On this day in History - Aug. 09
- 48 BC - Roman Civil War: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt.
- 0117 - Trajan dies (b. 53). Roman emperor
- 0378 - 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 ⅔ of his army.
- 0378 - Valens dies killed in battle (b. 328). Roman emperor.
- 0803 - Byzantine Empress Irene dies (b. 752).
- 1107 - Emperor Horikawa of Japan dies (b. 1079).
- 1173 - Construction of the (Leaning) Tower of Pisa begins, and it takes two centuries to complete.
- 1173 - Najm ad-Din Ayyub dies. Father of Saladin.
- 1201 - Arnold Fitz Thedmar was born (d. 1274). English chronicler.
- 1250 - King Eric IV of Denmark dies (b. 1216).
- 1387 - Henrique de Monmouth was born (d. 31 Ago 1422). Future King Henry V of England.
- 1401 - Tamerlão (1336-1405), ou Timour Lang, restaurador do império mongol de Gengis Khan, conquista Bagdade.
- 1471 - Pope Sixtux IV begins his Papacy.
- 1483 - Opening of the Sistine Chapel.
- 1534 - Cardinal Cajetan dies (b. 1470). Italian theologian.
- 1593 - Izaak Walton was born (d. 1683). English angler.
- 1601 - Michael the Brave dies (b. 1558). Prince of Wallachia.
- 1631 - John Dryden was born at Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire († 1 May 1700). English poet and critic. With his comedies he is regarded as a founder of the "Comedy of Manners"
- 1634 - William Noy dies (b. 1577). English jurist.
- 1648 - Johann Michael Bach was born (d. 1694). German composer.
- 1653 - John Oldham was born (d. 1683). English poet.
- 1666 - Rear Admiral Robert Holmes leads a raid on the Dutch island of Terschelling, destroying 150 merchant ships in the Vlie estuary, and pillaging the town of West-Terschelling, an act later known as "Holmes's Bonfire".
- 1669 - Eudoxia Lopukhina was born (d. 1731). Tsarina of Russia.
- 1672 - Jose Ximenez dies at 70. Spanish composer.
- 1674 - František Maxmilián Kaňka was born (d. 1766). Czech architect.
- 1698 - O português Pedro Vaz de Sequeira assume o governo de Macau.
- 1720 - Simon Ockley dies (b. 1678). English orientalist.
- 1722 - Augustus William, Prince of Prussia was born (d. 1758).
- 1726 - Francesco Cetti was born (d. 1778). Italian Jesuit scientist.
- 1744 - James Brydges dies (b. 1673). 1st Duke of Chandos, English patron of the arts.
- 1757 - Thomas Telford was born (d.1834). Scottish civil engineneer.
- 1776 - Amedeo Avogadro was born (d. 1856). Italian chemist.
- 1783 - Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia was born (d. 1801).
- 1797 - Charles Robert Malden was born (d. 1855). British naval officer.
- 1805 - Joseph Locke was born (d. 1860). English railway and civil engineer.
- 1809 - William Barret Travis was born. Commander at Battle of the Alamo.
- 1816 - Johann August Apel dies (b. 1771). German jurist and writer.
- 1837 - Xavier Sigalon dies (b. 1787). French painter.
- 1842 - Webster-Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States-Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.
- 1845 - Brother Andre was born (d. 1937). Canadian religious figure.
- 1847 - Maria Victoria al Pozzo della Cisterna was born (d. 1876). Queen consort of Spain (d. 1876)
- 1848 -The Free-Soil Party nominated Martin Van Buren for president at its convention in Buffalo, N.Y.
- 1854 - Henry David Thoreau's Walden, recounting his experiment in solitary life on the shores of Massachusetts' Walden Pond, was published.
- 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Cedar Mountain - At Cedar Mountain, Virginia, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats Union forces under General John Pope.
- 1869 - Júlio Sousa Brandão was born in V. N. Famalicão (d. 9 Apr. 1947). Portuguese journalist, archaelogist and poet /Nasce em Famalicão o jornalista, arqueologista e poeta poruguês Júlio de Sousa Brandão (d. 9 de Abril de 1947).
- 1871 - Leonid Andreiev was born (d. 1919). Russian writer.
- 1872 - Archduke Joseph August of Austria was born (d. 1962). Austrian field marshal.
- 1874 - Reynaldo Hahn was born (d. 1947). Venezuelan composer and conductor.
- 1875 - Albert Ketèlbey was born (d. 1959). English pianist, conductor and composer.
- 1875 - Reynaldo Hahn was born (d. 1947). Composer.
- 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.
- 1884 - Maiden voyage of the La France. La France was the first steerable airship in the world. With its 9 horsepower electric motor, it successfully completed its maiden voyage, an eight-kilometer round trip over Chalais-Meudon, France. The designers were Charles Renard and A.C. Krebs.
