历史上的今天:08月21日

Today's Highlight in History:
On August 21st, 1940, exiled Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky died in Mexico City from wounds inflicted¹ by an assassin.
On this date:
In 1680, Pueblo² Indians took possession of Santa Fe, New Mexico, after driving out the Spanish.

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, New York.

In 1944, the United States, Britain, the Soviet³ 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 Two.

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

In 1983, Philippine opposition⁴ leader Benigno S. Aquino Junior, ending a self-imposed exile in the United States, was shot dead moments after stepping off a plane at Manila International Airport.

In 1983, the musical play "La Cage Aux Folles" opened on Broadway.

In 1991, the hard-line coup⁵ against Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev collapsed⁶ in the face of a popular uprising led by Russian federation⁷ President Boris N. Yeltsin.

Ten years ago: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein delivered a speech in which he defended the detaining of foreigners in his country, and promised "a major catastrophe⁸" should fighting break out in the Persian Gulf⁹.

Five years ago: ABC News settled a $10 billion libel suit by apologizing to Philip Morris for reporting the tobacco giant had manipulated the amount of nicotine¹⁰ in its cigarettes. A suicide bomber¹¹ set off an explosion that tore through two crowded Israeli commuter¹² buses, killing¹³ five others. A commuter plane crashed near Carrollton, Georgia, killing nine people.

One year ago: President Clinton urged Americans to contribute to the relief effort for Turkey, where the death toll¹⁴ from a massive earthquake four days earlier topped 12,000 (it eventually reached 17,000).