August 21 Birthday
On August 21, 1831, Nat Turner, an enslaved preacher, led a rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. He and approximately seventy followers went house to house, killing every white person they encountered. Sixty white people died. The rebellion was suppressed in two days. In the aftermath, militias and mobs killed at least 120 Black people — many of whom had nothing to do with the rebellion. Turner was captured after six weeks, tried, and hanged. His body was flayed. The rebellion terrified the South and led to laws making it illegal to teach enslaved people to read. In 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia, a former Louvre employee, hid in a closet overnight, removed the Mona Lisa from the wall, and walked out with it under his coat. The painting was missing for two years. Peruggia was caught when he tried to sell it to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. He claimed he was returning it to Italy — he was Italian. He served seven months in jail. The theft made the Mona Lisa the most famous painting in the world. People born on August 21 fall under the zodiac sign of Leo. The birthstone is Peridot and the birth flower is Gladiolus. Historical events on August 21 include 1831: Nat Turner leads slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, 1911: Mona Lisa stolen from the Louvre (recovered two years later), 1959: Hawaii becomes 50th US state. Famous people born on August 21 include Wilt Chamberlain (1936), Kenny Rogers (1938), Hayden Panettiere (1989).