2021-08-24

The International Astronomical Union passed a resolution redefining the term planet and classifying Pluto as a dwarf planet.

Hurricane Andrew, the third-most intense Category 5 cyclone to impact the United States in the 20th century, made landfall in southern Florida.

Cultural Revolution: Red Guards vandalised the Jokhang (depicted), the holiest Buddhist temple in Tibet.

Buddhist crisis: The U.S. State Department ordered Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (pictured) to encourage South Vietnamese Army officers to oust Ngo Dinh Diem if he did not willingly remove Ngo Dinh Nhu from his unofficial position of power.

In the midst of a political crisis, Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas fatally shot himself in the Catete Palace in Rio de Janeiro.

World War II: At the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, bombers from the U.S. aircraft carrier Saratoga sank the Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō near Santa Isabel Island, contributing to an Allied victory.

Adolf Hitler ordered the suspension of the T4 euthanasia program of the mentally ill and disabled, although killings continued in secret for the remainder of World War II.

The Royal Navy's R.38, the world's largest airship at the time, was destroyed by a structural failure over Hull, killing 44 of the 49 crew aboard.

The Battle of Cer ended with the first Allied victory of World War I.

The New Zealand Native football team, predominantly comprising Māori players, concluded their 107-game tour, the longest in rugby union history.