On This Day: August 21

Tornado Talk Summary

On August 21, 1883, at least three significant tornadoes struck the Upper Midwest; one of these came to be known as the Rochester tornado. This summary focuses on remembering those who suffered in this terrible disaster and how the Mayo Clinic was born from the wreckage of Rochester. Read our detailed summary here

Ruins of Rochester Harvester Works. Image via Minnesota Historical Society. 

SIGTOR Spotlight

Highlighting a Tornado Before 1950
from Significant Tornadoes by Thomas Grazulis!

August 21, 1888: An F2 tornado moved east-northeast from 6 miles SW of Wilmington, passing one mile south of the city. One man was killed at Hares Corner. Approximately 40 buildings were damaged/destroyed including five homes.  

Twister From The 2000s

An EF1 tornado tracked for 2.5 miles from near Brockway in Jefferson County, PA through Brockport in Elk County, PA. Numerous trees were toppled, and several homes sustained minor damage. For more information click here

A house that had minor damage. Photo taken by Tornado Talk writer, Nick Wilkes.
A garage that had it's large overhead collapsed, and part of the foundation blown out. Photo taken by Tornado Talk writer, Nick Wilkes.
Large pine trees that were snapped or uprooted. Note the new power pole being installed in the background. Photo taken by Tornado Talk writer, Nick Wilkes.

Weather Rewind

There is more weather phenomenon than just tornadoes? 

On This Day in OTHER weather history!

 A 6.88″ in diameter hailstone fell in Dante SD on August 21, 2007. This set a record for the largest hailstone in South Dakota at the time. The record held until July 23, 2010 when an 8″ hailstone fell at Vivian, SD. Source, NWS Sioux Falls

Photo of the 6.88" hailstone, via NWS Sioux Falls.

Pieces of the Past

A Look Back Through The Ages!  On This Day In History! 

Sources:  onthisday.com, thisdayinmusic.com & Britannica

Historical Event

In 2017, Destroyer USS John S McCain collided with an oil tanker near Singapore leaving 10 missing and 5 injured. Check out more historical events at onthisday.com!

Famous Birthday

Kenny Rogers, American country singer known for his raspy voice and hits like “The Gambler” was born on this day in 1938 in Houston, TX. He died in 2020. Source:  Britannica.

Film and TV

On this day in 2020, Actress Lori Loughlin was sentenced to two months in prison along with her husband for her role in US college admissions bribery scandal. Get more daily history at onthisday.com

Music Trivia

In 1961, Patsy Cline recorded the classic Willie Nelson song, ‘Crazy’. Cline was still on crutches after going through a car windshield in a head-on collision two months earlier and had difficulty reaching the high notes of the song at first due to her broken ribs. ‘Crazy’ spent 21 weeks on the chart and eventually became one of her signature tunes. Get into the groove with more music trivia at thisdayinmusic.com

Note:  There are some images/videos in our summaries that were licensed to us to be used only on this website. If you would like to use an image/video in your project or blog, please contact us and we will grant permission if possible.

Newspaper clips are embedded via newspapers.com. Please see their terms and conditions.

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