- 1886 - Samuel Ferguson dies (b. 1810). Northern Irish poet and artist.
- 1896 - Jean Piaget was born (d. 1980). Swiss psychologist known for his research in developmental psychology. Biology and Knowledge (1971), The Child's Conception of the World (tr. 1929), The Moral Judgment of the Child (tr. 1932), The Language and Thought of the Child (tr. of 3d ed. 1962), Genetic Epistemology (tr. 1970), and The Development of Thought (tr. 1977).
- 1896 - Lev Vygotsky was born (d. 1934). Russian psychologist.
- 1896 - Erich Hückel was born (d. 1980). German physicist.
- 1899 - P. L. Travers was born (d. 1966). Australian author.
- 1899 - Francisco Martins Sarmento dies in Guimarães (b. 1833). Portuguese archaeologist.
- 1901 - Charles Farrell was born (d. 1990). American actor.
- 1902 - Edward VII is crowned king of the United Kingdom folloeing the death of hos mother, Queen Victoria.
- 1902 - Zino Francescatti was born (d. 1991). French violinist.
- 1903 - Início do pontificado do Papa Pio X (Giuseppe Sarto).
- 1907 - The first Boy Scout encampment concludes at Brownsea Island in Southern. England.
- 1909 - Adam von Trott zu Solz was born (d. 1944). German diplomat opposing the Nazi regime.
- 1911 - Eddie Futch was born (d. 2001). American boxing trainer
- 1911 - William Alfred Fowler was born (d. 1996). American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate.
- 1914 - Joe Mercer was born (d. 1990). English footballer.
- 1914 - Tove Jansson was born (d. 2001). Finnish author, the creator of the Moomins.
- 1914 - Ferenc Fricsay was born (d. 1963). Hungarian conductor.
- 1914 - Roque Saenz Peña dies. President of Argentina (1910-1914).
- 1919 - Joop den Uyl was born (d. 1987). Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
- 1919 - Ralph Houk was born. American baseball player and manager.
- 1919 - Ruggiero Leoncavallo dies (b. 1857). Italian composer.
- 1920 - Enzo Biagi was born. Italian journalist and writer.
- 1921 - J. James Exon was born. American politician, 36th Governor of Nebraska & United States Senator from Nebraska
- 1921 - Ernest Angley was born. Televangelist.
- 1922 - Philip Larkin was born (d. 1985). English poet.
- 1923 - Mário Cesariny de Vasconcelos was born (d. 26 Nov 2006). Portuguese poet and painter.
- 1925 - David A. Huffman was born (d. 1999). Creator of Huffman coding.
- 1927 - Daniel Keyes was born. American author.
- 1927 - Robert Shaw was born (d. 1978). English actor.
- 1928 - Bob Cousy was born. American basketball player and coach of the Boston Celtics
- 1930 - Betty Boop premiered in her first cartoon, Dizzy Dishes.
- 1930 - Jacques Parizeau was born. Quebec economist and politician.
- 1931 - Mário Zagallo was born. Brazilian football coach and player.
- 1931 - Chuck Essegian was born. American baseball player.
- 1932 - John Gomery was born. Canadian jurist.
- 1932 - John Charles Fields dies (b. 14 May 1863). American mathematician who originated the idea, postumously given his name - for the Fields Medal. It became the most prestigious award for mathematicians, often referred to as the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for mathematicians.
- 1933 - Tetsuko Kuroyanagi was born. Japanese television personality and children's author
- 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 as the United States took first place in the 400-meter relay.
- 1936 - Julián Javier was born. American baseball player.
- 1936 - Patrick Tse Yin was born. Hong Kong film director.
- 1938 - Leonid Kuchma was born. Ukrainian politician.
- 1938 - Otto Rehhagel was born. German football manager.
- 1938 - Rod Laver was born. Australian tennis player.
- 1939 - Brito was born. Brazilian footballer.
- 1940 - Beverlee McKinsey was born. American actress.
- 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.
- 1942 - David Steinberg was born. Canadian comedian.
- 1942 - Tommie Agee was born (d. 2001). American baseball player.
- 1942 - Edith Stein dies executed at Auschwitz. German philosopher and Carmelite nun (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross).
- 1943 - Ken Norton was born. American boxer.
- 1944 - The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey the Bear for the first time.
- 1944 - Sam Elliott was born. American actor.
- 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) after the primary objective of Kokura was passed due to visibility problems. An estimated 60,000-80,000 are killed and 60,000 more are injured.
- 1945 - Ken Norton was born. American boxer.
- 1945 - Posy Simmonds was born. English cartoonist.
