August 21, 1959
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a proclamation admitting Hawai’i into the Union as the 50th state.
August 22, 1950
The U.S. Lawn Tennis Association accepts Althea Gibson into its annual championship at Forest Hills, N.Y., making her the first African-American player to compete in a U.S. national tennis competition.
August 26, 1939
The first televised Major League Baseball game, between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers, is broadcast on station W2XBS.