Seeds of Fire: A People’s Chronology
Recalling events that happened on this day in history.
Memories of struggle, resistance and persistence.
Compiled by Ulli Diemer
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August 21, 1831
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Nat Turner’s Rebellion: the largest slave revolt in the United States.
Slaves in the U.S. state of Virginia rise up in rebellion. A small group led by Nat Turner starts moving from house to house, freeing the slaves and killing the slaveowners and their families. In a number of instances, they spare the homes of poor whites who are not slaveowners. The rebel groups grows to about 70, including free blacks as well as slaves. Turner hoped that the rebels' violence would galvanize slaves and make whites realize that slavery was unsustainable. However, white militias succeed in defeating the rebels. In the aftermath, more than 250 blacks, including Turner, are put to death.
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August 21, 1940
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Leon Trotsky dies of wounds inflicted by an assassin the previous day.
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August 21, 1968
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The Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies invade Czechoslovakia to put down Prague Spring reforms initiated by Alexander Dubeck’s Czechoslovak Communist Party.
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