On this Day... August 21

CEBU, Philippines - . In 1930, Princess Margaret was born in Glamis Castle, Scotland, in a thunderstorm. She was the first British royal baby born in Scotland for over three centuries, and her birth was celebrated by a full dress pipe band followed by crowds of villagers. Marching up a local hill, they lit a beacon that could be seen in six countries, and the pipes played "Highland Lassie." 

. In 1959, Hawaii became the 50th and last state to join the Union. Discovered by Captain James Cook in 1778, the 20 islands in the group were named the Sandwich Islands, after the great explorer's patron, the fourth Earl of Sandwich. It was on his second visit that Cook was killed while trying to recover a stolen boat. In 1820 Bostonians shipped prefabricated houses to the island for the missionaries, and a missionary's son, Sanford B. Dole, became the island's first president when they were declared a republic in 1894. Measuring Hawaii from its Mauno Kao peak to its sea-bed base, it is 2,000 feet higher than Mount Everest. The islands' population has the longest life expectancy of any state - 73.6 years for males, 80.36 years for females!

- from Today's the Day! By Jeremy Beadle

In Christian history -

.  In 1912, William Bramwell Booth, son of founder William Booth, became head of the American Salvation Army.

- from This Day in Christian History By William D. Blake   

In the Philippines -

. In 1983, former Senator Benigno "Ninoy" S. Aquino Jr. was assassinated at the Manila International Airport upon returning home from a three-year self-exile in the United States. The murder sparked a series of protests from an enraged nation that culminated in the February 22-25, 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, forcing then President Ferdinand E. Marcos to flee to Hawaii. Ninoy earned the moniker "Wonder Boy" of Philippine politics for his achievements as the youngest mayor of Concepcion, Tarlac at age 22, youngest vice-governor of Tarlac at age 27, youngest governor at age 29, and youngest elected senator at age 34. When President Marcos placed the country under martial rule on September 21, 1972 and suspended the writ of habeas corpus, Ninoy was among the many critics of the Marcos administration to be arrested and imprisoned. Aquino suffered a heart attack while in jail and was sent to the United States where he underwent an open-heart surgery in 1980. After spending three years in self-exile, living with his family in Massachusetts, Ninoy decided to come back to the Philippines in 1983 at the expense of endangering his life. Despite a heavy contingent of 1,200 military and police personnel and three armed bodyguards assigned to protect him, he was shot fatally in the head as he was escorted off the airplane at the then Manila International Airport. In his honor, the Manila International Airport was renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). On February 25, 2004, the Philippine Congress has enacted Republic Act No. 9256, declaring August 21 of every year, the anniversary of his death, as "Ninoy Aquino Day," an annual public holiday.

- www.kahimyang.info

In Cebu -

. In 1595, the Jesuits established the Colegio de San Idelfonso, forerunner of the University of San Carlos. Prominent in its establishment were the Jesuit fathers Pedro Chirino and Gonzalo Pereira. - from Cebuano Studies Center, University of San Carlos  (FREEMAN)