August 21, 1991

1991Leandro Bacuna, Dutch footballer^[†]

Leandro Jones Johan Bacuna is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or right-back for Eredivisie club Groningen. Born in the Netherlands and a former Dutch youth international, he represents the Curaçao national team.

1991Jesse Rutherford, American singer and songwriter^[†]

Jesse James Rutherford is an American singer, songwriter, and former actor. He is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the alternative rock band the Neighbourhood and hardcore band Valley Girl. Alongside his bandmates, Rutherford wrote the number-one Billboard Alternative Songs hit "Sweater Weather", which was certified eleven-times platinum in the US in 2023.

1991Latvia declares renewal of its full independence after its occupation by the Soviet Union since 1940.^[†]

Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi), with a population of 1.9 million. The country has a temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Riga. Latvians, who are the titular nation and comprise 65.5% of the country's population, belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Latvian. Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population; 37.7% of the population speak Russian as their native tongue.

1991Coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev collapses.^[†]

The 1991 Soviet coup attempt, also known as the August Coup, was a failed attempt by hardliners of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) to forcibly seize control of the country from Mikhail Gorbachev, who was Soviet President and General Secretary of the CPSU at the time. The coup leaders consisted of top military and civilian officials, including Vice President Gennady Yanayev, who together formed the State Committee on the State of Emergency. They opposed Gorbachev's reform program, were angry at the loss of control over Eastern European states and fearful of the New Union Treaty, which was on the verge of being signed by the Soviet Union (USSR). The treaty was to decentralize much of the central Soviet government's power and distribute it among its fifteen republics; Boris Yeltsin's demand for more autonomy to the republics opened a window for the plotters to organize the coup.