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August 19

FEATURED BIOGRAPHY

Bill Clinton

president of United States

FEATURED EVENT

1991

Attempted coup against Gorbachev

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MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY

1994:American theoretical physical chemist Linus Pauling—the only person to have won two unshared Nobel Prizes (Chemistry, 1954; Peace, 1962)—died at age 93. [Take our Nobel Prize quiz.]

1960:American pilot Francis Gary Powers was sentenced to 10 years' confinement by the Soviet Union for espionage following the U-2 Affair, but he was later released (1962) in exchange for the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. [Read about 10 famous names in the espionage game.]

1945:A commando force formed by Vo Nguyen Giap, under Vietnamese nationalist leader Ho Chi Minh, entered the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Southeast Asia.]

1936:Soviet officials began the Great Purge of prominent Old Bolsheviks—real or potential political rivals and critics of Joseph Stalin—as the first show trial opened, resulting in the execution of Lev Kamenev and others. [Test your knowledge of Russian history.]

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ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY

1946

Bill Clinton

president of United States

1883

Coco Chanel

French designer

1921

Gene Roddenberry

American writer and producer

1942

Fred Thompson

American politician and actor

SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY