1. On August 21, 1831, Nat Turner's Slave Rebellion began in Virginia. The rebellion would later have ripple effects in Maryland, where fear and panic spread among slaveholders.
2. The Battle of Bladensburg took place in Maryland on August 21, 1814, during the War of 1812. British troops defeated a combined force of American militia and regulars, allowing the British to march on and burn down Washington, D.C.
3. On August 21, 1934, baseball legend Babe Ruth visited his childhood home in Baltimore's Pigtown neighborhood during a break in his final season with the Boston Braves. Ruth's visit was widely reported in the press at the time.
4. President Harry S. Truman dedicated the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on August 21, 1952. The bridge connects Maryland's eastern and western shores, and at the time of its dedication was the world's longest continuous over-water steel structure.
5. August 21, 1893 marked the start of the first Maryland State Fair in Timonium, Maryland. The fair has continued annually and now draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.