This Day in History

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August 9

48 BC – Caesar's Civil War: Battle of Pharsalus: Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt.

1173 – Construction of the campanile of the Cathedral of Pisa (now known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa) begins; it will take two centuries to complete.

1854 – Henry David Thoreau publishes Walden.

1892 – Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.

1930 – Betty Boop makes her cartoon debut in Dizzy Dishes.

1936 - Games of the XI Olympiad: Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal at the games.

1944 – The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time.

1945 – World War II: Nagasaki is devastated when an atomic bomb, Fat Man, is dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar. 35,000 people are killed outright, including 23,200-28,200 Japanese war workers, 2,000 Korean forced workers, and 150 Japanese soldiers.

1965 – Singapore is expelled from Malaysia and becomes the only country to date to gain independence unwillingly.

1969 – Followers led by Charles Manson murder pregnant actress Sharon Tate (wife of Roman Polanski), coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Polish actor Wojciech Frykowski, men's hairstylist Jay Sebring and recent high-school graduate Steven Parent.

1974 – As a direct result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, becomes president.

1980 - AC/DC scored their first UK No.1 album with Back In Black. It was the first AC/DC album recorded without former lead singer Bon Scott (who died on 19 February 1980 at the age of 33), and was dedicated to him. The album has sold an estimated 49 million copies worldwide to date, making it the second highest selling album of all time, and the best selling hard rock or heavy metal album, as well as the best selling album ever released by a band.

2006 – At least 21 suspected terrorists were arrested in the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot that happened in the United Kingdom.

2014 – Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American male in Ferguson, Missouri, was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer, sparking protests and unrest in the city.

Births

1921 – Ernest Angley; 1927 – Daniel Keyes (Flowers For Algernon); 1939 – The Mighty Hannibal♪ ♫; 1942 – David Steinberg; 1943 – Ken Norton; 1944 – Sam Elliott; 1957 – Melanie Griffith; 1959 – Kurtis Blow♪ ♫; 1963 – Whitney Houston♪ ♫; 1967 – Deion Sanders; 1968 – Gillian Anderson ('Scully' on The X Files), Eric Bana; 1972 – Juanes♪ ♫; 1973 – Kevin McKidd (Grey's Anatomy); 1976 – Jessica Capshaw (Grey's Anatomy), Rhona Mitra, Audrey Tautou; 1982 – Tyson Gay

Deaths

1516 – Hieronymus Bosch; 1948 – Hugo Boss; 1962 – Hermann Hesse; 1969 – Jay Sebring, Sharon Tate, Steven Parent; 1975 – Dmitri Shostakovich; 1995 – Jerry Garcia; 2003 – Gregory Hines; 2006 – James Van Allen (Van Allen Radiation Belts; 2008 – Bernie Mac; 2010 – Ted Stevens; 2015 – Frank Gifford