today.nukz.net: Almanac August 21

Sergey Mikhaylovich Brin (born August 21, 1973) is a Russian-American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur who, with Larry Page, co-founded Google, one of the most profitable Internet companies. As of 2012, his personal wealth is estimated to be $18.7 billion. Together, Brin and Page own about 16 percent of the company.

The Economist magazine referred to Brin as an "Enlightenment Man", and someone who believes that "knowledge is always good, and certainly always better than ignorance", a philosophy that is summed up by Google’s motto of making all the world’s information "universally accessible and useful" and "Don't be evil".

Events

1192 – Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shogun and the de facto ruler of Japan. (Traditional Japanese date: July 12, 1192)
1331 – King Stephen Uroš III, after months of anarchy, surrenders to his son and rival Stephen Dušan, who succeeds as King of Serbia.
1680 – Pueblo Indians capture Santa Fe from Spanish during the Pueblo Revolt.
1689 – The Battle of Dunkeld in Scotland.
1770 – James Cook formally claims eastern Australia for Great Britain, naming it New South Wales.
1772 – King Gustav III completes his coup d'état by adopting a new Constitution, ending half a century of parliamentary rule in Sweden and installing himself as an enlightened despot.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: British forces begin besieging the French outpost at Pondicherry.
1808 – Battle of Vimeiro: British and Portuguese forces led by General Arthur Wellesley defeat French force under Major-General Jean-Andoche Junot near the village of Vimeiro, Portugal, the first Anglo-Portuguese victory of the Peninsular War.
1810 – Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, Marshal of France, is elected Crown Prince of Sweden by the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates.
1821 – Jarvis Island is discovered by the crew of the ship, Eliza Frances.
1831 – Nat Turner leads black slaves and free blacks in a rebellion.
1852 – Tlingit Indians destroy Fort Selkirk, Yukon Territory.
1863 – Lawrence, Kansas is destroyed by Confederate guerrillas Quantrill's Raiders in the Lawrence Massacre.
1879 – The Virgin Mary, along with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist, reportedly appears at Knock Shrine in Knock, County Mayo, Ireland.
1888 – The first successful adding machine in the United States is patented by William Seward Burroughs.
1911 – The Mona Lisa is stolen by a Louvre employee.
1918 – World War I: The Second Battle of the Somme begins.
1942 – World War II: a Nazi flag is installed atop the Mount Elbrus.
1942 – World War II: the Guadalcanal campaign: American forces defeat an attack by Imperial Japanese Army soldiers in the Battle of the Tenaru.
1944 – Dumbarton Oaks Conference, prelude to the United Nations, begins.
1944 – World War II: Canadian and Polish units capture the strategically important town of Falaise, France.
1945 – Physicist Harry K. Daghlian, Jr. is fatally irradiated in a criticality incident during an experiment with the Demon core at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
1959 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an executive order proclaiming Hawaii the 50th state of the union. Hawaii's admission is currently commemorated by Hawaii Admission Day
1961 – Motown releases what would be its first #1 hit, "Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes.
1963 – Xa Loi Pagoda raids: the Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces loyal to Ngo Dinh Nhu, brother of President Ngo Dinh Diem, vandalises Buddhist pagodas across the country, arresting thousands and leaving an estimated hundreds dead.
1968 – Nicolae Ceausescu, leader of Communist Romania, publicly condemns the Soviet led Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, encouraging the Romanian population to arm itself against possible Soviet reprisals.
1968 – James Anderson, Jr. posthumously receives the first Medal of Honor to be awarded to an African American U.S. Marine.
1969 – An Australian, Michael Dennis Rohan, sets the Al-Aqsa Mosque on fire, a major catalyst of the formation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
1971 – A bomb exploded in the Liberal Party campaign rally in Plaza Miranda, Manila, Philippines with several anti-Marcos political candidates injured.
1976 – Operation Paul Bunyan at Panmunjeom, Korea.
1979 – Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defects to the United States.
1982 – Lebanese Civil War: The first troops of a multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the Palestine Liberation Organization's withdrawal from Lebanon.
1983 – Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr. is assassinated at the Manila International Airport (now renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport).
1986 – Carbon dioxide gas erupts from volcanic Lake Nyos in Cameroon, killing up to 1,800 people within a 20-kilometer range.
1991 – Latvia declares renewal of its full independence after the occupation of Soviet Union.
1991 – Coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev collapses.
1992 – Ruby Ridge Standoff in Idaho
1993 – NASA loses contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft.
2001 – NATO decides to send a peace-keeping force to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
2001 – The Red Cross announces that a famine is striking Tajikistan, and calls for international financial aid for Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
2007 – Hurricane Dean makes its first landfall in Costa Maya, Mexico with winds at 165 mph (266 km/h). Dean is the first storm since Hurricane Andrew to make landfall as a Category 5.

