Republican convention opened in Miami Beach, Florida, with fifty-six delegates, 4.2 per cent of the total.

Willie Lanier , in full Willie Edward Lanier (born August 21, 1945, Clover, Virginia, U.S.), American professional gridiron football player who was an outstanding defensive player for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1960s and ’70s, overturning the stereotype that African Americans could not handle the key defensive position of middle linebacker.

Lanier was named to the Little All-America team (for players in small-college programs) while at Morgan State University (Baltimore, Maryland). In 1967 the Kansas City Chiefs selected him in the second round of the first combined American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) draft. The Chiefs had lost 35–10 to the Green Bay Packers in the first Super Bowl earlier that year and focused on defensive players in the draft.

Lanier became the starting middle linebacker in his rookie season, which was cut short by an injury. The next year, the Chiefs were 12–2, and Lanier began a streak of eight consecutive Pro Bowl selections. In his third season, Lanier led the Chiefs to the final AFL championship prior to the league’s merging with the NFL. As AFL champions, the Chiefs unexpectedly defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV in 1970, with Lanier making an interception and the defense shutting out Minnesota in the first half on the way to a 23–7 victory.

Although the Chiefs made the play-offs just one more time in his career, Lanier remained a defensive star in the league. Called “Honey Bear” by his teammates, Lanier was a ferocious tackler. After concussions early in his career, he wore a specially padded helmet to protect himself from his own tremendous collisions. He had 15 career fumble recoveries and 27 pass interceptions, with 2 returned for touchdowns. He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986.

Jazz pianist and musician, William Count Basie, born in Red Bank, NJ, 1904

Robert Tools, the first man to have a self contained artificial heart implanted speaks for the first time on national television.

William James Basie was one of the most notable jazz musicians of the 20th century. He was born on August 21, 1904 to Harvey Lee and Lillian Basie in Red Bank, New Jersey. Both his parents were musicians, which influenced Basie from an early age. His father played the mellophone, and his mother played the piano, and also gave Basie piano lessons. Later, he received lessons from a professional, arranged by his parents. Basie was not an aspiring student, and dreamed of becoming a musician. He finished junior high but his main focus always remained music. He quickly became proficient at playing the piano and drums, affiliating himself with small time acts at locals theatres and clubs.

During the 1920s, Basie played the vaudeville circuit, which was mostly song and dance performances with an element of burlesque. In 1928, he joined Walter Page’s band called “Blue Devils”, which was his first exposure to a big band. He then joined a band led by Bennie Motten, which popularized swing music. Upon Motten’s death in 1925, Basie formed his own band named “Barons of Rhythm”, including some of the original members of the Blue Devils, and the addition of tenor player Lester Young. He got the title of “Count” after a radio announcer added that to his name, to add some spice. The name stuck throughout his career, and he was henceforth referred to as Count Basie.

The newly formed band played at local clubs and sometimes made radio appearances. One night, with some time to kill, they began improvising, and the resulting track became of their most famous songs, later titled “One O’ Clock Jump”. The band was named “Count Basie and His Barons of Rhythm” and they relocated from Kansas to Chicago. They had an innovative sound, particularly because of the use of two saxophone players when most bands still used just one, which resulted in saxophone “duels”, a technique later adopted by several other bands. In Chicago, they met producer John Hammond, with whom they had recording sessions and released tracks such as “Shoe Shine Boy”,

Melvin Van Peebles, writer, dramatist, born

Basketball great Wilton Wilt the Stilt Chamberlain born in Philadelphia.

Wilt Chamberlain (born Wilton Norman Chamberlain) was an American basketball star who played for several NBA teams. Chamberlain  was born on August 21, 1936 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied at Overbrook High School where he played on his school’s team for three years, scoring more than 2200 points. During high school, he measured 6 feet, 11 inches tall, and after finishing school he grew a further 2 inches to reach an astonishing height of 7 feet, 1 inch. He was a popular member of his team and was given a number of nicknames by teammates, media reporters and fans such as “Wilt the Stilt” and “The Big Dipper”.

After a successful high school career, Chamberlain was sought out by many of the top universities on a basketball scholarship. He finally chose to join the University of Kansas where he began to play for their team, the Jayhawks in 1956. He led his team to the NCAA finals the following year, but they lost the game to North Carolina. Nevertheless, Chamberlain had made his mark and was given the title of “Most Outstanding Player” of the tournament. The very next season, he made it to the all-America and all-conference teams. He left college without graduating in 1958 but had to wait for one season before going pro because of NBA prohibitions regarding recruitment of seniors who hadn’t finished college. In the meantime, he decided to play for the Harlem Globetrotters for a sum of $50,000.

He turned pro in 1959, starting his professional career with the Philadelphia Warriors. In his first game, the Warriors played the Knicks, and Chamberlain scored 43 points. For that season, he was named NBA Rookie of the Year and NBA Most Valuable Player. In 1962, he made history by becoming the first NBA player to score 100 points in a game, a record which stands to date. He also became the first NBA player to score more than 4000 points in a season. His average score was 50.4 points per game. During this time, he was selected for the All-NBA first team for three consecutive years. Chamberlain had a long standing

Harriet M. West was the first Black woman major in the Womens Army Corps (WAC).

Nat Turner is remembered for his role in the Slave Revolt that took place in Southampton county, Virginia on August 21, 1831.

George Crum was born as George Speck in 1822 in Saratoga Lake, New York, the son of a Huron Native-American mother and an African-American father who worked as a jockey. He worked for a while as a mountain guide and trapper in the Adirondack Mountains in New York.

In 1853 he became the head chef at the Cary Moon’s Lake House in Lake Saratoga, New York and on one evening set out  preparing the evening dinner for the guests. He intended to make french fries but a guest complained that they were too thick. Annoyed, he prepared another batch and sliced the potatoes extremely thin. After deep frying them in oil he found them very thin and very crisp and after adding salt found that the guests loved them. George began preparing the potatoes this way and they would soon become known as potato chips.

In 1860 George decided to open his own restaurant on Malta Avenue in Saratoga Lake. He featured potato chips as appetizers on each table. The restaurant was very successful and operated for 30 years, closing in 1890. Unfortunately, he never patented the potato chip, nor sought to market them outside of his restaurant. A few years after he retired, however, potato chips were mass marketed by others and would eventually become a six billion dollar a year industry.

George Crum died in 1904 at the age of 92 and left behind the legacy of creating the greatest snack food of all time.

2 replies Rich says: August 21, 2013 at 7:00 am

the photo that you have up of george crum, just cannot be…

its a fake photo! someone started, hope it wasnt you.

do the math. he was 86yrs old when he died.

that photo is say when the person was 30+yrs old.

that would take us back to around 1860.

there were no photos of that quality, even at 1875!

even for that matter of ethnical people.

if you are to research early accounts of george crum, he was always reffered to as an native indian… from a neighboring trive in saratoga lakes area….

Fourth Pan-African Congress met in New York City. (8/21-24)