August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining.

Events

• 48 BC - Roman Civil War: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt.
• AD 378 - 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.
• 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 - Near Big Hole River in Montana, a small band of Nez Percé Indians who refused government orders to move to a reservation, clash with the United States Army. The army lost 29 soldiers and Indians lost 89 warriors in a US Army win.
• 1892 - Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.
• 1902 - Edward VII is crowned king of the United Kingdom.
• 1930 - Betty Boop premiers in the animated film Dizzy Dishes .
• 1936 - 1936 Summer Olympics: Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal at the games becoming the first American to win four medals in one Olympics.
• 1942 - Indian leader, Mohandas Gandhi is arrested in Bombay by British forces.
• 1944 - The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey the Bear for the first time.
• 1945 - World War II: An atomic bomb nicknamed "Fat Man", with an energy of 92 terajoules (22,000 tons of TNT), is dropped by the B-29 Bockscar on the city of Nagasaki, Japan at 11:02 AM (local time). An estimated 60,000-80,000 are killed and more 60,000 injured.
• 1947 - Beginning the 6 Scout World Jamboree - see Jamboree Scout 1947 (in French)
• 1965 - Singapore proclaims its independence from the Malaysian Federation.
• 1965 - Space disasters: Fire at 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 murder five people including Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring and, Abigail Folger.
• 1974 - Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office, an action reportedly taken to prevent time from being wasted in impeachment proceedings in response to his role in the Watergate scandal. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, takes the oath of office and becomes the 38th president.
• 1986 - Headington Shark erected in Oxford.
• 1988 - Wayne Gretzky is traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings in one of the most controversial transactions in hockey history.
• 1989 - Kaifu Toshiki becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
• 1993 - King Albert II of Belgium is sworn into office nine days after the death of his brother, King Baudouin. The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan loses a 38-year hold on national leadership as Hosokawa Morihiro becomes the first non-LDP Prime Minister of Japan since 1955.
• 1999 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin fires his Prime Minister, Sergei Stepashin, and for the fourth time fires his entire cabinet. 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 persons were murdered in the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing and 130 wounded.
• 2004 - The Who play at The Hollywood Bowl.

Births

• 1593 - Izaak Walton, angler (d. 1683)
• 1757 - Thomas Telford, civil engineer (d. 1834)
• 1776 - Amedeo Avogadro, chemist (d. 1856)
• 1797 - Charles Robert Malden, British naval officer who discovered Malden Island (d. 1855)
• 1805 - Joseph Locke, railway and civil engineer (d. 1860)
• 1875 - Reynaldo Hahn, composer (d. 1947)
• 1896 - Jean Piaget, child psychologist (d. 1980)
• 1899 - P. L. Travers, author of Mary Poppins (d. 1996)
• 1902 - Zino Francescatti, French violinist (d. 1991)
• 1914 - Tove Jansson, author of the Moomin books (d. 2001)
• 1919 - Ralph Houk , professional baseball player and manager (MLB)
• 1922 - Philip Larkin, English poet (d. 1985)
• 1927 - Daniel Keyes, author
• 1927 - Robert Shaw, actor (d. 1978)
• 1928 - Bob Cousy, professional basketball player (NBA)
• 1933 - Tetsuko Kuroyanagi - Japanese television personality, children's author.
• 1938 - Rod Laver, tennis player
• 1944 - Sam Elliott , actor
• 1945 - Ken Norton, boxing champion
• 1945 - Posy Simmonds, cartoonist
• 1949 - Jonathan Kellerman, mystery writer
• 1957 - Melanie Griffith, actress (Working Girl, The Bonfire of the Vanities)
• 1962 - Kevin Mack, American football player
• 1963 - Whitney Houston, singer and actress
• 1964 - Brett Hull, professional hockey player (NHL)
• 1967 - Deion Sanders, American football player
• 1968 - Gillian Anderson, actress
• 1968 - Eric Bana, actor
• 1969 - Troy Percival, Major League Baseball All-Star
• 1976 - Jessica Capshaw, actress (The Practice)
• 1976 - Rhona Mitra, actress (The Practice)
• 1977 - Chamique Holdsclaw, professional basketball player (WNBA)
• 1977 - Mikael Silvestre, football player
• 1978 - Audrey Tautou, actress
• 1982 - Karol Bancerz, polish journalism

Deaths

• 117 - Trajan, Roman emperor
• 378 - Valens, Roman emperor (killed in battle)
• 803 - Byzantine Empress Irene
• 1048 - Pope Damasus II
• 1250 - King Eric IV of Denmark
• 1919 - Ruggiero Leoncavallo, composer
• 1942 - Edith Stein, (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) at Auschwitz
• 1945 - Harry Hillman, American athlete
• 1962 - Hermann Hesse, author (b. 1877)
• 1969 - Sharon Tate, actress
• 1969 - Jay Sebring, Hollywood hair stylist
• 1969 - Abigail Folger, Coffee heiress
• 1975 - Dmitri Shostakovich, Russian composer
• 1995 - Jerry Garcia, guitarist: Grateful Dead
• 2002 - Peter Neville, anarchist, sociologist and peace activist
• 2003 - Ray Harford, football manager
• 2003 - Gregory Hines, actor, tap dancer (b. 1946)