Births

1165 – King Philip II of France (d. 1223)
1535 – Shimazu Yoshihiro, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1619)
1567 – Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva and saint (d. 1622)
1597 – Roger Twysden, English antiquarian and royalist (d. 1672)
1643 – King Afonso VI of Portugal (d. 1683)
1660 – Hubert Gautier, French scientist and civil engineer (d. 1737)
1665 – Giacomo F. Maraldi, French-Italian astronomer (d. 1729)
1670 – James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, French military leader (d. 1734)
1725 – Jean-Baptiste Greuze, French painter (d. 1805)
1754 – William Murdoch, Scottish inventor (d. 1839)
1754 – Banastre Tarleton, British soldier and politician (d. 1833)
1765 – William IV of the United Kingdom (d. 1837)
1789 – Augustin Louis Cauchy, French mathematician (d. 1857)
1798 – Jules Michelet, French historian (d. 1874)
1800 – Hiram Walden, American politician (d. 1880)
1801 – Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer, Dutch politician (d. 1876)
1813 – Jean Stas, Belgian chemist (d. 1891)
1816 – Charles Frédéric Gerhardt, French chemist (d. 1856)
1826 – Karl Gegenbaur, German anatomist (d. 1903)
1840 – Ferdinand Hamer, a Catholic missionary to China and bishop who was killed in the Boxer rebellion in China. (d. 1900)
1858 – Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria (d. 1889)
1862 – Emilio Salgari, Italian writer (d. 1911)
1869 – William Henry Ogilvie, Scottish/Australian poet (d. 1963)
1872 – Aubrey Beardsley, English illustrator (d. 1898)
1878 – Richard Girulatis, German football manager (d. 1963)
1879 – Claude Grahame-White, British pioneer aviator and builder (d. 1959)
1884 – Chandler Egan, American golfer (d. 1936)
1891 – Emiliano Mercado del Toro, World's oldest living man 2004-2007 (d. 2007)
1892 – Charles Vanel, French actor and director (d. 1989)
1902 – Angel Karaliychev, Bulgarian writer (d. 1972)
1904 – William "Count" Basie, American bandleader (d. 1984)
1906 – Friz Freleng, American movie animator (d. 1995)
1908 – M. M. Kaye, British writer (d. 2004)
1909 – Nikolay Bogolyubov, Russian mathematician (d. 1992)
1912 – Hector "Toe" Blake, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1995)
1915 – Raquel Rastenni, Danish singer (d. 1998)
1918 – Billy Reay, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2004)
1920 – Christopher Robin Milne, inspiration for the Winnie-the-Pooh stories (d. 1996)
1924 – Jack Buck, American sportscaster (d. 2002)
1924 – Chris Schenkel, American sports journalist (d. 2005)
1924 – Jack Weston, American actor (d. 1996)
1925 – Judy Grable, American professional wrestler (d. 2008)
1925 – Maurice Pialat, French actor and director (d. 2003)
1927 – Thomas S. Monson, 16th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)
1928 – Art Farmer, American trumpet player (d. 1999)
1928 – Bud McFadin, American football player (d. 2006)
1929 – X. J. Kennedy, American poet
1929 – Marie Severin, American comic book artist and colorist
1930 – Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (d. 2002)
1930 – Frank Perry, American film director (d. 1995)
1932 – Melvin Van Peebles, American actor and screenwriter
1933 – Janet Baker, English mezzo-soprano
1933 – Michael Dacher, German mountaineer (d. 1994)
1934 – Paul Panhuysen, Dutch composer, visual and sound artist
1934 – Sudhakarrao Naik, Indian politician( d. 2001)
1936 – Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player (d. 1999)
1936 – Radish Tordia, painter of Figurative Art from Georgia
1937 – Donald Dewar, First Minister of Scotland (d. 2000)
1937 – Robert Stone, American novelist
1937 – Gustavo Noboa, former President of Ecuador
1938 – Kenny Rogers, American singer and actor
1939 – James Burton, American guitarist
1939 – Clarence Williams III, American actor
1939 – Festus Mogae, president of Botswana
1940 – Endre Szemerédi, Hungarian mathematician
1943 – Hugh Wilson, American director, writer and actor
1944 – Jackie DeShannon, American singer
1944 – Peter Weir, Australian film director
1944 – Perry Christie, current prime minister of the Bahamas
1945 – Jerry DaVanon, baseball player
1945 – Patty McCormack, American actress
1945 – Basil Poledouris, American film score composer (d. 2006)
1947 – Carl Giammarese, American musician
1947 – Sándor Erdos, Hungarian fencer
1949 – Loretta Devine, American actress
1950 – Patrick Juvet, Swiss singer
1950 – Arthur Bremer, American criminal, who shot George C Wallace in May 1972.
