On August 21, 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 1831, Nat Turner launched a violent slave rebellion in Virginia, resulting in the deaths of at least 55 whites; scores of Blacks were killed in retribution in the aftermath of the rebellion. (Turner was later captured and executed.)

In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. (The painting was recovered two years later in Italy.)

In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order making Hawaii the 50th state.

In 1986, more than 1,700 people died when toxic gas erupted from a volcanic lake in the West African nation of Cameroon.

In 1987, Sgt. Clayton Lonetree, the first Marine court-martialed for spying, was convicted in Quantico, Va., of passing secrets to the KGB. (Lonetree ended up serving eight years in a military prison.)

In 1992, an 11-day siege began at the cabin of white separatist Randy Weaver in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, as government agents tried to arrest Weaver for failing to appear in court on charges of selling two illegal sawed-off shotguns; on the first day of the siege, Weaver’s teenage son, Samuel, and Deputy U.S. Marshal William Degan were killed.

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.

In 2000, rescue efforts to reach the sunken Russian nuclear submarine Kursk ended with divers announcing none of the 118 sailors had survived.

In 2013, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning was sentenced at Fort Meade, Maryland, to up to 35 years in prison for spilling an unprecedented trove of government secrets. (The sentence for the former intelligence analyst, now known as Chelsea Manning, was commuted by President Barack Obama in his final days in office.)

Today’s Birthdays: Actor-director Melvin Van Peebles is 89. Rock-and-roll musician James Burton is 82. Singer Jackie DeShannon is 80. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Willie Lanier is 76. Actor Patty McCormack is 76. Pop singer-musician Carl Giammarese is 74. Actor Loretta Devine is 72. NBC newsman Harry Smith is 70. Singer Glenn Hughes is 69. Actor Kim Cattrall is 65. College Football Hall of Famer and former NFL quarterback Jim McMahon is 62. Actor Cleo King is 59. Rock singer Serj Tankian (System of a Down) is 54. Figure skater Josee Chouinard is 52. Actor Carrie-Anne Moss is 51. MLB player-turned-manager Craig Counsell is 51. Rock musician Liam Howlett (Prodigy) is 50. Actor Alicia Witt is 46. Singer Kelis is 42. TV personality Brody Jenner is 38. Singer Melissa Schuman is 37. Olympic gold medal sprinter Usain Bolt is 35. Actor Carlos Pratts is 35. Actor-comedian Brooks Wheelan is 35. Actor Cody Kasch is 34. Country singer Kacey Musgraves is 33.

Actor Hayden Panettiere (pan’-uh-tee-EHR’) is 32. Actor RJ Mitte is 29. Actor Maxim Knight is 22.