- 1945 - Harry Hillman dies (b. 1881). American athlete.
- 1946 - Jim Kiick was born. American football player
- 1946 - Bert Vogler dies (b. 1876). Former South African cricketer.
- 1947 - Barbara Mason was born. American soul singer.
- 1947 - Benjamin Orr was born (d. 2000). American bassist and singer (The Cars).
- 1948 - Bill Campbell was born. Baseball player.
- 1949 - Jonathan Kellerman was born. American writer.
- 1952 - Prateep Ungsongtham Hata was born. Thai politician.
- 1953 - In Portugal, General Craveiro Lopes sworns as President of Republic.
- 1955 - John E. Sweeney was born. American politician.
- 1955 - Peter Schmuck was born. American sportswriter.
- 1956 - Fafá de Belém was born. Brazilan singer.
- 1957 - Melanie Griffith was born. American actress.
- 1957 - Carl Clauberg dies (b. 1898). Nazi doctor.
- 1959 - Kurtis Blow was born. American rapper.
- 1959 - Stuart Hughes was born. Canadian actor.
- 1961 - Amy Stiller was born. American actress.
- 1961 - Brad Gilbert was born. American tennis player.
- 1961 - John Key was born. Leader of the New Zealand National Party.
- 1962 - Louis Lipps was born. American football player.
- 1962 - Kevin Mack was born. American football player.
- 1962 - Hermann Hesse dies (b. 1877). German author Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature (1946).
- 1963 - Whitney Houston was born. American singer and actress.
- 1963 - Manuela Machado was born in Viana do Castelo. Portuguese marathon runner. Worlds: 1993 silver 1995 Gold 1997 silver; European: 1994 & 1998 Gold Marathon.
- 1964 - Brett Hull was born. Canadian-born hockey player.
- 1964 - Hoda Kotb was born. American television news anchor.
- 1965 - Singapore becomes an independent country.
- 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.
- 1967 - Deion Sanders was born. American football player.
- 1967 - Joe Orton dies (d. 1933). English writer.
- 1968 - Gillian Anderson was born. Actress (''The X Files'').
- 1968 - Eric Bana was born. Australian actor.
- 1968 - Karyn Parsons was born. American actress.
- 1968 - McG was born. American film producer and director
- 1968 - Sam Fogarino was born. American musician, drummer for New York City-based band (Interpol).
- 1969 - Members of a cult led by Charles Manson brutally murder pregnant actress Sharon Tate, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Polish actor Wojciech Frykowski, men's hairstylist Jay Sebring, and recent high-school graduate Steven Parent at 10050 Cielo Drive in Los Angeles.
- 1969 - Divine Brown was born. American convicted felon.
- 1969 - Troy Percival was born. American baseball player.
- 1969 - Sharon Tate dies murdered (b. 24 Jan 1943). Sharon Tate and several of her house guests were brutally murdered by members of cult leader Charlie Manson's "family." American actress.
- 1969 - Abigail Folger dies nurdered (b. 1973). American heiress.
- 1969 - Cecil Frank Powell dies (b. 5 Dec 1903). British physicist and winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1950for his development of the photographic method of studying nuclear processes and for the resulting discovery of the pion (pi-meson), a heavy subatomic particle
- 1969 - Jay Sebring dies murdered (b. 1933). American hair stylist.
- 1969 - Steven Parent dies nurdered (b. 1951). American student.
- 1969 - Wojciech Frykowski dies murdered (b. 1936). Polish writer.
- 1970 - Peruvian Airlines jet carrying 45 US exchange students explodes.
- 1970 - Rod Brind'Amour was born. Hockey player.
- 1970 - Chris Cuomo was born. American TV journalist.
- 1970 - Thomas Lennon was born. American actor.
- 1970 - Arion Salazar was born. American musician (Third Eye Blind).
- 1971 - Davide Rebellin was born. Italian cyclist.
- 1971 - Mack 10 was born. American rapper.
- 1971 - James Kim was born (d. 2006). American technology reporter.
- 1972 - A-Mei was born. Taiwanese singer.
- 1972 - Juanes was born. Colombian singer.
- 1972 - Liz Vassey was born. American actress.
- 1973 - Filippo Inzaghi was born. Italian footballer.
- 1973 - Kevin McKidd was born. Scottish actor.
- 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.
- 1974 - Derek Fisher was born. American basketball player
- 1974 - Kirill Reznik was born. American politician.
- 1974 - Mahesh Babu was born. Indian film actor.
- 1974 - Matt Morris was born. American baseball player.
- 1974 - Nicola Stapleton was born. English actress.
- 1974 - Bill Chase dies (b. 1934). American trumpet player and bandleader.
- 1975 - Mike Lamb was born. American baseball player.