1951 – Eric Goles, Chilean mathematician and computer scientist
1951 – Char Margolis, American medium
1951 – Harry Smith, American television journalist
1951 – Margo Kane, Canadian playwright.
1952 – Keith Hart, Canadian professional wrestler
1952 – Glenn Hughes, British bassist and vocalist (Finders Keepers/Trapeze/Deep Purple)
1952 – Jirí Paroubek, former Czech prime minister
1952 – Joe Strummer, British musician and singer (The Clash) (d. 2002)
1953 – Ivan Stang, American writer
1954 – Archie Griffin, former American football player and only two-time Heisman Trophy winner.
1954 – Chip Coffey, American psychic, medium and television personality.
1956 – Kim Cattrall, English-born actress
1956 – Jon Tester, US Senator from Montana
1957 – Steve Smith, American drummer (Journey)
1959 – Jim McMahon, American football player
1961 – David Morales, American disc jockey
1961 – Stephen Hillenburg, American animator and cartoonist
1961 – V. B. Chandrasekhar, Indian cricketer
1962 – John Korfas, Greek basketball player
1962 – Tsutomu Miyazaki Japanese Serial killer (d. 2008)
1962 – Jeff Stryker, American actor
1963 – King Mohammed VI of Morocco
1963 – Richmond Arquette, American actor
1964 – Trinity Loren, American actress and model (d. 1998)
1965 – Jim Bullinger, American baseball player
1965 – Caryn Mower, American actress, stuntwoman and former professional wrestler
1966 – John Wetteland, American player
1967 – Carrie-Anne Moss, Canadian actress
1967 – Serj Tankian, Armenian-born singer (System of a Down)
1967 – Darren Bewick, AFL footballer
1968 – Dina Carroll, British singer
1968 – Goran Curko, Serbian footballer
1969 – Josée Chouinard, Canadian figure skater
1970 – Craig Counsell, American baseball player
1970 – Nathan Jones, American professional wrestler
1970 – Erik Dekker, Dutch cyclist
1971 – Liam Howlett, British musician (The Prodigy)
1971 – Mamadou Diallo, Senegalese Soccer player
1971 – Robert Harvey, Australian Rules Footballer (St Kilda Football Club)
1973 – Steve McKenna, Canadian ice hockey player
1973 – Sergey Brin, Co-founder of Google
1973 – Nikolay Valuev, Russian boxer
1975 – Alicia Witt, American actress
1975 – Simon Katich, Australian cricketer
1976 – Alex Brooks, American ice hockey player
1976 – Jeff Cunningham, Jamaican American soccer player
1976 – Ramón Vázquez, Puerto Rican baseball player
1976 – Nikos Vertis, Greek singer
1978 – Peter Buxton, English rugby union player
1978 – Bhumika Chawla, Indian Actress
1978 – Reuben Droughns, American football player
1978 – Lee Gronkiewicz, American baseball player
1978 – Alan Lee, Irish footballer
1978 – Jason Marquis, American baseball player
1978 – Annie Wu, Taiwanese Actress
1979 – Kelis Rogers-Jones, American singer
1980 – Burney Lamar, American racing driver
1980 – Paul Menard, American racing driver
1980 – Jasmin Wöhr, German tennis player
1980 – Lee Jung-Soo, South Korean footballer
1981 – Collie Buddz, Reggae & Dancehall artist
1981 – Jarrod Lyle, Australian Golfer
1981 – Tyler Winklevoss, American rower and entrepreneur
1981 – Cameron Winklevoss, American rower and entrepreneur
1982 – Jason Eaton, New Zealand All Black rugby player
1983 – Josh Harrington, American professional BMX rider
1983 – Chantelle Houghton, British TV personality
1983 – Brody Jenner, American actor
1983 – Scott McDonald, Australian footballer
1984 – Neil Dexter, South African cricketer
1984 – Alizée Jacotey, French singer
1984 – Melissa Schuman, American actress
1984 – Eve Torres, American dancer, model and professional wrestler
1984 – B.J. Upton, American baseball player
1985 – Aleksandra Kiryashova, Russian pole vaulter
1985 – Melissa M, French singer
1985 – Kevin Nee, American strongman
1986 – Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter
1986 – Wout Brama, Dutch footballer
1987 – Kim Kibum, member of Korean boy band Super junior; actor and singer
1988 – Louise Setara, English singer-songwriter
1988 – Paris Bennett, American singer and finalist on American Idol (season 5)
1989 – Hayden Panettiere, American actress, model and singer
1989 – Judd Trump, English snooker player
1990 – Cameron Argon, American electronic and death metal musician
1990 – Bo Burnham, American comedic singer-songwriter and internet celebrity
1990 – Fabian Heimpel, German rugby player
1990 – Omar El Kaddouri, Belgian-Moroccan footballer
1992 – Brad Kavanagh, English songwriter and actor
1994 – Jacqueline Emerson, American actress and singer
1996 – Jamia Simone Nash, American singer and actress

