American swimmer and actress (died 2013)

Esther Williams

Esther Jane Williams was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics because of the outbreak of World War II, she joined Billy Rose's Aquacade, where she took on the role vacated by Eleanor Holm after the show's move from New York City to San Francisco. While in the city, she spent five months swimming alongside Olympic gold medal-winner and Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller.

Born

1921

August 8

Died

2013

Era

1920s

Country

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About

Esther, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1921 Born
2013 Died

Also on August 8

What else happened on this day, through history

-685 Spring and Autumn period: Battle of Qianshi: Upon the death of the previous Duke of Qi, Gongsun Wuzhi, Duke Zhuang of Lu sends an army into the Duchy of Qi to install the exiled Qi prince Gongzi Jiu as the new Duke of Qi – but is defeated at Qianshi by Jiu's brother and rival claimant, the newly inaugurated Duke Huan of Qi.
870 Treaty of Meerssen: King Louis the German and his half-brother Charles the Bald partition the Middle Frankish Kingdom into two larger east and west divisions.
1220 Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula.
1264 Mudéjar revolt: Muslim rebel forces took the Alcázar of Jerez de la Frontera after defeating the Castilian garrison.

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The world in 1921

When Esther arrived

april 11 Emir Abdullah establishes the first centralised government in the newly created British protectorate of Transjordan.
april 2 The Autonomous Government of Khorasan, a military government encompassing the modern state of Iran, is established.
august 14 Tannu Uriankhai, later Tuvan People's Republic is established as a completely independent country (which is supported by Soviet Russia).
august 23 British airship R-38 experiences structural failure over Hull in England and crashes in the Humber Estuary; of her 49 British and American training crew, only four survive.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on August 8

Artur Bernardes 1875–1955 Brazilian lawyer and politician, 12th President of Brazil (died 1955) Cecil Calvert 1605–1675 2nd Baron Baltimore, English lawyer and politician, Governor of Newfoundland (died 1675) Francis Hutcheson 1694–1746 Irish philosopher and academic (died 1746) George Clifford 1558– 3rd Earl of Cumberland, English noble (died 1605) Godfrey Kneller 1646–1723 German-English painter (died 1723) Hannah Miley 1989– English-Scottish swimmer Kane Williamson 1990– New Zealand cricket captain Ken Dryden 1947– Canadian ice hockey player, lawyer, and politician (died 2025) Roger Penrose 1931– English physicist, mathematician, and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1921

Ágnes Keleti 1921–2025 Hungarian Olympic gymnast (born 1921) Alexander Dubček 1921–1992 Slovak soldier and politician (died 1992) Art Clokey 1921–2010 American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1921) Bill Willis 1921–2007 American football player and coach (born 1921) Brian Moore 1921–1999 Northern Irish-Canadian author and screenwriter (died 1999) Ezzard Charles 1921–1975 American boxer (died 1975) Franciszek Blachnicki 1921–1987 Polish priest (born 1921) Franco Corelli 1921–2003 Italian tenor and actor (died 2003) George S. Hammond 1921– American scientist (died 2005)

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More to explore

Esther's birthday August 8 Esther's zodiac Leo When Esther arrived 1921