August 21, 1918 (Wednesday) Second Battle of the Somme – The second phase of the Allied offensive against Germany began with attacks on Albert and Bapaume, France. A powerful tornado struck Tyler, Minnesota, killing 36 people and injuring over 100 others. It would be the fourth deadliest tornado in the state's history.
Andrew Jackson was the first common man elected into presidency
<span>The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) marked the first U.S. armed conflict chiefly fought on foreign soil. It pitted a politically divided and militarily unprepared Mexico against the expansionist-minded administration of U.S. President James K. Polk, who believed the United States had a “manifest destiny” to spread across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. A border skirmish along the Rio Grande started off the fighting and was followed by a series of U.S. victories. When the dust cleared, Mexico had lost about one-third of its territory, including nearly all of present-day California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.</span>