… or to this blog at least. Bizarrely, the interwebs has put up with me for a year now on this blog, and except for a rather emptyish month a little while back, my readers and views have grown every month.

I had a look at the Wikipedia entry for August 21 and a few things caught my eye. I guess we ought to remember that today Australia is voting for the next government – and facing rather unappealing choices (other than the Greens, who seem to actually have policies… odd for a political party, I know).

Anyway, also on this date (from Wiki, with tenses changed to past):

In 1192 Minamoto no Yoritomo became Seii Tai Shōgun and the de facto ruler of Japan.

In 1614 Elizabeth Báthory, the world’s most prolific female serial killer (b. 1560) died.

In 1770 James Cook formally claimed eastern Australia for Great Britain, naming it New South Wales.

In 1904 William “Count” Basie, American bandleader (d. 1984) was born.

In 1906 Friz Freleng, American movie animator (d. 1995) was born.

In 1911 The Mona Lisa was stolen by a Louvre employee

In 1918 The Second Battle of the Somme began in World War I.

In 1920 Christopher Robin Milne, inspiration for the Winnie-the-Pooh stories (d. 1996) was born.

In 1940 Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary (b. 1879) died.

In 1942 Allied forces involved in the Guadalcanal campaign of World War II defeated an attack by Imperial Japanese Army soldiers in the Battle of the Tenaru. It’s worth noting here that my maternal grandfather was there at Guadalcanal.

In 1952 Joe Strummer, British musician and singer (The Clash) (d. 2002) was born.

In 1967 Carrie-Anne Moss, Canadian actress (Trinity in the Matrix) was born. I’ve included her particularly because of my ethical musings related to the Matrix (but also because she’s super-cool).

In 1993 NASA lost contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft.

In 2005 Robert Moog, American pioneer of electronic music (b. 1934) died.

Annoyingly however, I can’t find any medical or psychiatric events of particular significance on this date…. Except of course the establishment of this blog