The hard-line coup against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev ended on
this day in 1991. The uprising that led to the collapse was led by Russian
federation President Boris Yeltsin.

Boris Yeltsin (left) and Mikhail Gorbachev.

It was on this day in 1940.

Leon Trotsky (Lev Davidovich Bronstein)
(November 7, 1879 – August 21, 1940)

Nat Turner, a former slave, led a violent insurrection in Virginia on
this day in 1831. He was later executed.

Hawaii became the 50th state on this day in 1959. United States
President Eisenhower (seated/center) also issued the order for
the 50 star flag.

William James "Count" Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984)

Count Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and
composer who introduced several generations of listeners to the Big
Band sound and left an influential catalog.  

                     
                      Kenneth Ray Rogers is 79 years old today.

Kenny Rogers has sold more than 100 million albums over the course of his
career. His 1970s albums The Gambler and Kenny went 5x Platinum and 3x
Platinum, respectively. In 2013, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall
of Fame. He joined his first band,The Scholars, in the mid-1950s, but the band
dissolved after their frontman left to go solo.

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CAMILLE BOHANNON

Soviet hard-liners announced on this day in 1991, President Mikhail Gorbachev had been removed from power. Gorbachev returned to
power two days later.

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev turned 86 in March.

On this day in 1934, Adolf Hitler was approved for sole executive
power in Germany as Fuehrer.

Francis Gary Powers (center), an American U-2 pilot, was convicted
of espionage in Moscow on this day in 1960.

Inventor and television pioneer, Philo Farnsworth made many contributions that were crucial to the early development of all-
electronic television. He was also the first person to demonstrate
such a system to the public.

Philo Taylor Farnsworth
(August 19, 1906 – March 11, 1971)

On this day in 1977.

CARLATA BRADLEY

Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996)

MIKE GRACIA

The Hughes H-4 Hercules is the largest flying boat ever built and has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in history. It remains in good condition and is on display
at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon (below).
 

CAMILLE BOHANNON

Groucho Marx (Julius Henry Marx)
(October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977)