Today in History

Posted: Saturday, August 21, 2004

In 1831, former slave Nat Turner led a violent insurrection in Virginia. (He was later executed.)

In 1858, the famous debates between Senatorial contenders Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas began.

In 1878, the American Bar Association was founded in Saratoga, N.Y.

In 1940, exiled Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky died in Mexico City from wounds inflicted by an assassin.

In 1944, the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union and China opened talks at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington that helped pave the way for establishment of the United Nations.

In 1945, President Truman ended the Lend-Lease program that had shipped some $50 billion in aid to America's allies during World War II.

In 1959, President Eisenhower signed an executive order proclaiming Hawaii the 50th state of the union.

In 1984, Democratic vice-presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro appeared before reporters in Queens, N.Y., to field questions about her family's finances.

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.

In 1993, in a serious setback for NASA, engineers lost contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft as it was about to reach the Red Planet on a $980 million mission.

Today's Birthdays: Actor-director Melvin Van Peebles is 72. Singer Kenny Rogers is 66. Rock-and-roll musician James Burton is 65. Actress Patty McCormack is 59. Singer Glenn Hughes is 52. Actress Kim Cattrall is 48. Actress Carrie-Anne Moss is 34. Actress Alicia Witt is 29. Singer Kelis is 25.