August 9
is the 221st
day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar (222nd in
leap years), with 144 days remaining.
*
48 BC -
Caesar's civil war:
Battle of Pharsalus -
Julius Caesar decisively defeats
Pompey at
Pharsalus and Pompey flees to
Egypt.
*
378 -
Gothic War:
Battle of Adrianople - A large
Roman army led by Emperor
Valens is defeated by the
Visigoths in present-day
Turkey. Valens is killed along with 2/3 of his army.
*
681 -
Bulgaria is founded as a
Khanate on the south bank of the
Danube, after defeating the
Byzantine armies of Emperor
Constantine IV south of the
Danube delta.
*
1048 -
Pope Damasus II dies in
Rome, after reigning for only 23 days.
*
1173 - Construction of the (Leaning)
Tower of Pisa begins, and it takes two centuries to complete.
*
1483 - Opening of the
Sistine Chapel*
1842 -
Webster-Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the
United States-
Canada border east of the
Rocky Mountains.
*
1862 -
American Civil War:
Battle of Cedar Mountain - At
Cedar Mountain, Virginia,
Confederate General
Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats
Union forces under General
John Pope.
*
1877 -
Indian Wars:
Battle of Big Hole - A small band of
Nez Percé Indians clash with the
United States Army.
*
1892 -
Thomas Edison receives a
patent for a two-way
telegraph.
*
1902 -
Edward VII is crowned king of the
United Kingdom.
*
1936 -
Summer Olympic Games:
Games of the XI Olympiad:
Jesse Owens wins his fourth
gold medal at the games becoming the first American to win four medals in one
Olympic Games.
*
1942 -
Indian leader,
Mohandas Gandhi is arrested in
Bombay by
British forces, launching the
Quit India Movement.
* 1942 -
World War II:
Battle of Savo Island -
Allied naval forces protecting their amphibious forces during the initial stages of the
Battle of Guadalcanal are surprised and defeated by an
Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser force.
*
1944 - The
United States Forest Service and the
Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring
Smokey Bear for the first time.
*
1945 -
World War II: An
atomic bomb, codenamed
Fat Man, is dropped on the city of
Nagasaki,
Japan killing an estimated 70,000-90,000 people.
*
1965 -
Singapore seceded from the newly-formed Federation of Malaysia.
* 1965 -
Space disasters: A fire at a Titan missile base near
Little Rock, Arkansas kills 53 construction workers.
*
1967 -
Vietnam War:
Operation Cochise initiated -
United States Marines begin a new operation in the
Que Son Valley.
*
1969 - Members of a
cult led by
Charles Manson brutally murder
Sharon Tate,
Abigail Folger,
Wojciech Frykowski,
Jay Sebring, and
Steven Parent at
10050 Cielo Drive in Los Angeles.
*
1974 -
Watergate scandal: As a direct result of the scandal,
Richard Nixon becomes the first
President of the United States to resign from office. His
Vice President,
Gerald Ford, becomes president.
*
1983 -
Peter Jennings hosts his first broadcast of
ABC's World News Tonight as sole anchor.
*
1986 - The
Headington Shark is erected in
Oxford.
*
1986 - Knebworth Park, Stevenage, UK sees the final live performance of rock band
Queen with lead singer
Freddie Mercury.
*
1987 - 9 people are shot dead and 17 more injured as 19-year old Julian Knight opens fire at random in the
Hoddle Street Massacre in Clifton Hill
*
1988 -
Wayne Gretzky is traded from the
Edmonton Oilers to the
Los Angeles Kings in one of the most controversial transactions in
hockey history.
*
1988 - Baseball's all-day-game era officially came to an end when the Cubs beat the Mets 6-4 in Wrigley Field's first night game.
*
1989 -
Kaifu Toshiki becomes
Prime Minister of Japan.
*
1993 - The
Liberal Democratic Party of Japan loses a 38-year hold on national leadership.
* 1993 - King
Albert II of
Belgium is sworn into office.
*
1994 -
Dilbert is drawn with his necktie down, signifying that he "lost his innocence" with Liz.
*
1995 -
Netscape launches IPO.
*
1999 -
Russian President
Boris Yeltsin fires his Prime Minister,
Sergei Stepashin, and for the fourth time fires his entire cabinet.
* 1999 - The
Diet of Japan enacts a law establishing the
Hinomaru and
Kimi Ga Yo as the official
national flag and
national anthem.