Holidays and observances

• Feast day of Saint Romanus Ostiarius
• South Africa: National Women's Day
• Singapore: National Day

Recorded this date

• 1907 "Honey Boy" (w. Jack Norworth m. Albert Von Tilzer)
  - Billy Murray
• 1907 "Golden Rod" (McKinley)
  - Billy Murray
• 1912 "Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee" (w. Stanley Murphy m. Henry I. Marshall)
  - Ada Jones & Walter Van Brunt
• 1912 "The Wedding Glide" (w.m. Louis Hirsch)
  - Ada Jones & Walter Van Brunt
• 1916 "I Ain't Got Nobody" (w. Roger Graham & Dave Peyton m. Spencer Williams)
  - Marion Harris
• 1920 "Wang Wang Blues" (w. Leo Wood m. Gus Mueller, Buster Johnson & Henry Busse)
  - with tpt. Henry Busse w. Paul Whiteman & his Orchestra
• 1934 "Two Cigarettes In The Dark" (w. Paul Francis Webster m. Lew Pollack )
  - Frank Parker
• 1936 "When I'm With You" (w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Revel)
  - Gene Austin with O/Victor Young
• 1936 "I Cried For You" (w. Arthur Freed m. Gus Arnheim & Abe Lyman )
  - Gene Austin with O/Victor Young
• 1937 "Topsy" (m. Eddie Durham & Edgar Battle)
  - Count Basie & his Orchestra
• 1938 "Lambeth Walk " (w. Douglas Furber , L. Arthur Rose m. Noel Gay)
  - Duke Ellington & his Orchestra
• 1938 "Prelude To A Kiss" (w. Irving Gordon & Irving Mills m. Duke Ellington)
  - Duke Ellington & his Orchestra
• 1938 "Just Let Me Look At You" (w. Dorothy Fields m. Jerome Kern)
  - Cyril Grantham with Geraldo
• 1938 "You Couldn't Be Cuter" (w. Dorothy Fields m. Jerome Kern)
  - Cyril Grantham with Geraldo
• 1941 "Sam Goes To It" (Marriott Edgar)
  - Stanley Holloway
• 1945 "Surprise Party" (w.m. Bob Hilliard & Walter Bishop)
  - Johnny Mercer with O/Paul Weston
• 1945 "Save Your Sorrow For Tomorrow" (w. B. G. De Sylva m. Al Sherman )
  - Bing Crosby with Eddie Heywood & his Orchestra
• 1945 "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home?" (w.m. Charles Warfield & Clarence Williams)
  - Bing Crosby with Eddie Heywood Orchestra
• 1946 "So Much in Love" (Hoyl, Goetschivs)
  - Bing Crosby with O/Victor Young
• 1946 "When You Make Love to Me" (Hoyl, Goetschivs)
  - Bing Crosby with O/John Scott Trotter
• 1949 "Saturday Night Fish Fry" (w.m. Louis Jordan, Ellis Walsh & Al Carters)
  - Louis Jordan with Louis Jordan & his Tympany Five
• 1949 "A Thousand Violins" (w.m. Jay Livingston & Ray Evans)
  - Dinah Shore with O/Harry Zimmerman
• 1949 "Speak A Word Of Love (I Wish, I Wish)" (Robert Wells, David Saxon)
  - Dinah Shore with O/Harry Zimmerman
• 1950 "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer " (w.m. Johnny Marks)
  - Spike Jones & his City Slickers
• 1950 "Baby Buggy Boogie"
  - Spike Jones & his City Slickers
• 1950 "Yaacka Hula Hickey Dula" (w.m. E. Ray Goetz , Joe Young & Pete Wendling)
  - Rhythmaires with Spike Jones & his City Slickers
• 1953 "Money Honey" (w.m. Jesse Stone)
  - The Drifters
• 1955 "Fabulous Character" (w.m. Bennie Benjamin & Sol Marcus)
  - Sarah Vaughan with O/Hugo Peretti
• 1960 "I Feel Pretty" (w. Stephen Sondheim m. Leonard Bernstein)
  - Marni Nixon, Yvonne Othon, Joanne Miya & Suzie Kaye with O/Johnny Green
• 1960 "Tonight" (w. Stephen Sondheim & Leonard Bernstein m. Leonard Bernstein)
  - Marni Nixon & Jim Bryant with O/Johnny Green
• 1960 "North To Alaska" (w.m. Mike Phillips)
  - Johnny Horton
• 1962 "Your Used To Be" (Greenfield)
  - Brenda Lee
• 1967 "Massachusetts" (w.m. Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb & Maurice Gibb)
  - Bee Gees
• 1968 "Lily The Pink" (Trad. Arr. Gorman)
  - The Scaffold

External links

• BBC: On This Day

August 8 - August 10 - July 9 - September 9 -- listing of all days