1974 - Pietra Gay, WNBA guard/forward (Houston Comets)

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Famous Deaths

1581 - Sakuma Nobumori, Japanese retainer and samurai (b. 1527)
1723 - Dimitrie Cantemir, Romanian historian and Monarch of Moldova (1710-11), dies at 49
1957 - Nels Stewart, professional ice hockey player (b. 1902)
2005 - Polly Hill, British economic anthropologist (studied Cocoa-Farmers Of Southern Ghana), dies at 91
2005 - Dahlia Ravikovitch, Israeli poet (b. 1936)
2013 - C. Gordon Fullerton, American USMC Colonel, and NASA astronaut (STS-3; STS-51-F), dies at 76

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