*
2000 - A
Piper Navajo and a Piper Seminole collide in mid-air over a housing development in
Burlington, New Jersey, killing 11
*
2001 - US President
George W. Bush announces his support for federal funding of limited research on embryonic
stem cells.
* 2001 - In
Jerusalem, 15 people die and 130 are wounded in the
Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing.
*
2005 -
Space Shuttle program:
STS-114 Mission -
Space Shuttle Discovery successfully lands at
Edwards Air Force Base,
California.
*
2006 - The most visited website on the planet,
MySpace, hits the
100 million registered user mark.
*
1201 -
Arnold Fitz Thedmar, English chronicler (d.
1274)
*
1593 -
Izaak Walton, English angler (d.
1683)
*
1631 -
John Dryden, English
Poet Laureate (d.
1700)
*
1648 -
Johann Michael Bach, German composer (d.
1694)
*
1653 -
John Oldham, English poet (d.
1683)
*
1674 -
František Maxmilián Kaňka, Czech architect (d.
1766)
*
1722 -
Augustus William, Prince of Prussia (d.
1758)
*
1726 -
Francesco Cetti, Italian Jesuit scientist (d.
1778)
*
1757 -
Thomas Telford, Scottish civil engineer (d.
1834)
*
1776 -
Amedeo Avogadro, Italian chemist (d.
1856)
*
1797 -
Charles Robert Malden, British naval officer (d.
1855)
*
1805 -
Joseph Locke, English railway and civil engineer (d.
1860)
*
1845 -
André Besette, Canadian religious figure (d.
1937)
*
1871 -
Leonid Andreyev, Russian writer (d.
1919)
*
1872 -
Archduke Joseph August of Austria, Austrian field marshal (d.
1962)
*
1874 -
Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan composer and conductor (d.
1947)
*
1896 -
Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist (d.
1980)
* 1896 -
Lev Vygotsky, Russian psychologist (d.
1934)
* 1896 -
Erich Hückel, German physicist (d.
1980)
*
1899 -
P. L. Travers, Australian author (d.
1996)
*
1901 -
Charles Farrell, American actor (d.
1990)
*
1902 -
Zino Francescatti, French violinist (d.
1991)
*
1909 -
Adam von Trott zu Solz, German diplomat opposing the Nazi regime (executed) (d.
1944)
*
1911 -
William Alfred Fowler, American physicist,
Nobel Prize Laureate (d.
1996)
*
1914 -
Tove Jansson, Finnish author (d.
2001)
*
1914 -
Ferenc Fricsay, Hungarian conductor (d.
1963)
*
1919 -
Joop den Uyl,
Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d.
1987)
* 1919 -
Ralph Houk, baseball player and manager
*
1920 -
Enzo Biagi, Italian journalist and writer
*
1921 -
J. James Exon, American politician, 36th
Governor of Nebraska &
United States Senator from Nebraska*
1922 -
Philip Larkin, English poet (d.
1985)
*
1925 -
David A. Huffman, Creator of
Huffman coding (d.
1999)
*
1927 -
Daniel Keyes, American author
* 1927 -
Robert Shaw, English actor (d.
1978)
*
1928 -
Bob Cousy, American basketball player
*
1931 -
Mário Zagallo, Brazilian football coach and player
* 1931 -
Chuck Essegian, baseball player
*
1933 -
Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, Japanese television personality and children's author
*
1936 -
Julián Javier, baseball player
*
1938 -
Leonid Kuchma, Ukrainian politician
* 1938 -
Rod Laver, Australian tennis player
*
1939 -
Romano Prodi,
Prime Minister of Italy, former
President of the European Commission* 1939 -
Brito, Brazilian footballer
*
1940 -
Beverlee McKinsey, American actress
*
1942 -
Tommie Agee, Baseball player (d.