Deaths

1157 – King Alfonso VII of Castile (b. 1104/1105)
1153 – Bernard of Clairvaux, French theologian (b. 1090)
1271 – Alphonse of Toulouse, son of Louis VIII of France (b. 1220)
1581 – Sakuma Nobumori, Japanese retainer and samurai (b. 1527)
1614 – Elizabeth Báthory, Hungarian noble and alleged serial killer (b. 1560)
1627 – Jacques Mauduit, French composer (b. 1557)
1673 – Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford, English soldier
1689 – William Cleland, Scottish poet and soldier
1762 – Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English writer (b. 1689)
1763 – Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont, British statesman (b. 1710)
1796 – John McKinly, American physician and President of Delaware (b. 1721)
1814 – Benjamin Thompson, American physicist and inventor (b. 1753)
1836 – Claude-Louis Navier, French physicist (b. 1785)
1838 – Adelbert von Chamisso, German writer (b. 1781)
1854 – Thomas Clayton, American lawyer and politician (b. 1777)
1870 – Ma Xinyi, Chinese Viceroy of Liangjiang and statesman (b. 1821)
1910 – Bertalan Székely, Hungarian painter (b. 1835)
1919 – Laurence Doherty, English tennis player (b. 1875)
1926 – Ugyen Wangchuck, first king of Bhutan (b.1862)
1935 – John Hartley, English tennis player (b. 1849)
1940 – Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary (b. 1879)
1940 – Ernest Lawrence Thayer, American poet (b. 1863)
1940 – Hermann Obrecht, Swiss jurist (b. 1882)
1943 – Henrik Pontoppidan, Danish writer, Nobel Prize (b. 1857)
1947 – Ettore Bugatti, Italian automobile manufacturer (b. 1881)
1951 – Constant Lambert, British composer and conductor (b. 1905)
1957 – Harald Ulrik Sverdrup, Norwegian meteorologist and oceanographer (b. 1888)
1957 – Nels Stewart, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
1960 – David Barnard Steinman, American civil engineer and bridge designer (b. 1886)
1964 – Palmiro Togliatti, Italian communist leader (b. 1893)
1966 – Martin Dooling, American soccer player (b. 1886)
1971 – George Jackson, American Black Panther Party figure (b. 1941)
1974 – Buford Pusser, American law enforcement official (b. 1937)
1978 – Charles Eames, American designer and architect (b. 1907)
1979 – Giuseppe Meazza, Italian footballer (b. 1910)
1981 – Michael Devine, 1981 Irish hunger strike figure (b. 1954)
1982 – Sobhuza II, King of Swaziland (b. 1899)
1983 – Benigno Aquino, Jr., Philippine opposition leader (b. 1932)
1988 – Ray Eames, American designer, artist and architect (b. 1912)
1988 – Teddy Diaz, Filipino rock guitarist (The Dawn) (b. 1963)
1989 – Raul Seixas, Brazilian singer (b. 1945)
1992 – Dai Vernon, Canadian magician (b. 1894)
1993 – Tatiana Troyanos, American mezzo-soprano (b. 1938)
1995 – Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Indian-born astrophysicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1910)
1997 – Yuri Nikulin, Russian clown and actor (b. 1921)
2000 – Daniel Lisulo, Prime Minister of Zambia (b. 1930)
2000 – Tomata du Plenty, artist and lead singer of The Screamers. (b. 1948)
2000 – Andrzej Zawada, Polish mountaineer (b. 1928)
2001 – Calum MacKay, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1927)
2003 – Kathy Wilkes, English philosopher and aid worker (b. 1946)
2003 – Wesley Willis, American musician (b. 1963)
2005 – Marcus Schmuck, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1925)
2005 – Robert Moog, American inventor (b. 1934)
2005 – Dahlia Ravikovitch, Israeli poet (b. 1936)
2005 – Martin Dillon, American opera singer (b. 1957)
2006 – Paul Fentener van Vlissingen, Dutch businessman and philanthropist (b. 1941)
2006 – Ustad Bismillah Khan, Indian musician (b. 1916)
2006 – S. Yizhar (aka Yizhar Smilansky), Israeli author (b. 1916)
2007 – Siobhan Dowd, British/Irish writer (b. 1960)
2007 – Elizabeth P. Hoisington, American Brigadier General (b. 1918)
2007 – Haley Paige, American pornographic actress (b. 1981)
2008 – Jerry Finn, American record producer (b. 1969)
2009 – Rex Shelley, Singaporean author (b. 1930)
2009 – Dean Turner, Australian musician (b. 1972)
2010 – Rodolfo Enrique Fogwill, Argentinean writer (b. 1941)
2010 – Nancy Dolman, Canadian actress and comedienne (b. 1952)