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 On this day August 15-21, 2021 (week 33) infographic
Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries on each day for the week.
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HISTORY

On this day August 15-21, 2021 (week 33)

August 15, 2021 - August 21, 2021 - Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries for each day of the week. This week features the sovereign state of Bahrain, elections in Belarus, France’s first woman in space, Claudie Andre-Deshays, Scottish explorer Alexander Gordon Laing, the overthrow of Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, the building of the Berlin wall and Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya

August 15, 1971: Bahrain declared itself a fully independent and sovereign state. It has become wealthy via tourism and banking services, as unlike its neighbours it has not much oil

August 16, 2020: Mass protests intensified in Belarus calling for President Alexander Lukashenko to step down following his contested re-election

August 17, 1996: France’s first woman in space, Claudie Andre-Deshays, took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome for a 16-day mission aboard Russia’s Mir space station

August 18, 1825: Scottish explorer Alexander Gordon Laing became the first European to reach Timbuktu, now in Mali, while crossing the Sahara from north to south

August 19, 1991: Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev was overthrown in a coup by Communist hardliners. The coup failed but soon led to the collapse of the Soviet Union

August 20, 1961: East Germany began to erect a wall in Berlin and elsewhere along the border with the West. It was a potent symbol of the Cold War until it was torn down in 1989

August 21, 2011: Libyans took to the streets to celebrate the end of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s 42 years in power as rebel forces advanced into the capital, Tripoli

Sources
PUBLISHED: 25/07/2021; DESIGN: Phil Bainbridge; PICTURE RESEARCH: Julie Mullins; EVENT SELECTION: Fiona Roberts and Susan Shepherd; PROOFING: Julie Mullins; TECHNICAL CONSTRUCTION: Fiona Roberts;; STORY: Julie Mullins; PICTURES: Newscom, Getty, Associated Press
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