2001)
*
1943 -
Ken Norton, American boxer
*
1944 -
Sam Elliott, American actor
*
1945 -
Posy Simmonds, English cartoonist
*
1948 -
Bill Campbell, baseball player
*
1949 -
Jonathan Kellerman, American writer
*
1952 -
Prateep Ungsongtham Hata, Thai politician
*
1957 -
Melanie Griffith, American actress
*
1959 -
Kurtis Blow, American rapper
* 1959 -
Stuart Hughes, Canadian actor
*
1961 -
Amy Stiller, American actress
*
1962 -
Kevin Mack, American football player
* 1962 -
Louis Lipps, American football player
*
1963 -
Whitney Houston, American singer and actress
*
1964 -
Brett Hull, Canadian-born hockey player
*
1967 -
Deion Sanders, American football player
*
1968 -
Gillian Anderson, American actress
* 1968 -
Eric Bana, Australian actor
* 1968 -
Karyn Parsons, American actress
*
1969 -
Troy Percival, baseball player
*
1970 -
Rod Brind'Amour, hockey player
* 1970 -
Arion Salazar, American musician (
Third Eye Blind)
*
1971 -
Davide Rebellin, Italian cyclist
*
1972 -
Juanes, Colombian singer
*
1972 -
A-mei, Taiwanese singer
*
1973 -
Kevin McKidd, Scottish actor
* 1973 -
Filippo Inzaghi, Italian footballer
*
1974 -
Mahesh Babu, Popular Indian film actor
*
1974 -
Matt Morris, baseball player
*
1976 -
Jessica Capshaw, American actress
* 1976 -
Rhona Mitra, English actress
* 1976 -
Audrey Tautou, French actress
*
1977 -
Chamique Holdsclaw, American basketball player
* 1977 -
Mikael Silvestre, French footballer
*
1985 -
Hayley Peirsol, American Swimmer
*
1994 -
Forrest Landis, American child actor
*
117 -
Trajan,
Roman Emperor (b.
53)
*
378 -
Valens,
Roman Emperor (killed in battle) (b.
328)
*
803 -
Byzantine Empress Irene*
1107 -
Emperor Horikawa of Japan (b.
1079)
*
1250 - King
Eric IV of Denmark (b.
1216)
*
1534 -
Cardinal Cajetan, Italian theologian (b.
1470)
*
1601 -
Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia (b.
1558)
*
1634 -
William Noy, English jurist (b.
1577)
*
1720 -
Simon Ockley, English orientalist (b.
1678)
*
1744 -
James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, English patron of the arts (b.
1673)
*
1837 -
Xavier Sigalon, French painter (b.
1787)
*
1886 -
Samuel Ferguson, Northern Irish poet and artist (b.
1810)
*
1919 -
Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (b.
1857)
*
1942 -
Edith Stein, (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) (executed) (b.
1891)
*
1945 -
Harry Hillman, American athlete (b.
1881)
*
1962 -
Hermann Hesse, German-born writer,
Nobel Prize Laureate (b.
1877)
*
1967 -
Joe Orton, English writer (b.
1933)
*
1969 -
Abigail Folger, American heiress (murdered) (b.
1943)
* 1969 -
Wojciech Frykowski, Polish writer (murdered) (b.
1936)
* 1969 -
Cecil Frank Powell, British physicist,
Nobel Prize Laureate (b.
1903)
* 1969 -
Jay Sebring, American hair stylist (murdered) (b.
1933)
* 1969 -
Sharon Tate, American actress (murdered) (b.
1943)
* 1969 -
Steven Parent, American student (murdered) (b.
1951))
*
1975 -
Dmitri Shostakovich, Russian composer (b.
1906)
*
1979 -
Walter O'Malley, baseball executive (b.
1903)
*
1995 -
Jerry Garcia, American guitarist (
Grateful Dead) (b.
1942)
*
1996 - Sir
Frank Whittle, invented the
jet engine (b.
1907)
*
2000 -
John Harsanyi, Hungarian-born economist,
Nobel Prize Laureate (b.
1920)
*
2002 -
Peter Neville, anarchist, sociologist, and peace activist
*
2003 -
Ray Harford, English footballer and manager (b.
1945)
* 2003 -
Gregory Hines, American actor and dancer (b.
1946)
*
2005 -
Matthew McGrory, American actor (b.
1973)
* 2005 -
Judith Rossner, American novelist (b.
1935)
*
2006 -
James van Allen, American physicist (b.
1914)
*
Roman Catholicism - the feasts of at least five saints:
** St.
Jean Vianney** St.
Edith Stein** St.
Romanus Ostiarius** St. Fedlimid/
Felimy** St.
Nathy (or David)
* Feast day of the great
martyr Saint Panteleimon in
Russian Orthodox Church*
Singapore:
National Day*
National Women's Day in
South Africa*
BBC: On This Day*
The New York Times: On This DayAugust 8 -
August 10 -
July 9 -
September 9 â€"
listing of all days
