A coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev fails.
Tag Archives: 21 August
21 August 1959
President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaims Hawaii the 50th state of the union.
21 August 1979
The Soviet ballet dancer Alexander Godunov defects to the United States.
21 August 1689
The Battle of Dunkeld in Scotland between Jacobite clans and government forces.