TODAY IN HISTORY

Sunday, August  21, 2011 AP Highlight in History:  On Aug. 21, 1940, exiled Russian Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky died in Mexico City from wounds inflicted by an assassin.   AP Photo
On this date in: 1831 Nat Turner launched a short-lived, violent slave rebellion in Virginia. 1858 The first of seven debates between U.S. Senate candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas took place in Ottawa, Ill. 1878 The American Bar Association was founded in Saratoga, N.Y. 1904 Jazz musician and bandleader William "Count" Basie was born in Red Bank, N.J. 1959 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order proclaiming Hawaii the 50th state of the union. 1983 Philippine opposition leader Benigno S. Aquino Jr., ending a self-imposed exile in the United States, was shot dead moments after stepping off a plane at Manila International Airport. 1987 Sgt. Clayton Lonetree, the first Marine ever court-martialed for spying, was convicted in Quantico, Va., of passing secrets to the KGB. 1991 A hard-line coup against Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev collapsed in the face of a popular uprising led by Russian federation President Boris Yeltsin. 2002 A jury in San Diego convicted David Westerfield of kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam. (He was later sentenced to death.) 2006 British prosecutors announced that 11 people had been charged in an alleged plot to blow up trans-Atlantic jetliners bound for the United States. 2009 Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to lift a ban that prohibited sexually active gays and lesbians from serving as ministers.		Video Highlights of This Day in History Today's Birthdays: Actresss Kim Cattrall ("Sex and the City") turns 55 years old today. AP Photo/Peter Kramer Name Profession Age Melvin Van Peebles Actor, director 79 Kenny Rogers Country singer 73 Clarence Williams III Actor ("The Mod Squad") 72 Jackie DeShannon Singer 70 Margaret Chan World Health Organization director general 65 Harry Smith Broadcast journalist 60 Jon Tester U.S. senator, D-Mont. 55 Carrie-Anne Moss Actress 41 Alicia Witt Actress 36 Actress Hayden Panettiere ("Heroes") turns 22 years old today. AP Photo/Evan Agostini