Important Events From This day in History August 21

1996 Rwanda Refugees Return

1996 : Sixty United Nations trucks plowed through mud, bringing 8,000 Rwandan refugees back to the country they left two years ago. Some of the Hutu refugees were frightened of returning to face the new Tutsi government. During the genocide Hutus slaughtered a half million Tutsis. Thirty-five thousand Rwandans remained in Burundi refugee camps. Find More What happened in 1996

2004 Michael Phelps 6th Gold Medal

2004 : Michael Phelps gets his 6th gold medal at the Athens 2004 Olympics when the USA wins the men's 4x100m medley relay final breaking the world record at the same time.

1906 U.S.A Illegal Abortion

1906 : Scandal rocked polite Virginia society when it was discovered that a local optician, a dentist, and a doctor performed an illegal abortion on a prominent woman. Miss Keener who had the abortion worked as a receptionist at Dr. Badgley’s dental office. Each of the doctors had to post a bond of $3,000 each and were to appear in court later.

1911 France The Mona Lisa Stolen

1911 : The Mona Lisa, the famous portrait by Leonardo da Vinci also called (La Gioconda) (painted between 1503 - 1506), was stolen today from the Louvre in Paris. The painting was stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia an employee of the Louvre who believed Leonardo's painting should be returned to Italy for display in an Italian gallery. The Mona Lisa was recovered two years later when he tried to sell it to an Italian Gallery.

1924 Russian Turkestan Earthquake

1924 : An earthquake in the Oah area of Russian Turkestan left 8,000 homeless and killed 41 people. Also, 4,000 houses were destroyed. Turkestan has 5 provinces and an area of 721,277 square miles.

1938 US Pledges To Protect Canada

1938 : President Roosevelt publicly pledged to defend Canada should it be invaded by an enemy and in return he expected Canada to come to American aid if the U.S. was attacked. Canada and the U.S. did not have any formal allegiance, but Roosevelt said the two countries had a mutual interests in defending each other. The former Munroe doctrine was stripped of its paternalism and encouraged an allegiance between, “free peoples which geographical proximity strengthens in the case of Canada and the United States.”

1942 France Allied Landing Dieppe Disaster

1942 : The British attack on Dieppe was a disaster and German radio boasted that there had been, “a complete liquidation of the British landing attempt.” According to a German broadcast from Berlin, “The attitude of the French population showed the fullest confidence in German defenses and considered the British action as a mere nuisance.” Apparently, the stores opened at 6:00 p.m. and the inhabitants of Dieppe went on as normal, the broadcast claimed.

1961 Israel Adolf Eichmann

1961 : In Israel, Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi henchman, was transferred from Jerusalem to a police prison near Haifa where he was to await his trial for war crimes committed during World War II.

1972 Egypt Israeli Peace Proposals

1972 : In Egypt the Soviet Union’s military officials were kicked out by Anwar Sudat. Israeli Prime Minister Mosha Dayan said that she would give Egypt 50% of the Sinai Peninsula back as an incentive for peace. Anwar Sudat spoke about a “new imitative” and seemed to favor peace with Israel. Sudat said, “We have come out of the closed circuit and stagnant waters we were in, and what we need now is to move with the Soviet Union, the U.S., Western Europe, non-aligned Arab nations.” Find out more of What Happened in 1972

1983 Philippines Opposition Leader Assassinated

1983 : The Philippines opposition leader, Benigno Aquino, is assassinated after returning home from a self-imposed exile in the United States. He had returned home to contest next year's elections.

1985 South Africa White Supremacy

1985 : The Afrikaners in South Africa owned 87% of the fertile land, beaches, and mines, leaving the black population with 15% of worthless land. Pieter Botha, South African president and white supremacist, led his fellow Afrikaners to commit numerous murders and atrocities against blacks in that country. President Both refused to talk with Desmond Tutu, Nobel Prize winner and peace activist.

1986 Cameroon Lethal Gas Kills 1,500

1986 : Lethal gas from the volcanic Lake Nyos in Cameroon, West Africa has killed every living thing within a 15 mile radius including 1,500 people within the area affected by the gas which contains high levels of carbon dioxide, hydrogen and sulphur.

1987 U.S.A. Dow Reaches 2772.4

1987 : Following a record run on Wall Street The Dow reaches an all time high 2772.4 but later in October as interest rates continue to increase the bull market ends with large drops and a single day loss of 508 points on October 19th.

1998 Quebec Quest For Independence

August 21st, 1998 : The Separatist quest for independence by French Speaking Quebec has been unanimously been turned down by the unanimously the Supreme Court of Canada who have declared Quebec has no legal right to declare independence from the rest of Canada.

2002 Musharraf Overrides Pakistan Supreme Court

2002 : The Pakistan prime minister General Pervez Musharraf has declared new changes to the constitution via executive decree including appoint prime ministerial power to appoint the chiefs of the armed forces, new clause in the constitution allowing him to remain the country's president and chief of the army for another five years. His latest declarations leave him at odds with the Supreme Court and Parliament in the country.

2003 California Governor Race Heating Up

2003 : Arnold Schwarzenegger better known for his role in American movies is gaining ground in the job of California's Governor should the recall for Mr Davis succeed. California is facing a severe economic crisis and the recall for Mr Davis is likely to succeed opening the way for dozens of potential candidates for the position, Arnold Schwarzenegger is considered one of the front runners in the race.

2006 North Korea Humanitarian Aid

2006 : South Korea sent over 230 million dollars worth of humanitarian aid to North Korea which was hit by severe flooding. The North claims only hundreds of people were killed by the floods, but South Korean aid agencies think it is more like 58,000 dead or lost. Seoul suspended regular aid to the North because of Kim Jong Il’s Missile tests, but decided to make the flood disaster a special case.

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