On This Day

August 1921 in History

Events in History

  • Aug 3 1st aerial crop dusting in Troy, Ohio, to kill caterpillars
  • Aug 5 Treaty of Berlin: US and Germany sign separate peace treaty
  • Aug 6 Clason Point, Bronx to College Point, Queens muni ferry system begins

Polio

Aug 10 FDR stricken with a paralytic illness at summer home on Canadian island of Campobello. At the time it was thought to be polio, but could possibly have been Guillain–Barré syndrome

Children with polio in a US hospital, inside an iron lung. In about 0.5% of cases, patients suffered from paralysis, sometimes resulting in the inability to breathe. More often, limbs would be paralyzed.

Theater Premiere

Aug 13 Simon Kaufman & Marc Connelly's comedic play "Dulcy" premieres in NYC

Marc Connelly
Playwright Marc Connelly
  • Aug 14 Tannu Tuva, later Tuvinian People's Republic is established as a completely independent country (which is supported by Russia).
  • Aug 16 Members of the Dail (parliament) swear allegiance to the Irish Republic at their first meeting, held at Dublin House

Event of Interest

Aug 22 J. Edgar Hoover becomes Assistant Director of the FBI

J. Edgar Hoover
First Director of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover
  • Aug 23 Austria and the US formally end war; the US does the same with Germany on the 25th, and Hungary on the 29th
  • Aug 23 British declare a truce with Irish Nationalists Sinn Féin
  • Aug 24 Battle of Sakaray Valley begins between Turkey & Greece
  • Aug 24 British airship R-38 crashes in River Humber, 44 die
  • Aug 25 The first skirmishes of the Battle of Blair Mountain, a civil uprising in Logan County, West Virginia
  • Aug 25 US signs peace treaty with Germany
  • Aug 28 2nd Pan-African Congress meets (London, Brussels & Paris)

Birthdays in History

  • Aug 3 Hayden Carruth, American poet (The Crow and the Heart), born in Waterbury, Connecticut (d. 2008)
  • Aug 8 Vulimiri Ramalingaswami, Indian medical scientist, born in Srikakulam, British India (d. 2001)
  • Aug 9 Ernest Angley, American Christian televangelist, born in Gastonia, North Carolina
  • Aug 9 J. James Exon, American Democratic politician (33rd Governor of Nebraska), born in Geddes, South Dakota (d. 2005)
  • Aug 10 Leonard Lickorish, dir-gen (British Tourist Authority)

Alex HaleyAlex Haley (1921-1992)

Aug 11 American writer (Autobiography of Malcolm X, Roots), born in Ithaca, New York

Alex Haley
  • Aug 12 Patrick Howard-Dobson, president (Royal British Legion)
  • Aug 13 Louis Frémaux, French conductor (Monte-Carlo Philharmonic, 1956-65; City of Birmingham Symphony, 1969-78; Sydney Symphony, 1979-82), born in Aire-sur-la-Lys, France (d. 2017)
  • Aug 17 Geoffery Elton, German born British historiographer, born in Tübingen, Germany (d. 1994)
  • Aug 18 Zdzisław Żygulski, Jr., Polish art historian
  • Aug 19 Philip A. Potter, Dominica Secretary-General World council of Churches
  • Aug 22 James Menter, British physicist and principal (Queen Mary College), born in Teynham, Kent (d. 2006)
  • Aug 23 Kenneth Arrow, American economist, (Nobel Prize, 1972), born in NYC, New York (d. 2017)
  • Aug 25 Brian Moore, Irish novelist (Catholics, Doctor's Wife), born in Belfast, Ireland (d. 1999)
  • Aug 25 Bryce Mackasey, Canadian politician, born in Quebec, Canada (d. 1999)

Ben BradleeBen Bradlee (1921-2014)

Aug 26 American editor, journalist and newspaper executive (Washington Post), born in Boston, Massachusetts

Ben Bradlee
  • Aug 26 Naomi Parker Fraley, American who inspired "Rosie the Riveter" poster, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma (d. 2018)
  • Aug 27 Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg, head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, born in Nice, France (d. 1996)
  • Aug 28 John Herbert Chapman, Canadian physicist, and space researcher, born in London, Ontario (d. 1979)
  • Aug 31 Raymond Williams, Welsh academic and novelist (Second Generation), born in Llanfihangel Crucorney, Wales (d. 1988)

Deaths in History

  • Aug 7 Alexander Block, Russian poet (Dvenatsat), dies at 40
  • Aug 8 Juhani Aho, Finnish journalist and writer (Panu, Tuomio), dies at 59
  • Aug 10 John M Martin, last confederate congress member, dies
  • Aug 16 Peter I Karadjordjevic, King of Serbia/Yugoslavia (1903-21), dies at 77
  • Aug 21 Ernest Daudet, French journalist and writer (White Terror), dies at 84
  • Aug 24 Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet, dies at 35
  • Aug 26 Ludwig Thoma, German writer, dies at 54
  • Aug 26 Matthias Enzberger, German writer and politician (Minister of Finance, 1919-20), assassinated at 45
  • Aug 26 Matthias Erzberger, German Minister of Finance, murdered at 45
  • Aug 29 Joel Asaph Allen, American zoologist (Allen's rule) and first curator of birds and mammals at the American Museum of Natural History, dies at 83

Historical Figures

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