The American Bar Association (ABA) was founded on August 21, 1878, by a group of 75 lawyers. The organization would become the US's foremost association of attorneys, although its membership declined substantially from 2009 to 2019. Learn more about the history of the ABA.

On August 21, 1878, the American Bar Association was organized at a meeting in Saratoga Springs, New York.

The original ABA constitution, which is still substantially the charter of the association, defined its mission as "the advancement of the science of jurisprudence, the promotion of the administration of justice and a uniformity of legislation throughout the country....".

On August 21, 1944, the Washington Conversations on International Peace and Security opened in the Dumbarton Oaks mansion in Washington, DC, US. From the opening of the conference until its close on October 7, representatives of the US, USSR, the UK, and the Republic of China laid the groundwork for the United Nations and the post-WWII world. Learn more about the Dumbarton Oaks Conference from the United Nations.