- 1975 - Robbie Middleby was born. Australian soccer player.
- 1975 - Dmitri Shostakovich dies (b. 1906). Russian composer.
- 1976 - Jessica Capshaw was born. American actress.
- 1976 - Matt Henney was born. English footballer.
- 1976 - Rhona Mitra was born. English actress.
- 1977 - Adewale Ogunleye was born. American football player.
- 1977 - Chamique Holdsclaw was born. American basketball player.
- 1977 - Jason Frasor was born. American baseball player.
- 1977 - Mikael Silvestre was born. French footballer.
- 1978 - Audrey Tautou was born. French actress.
- 1978 - Michael Scofield was born. Fox River Eight Fugitive.
- 1978 - James G. Cozzens dies (b. 19 Aug 1903). American Pulitzer laureate writer (Guard of Honor).
- 1979 - Raymond Washington dies. Founder of Los Angeles, California gang, the Crips
- 1979 - Walter O'Malley dies (b. 1903). Baseball executive.
- 1980 - Jacqueline Cochran dies (b. 1906). American aviatrix.
- 1980 - Ryu Seung-beom was born. South Korean actor.
- 1982 - Danieal Manning was born. American football player.
- 1982 - Karol Bancerz was born. Polish journalist.
- 1982 - Tyson Gay was born. American sprinter.
- 1983 - Ashley Johnson was born. American actress.
- 1983 - Shane O'Brien was born. Canadian hockey player.
- 1984 - Paul Gallagher was born. Scottish footballer.
- 1985 - Hayley Peirsol was born. American swimmer.
- 1985 - Luca Filippi was born. Italian racing driver.
- 1985 - JaMarcus Russell was born. American football player.
- 1985 - Clive Churchill dies (b. 1927). Australian rugby league player.
- 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.
- 1986 - Vanessa Morley was born. American actress.
- 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 - 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.
- 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 - Giacinto Scelsi dies (b. 1905). Italian composer.
- 1989 - Kaifu Toshiki becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
- 1989 - Stefano Okaka Chuka was born. Italian footballer.
- 1990 - Adelaide Kane was born. Australian actress.
- 1990 - Joe Mercer dies (b. 1914). English footballer.
- 1991 - Hansika Motwani was born. Indian actress.
- 1992 - 25th Olympic Summer games close in Barcelona, Spain.
- 1993 - 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.
- 1994 - Iberê Camargo dies. Brazilian painter.
- 1995 - Jerry Garcia dies (b. 1942). American guitarist (Grateful Dead).
- 1995 - A Boeing 737 belonging to Guatemala’s Aviateca airline hit the Chichontepec volcano in El Salvador on a flight from Miami and killed all 65 on board.
- 1995 - Portuguese athlete Fernanda Ribeiro wins the gold Medal in 10.000 metres and also Portuguese Carla Sacramento the bronze medal in 1500 metres in European Championships in Gotenburg, Sweden.
- 1996 - Boris Yeltsin was sworn into his second term as president of Russia.
- 1997 - Betinho (Herbert de Sousa) dies. Brazilian sociologist who lead several campaigns against the starving in Brazil.
- 1998 - Francisco Zúñiga dies. Mexican painter and sculptor.
- 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.
- 1999 - Fouad Serageddin dies (b. 1910). Egyptian politician.
- 2000 - A Piper Navajo and a Piper Seminole collide in mid-air over a housing development in Burlington, New Jersey, killing 11
- 2000 - John Harsanyi dies (b. 1920). Hungarian-born economist, Nobel Prize Laureate
- 2000 - Nicholas Markowitz (b. 1984) dies murdered after been kidnapped by Jesse James Hollywood
- 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 wounded in the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing.
- 2002 - Paul Samson dies (b. 1953). British guitarist (Samson).
- 2002 - Peter Neville dies. British anarchist, sociologist and peace activist.
- 2003 - Chester Ludgin dies (b. 1925). American baritone.
- 2003 - Ray Harford dies (b. 1945). English football player and manager.
- 2003 - Gregory Hines dies in Los Angeles (b. 1946). American actor and dancer.
- 2003 - Jacques Deray dies (b. 1929). French film director.
- 2004 - David Raksin dies (b. 1912). American film director.
- 2004 - Robert Lecourt dies (b. 1908). French politician and president of the European Court of Justice.
- 2004 - Tony Mottola dies (b. 1918). American guitarist.
- 2005 - A chemical plant explosion happened at the EQ Recovery Plant in Romulus, Michigan, forcing residence within 1 to 1⅓ mile radius from the plant to evacuate.
- 2005 - Matthew McGrory dies (b. 1973). American actor.
- 2005 - Judith Rossner dies (b. 1935). American novelist.
- 2006 - James van Allen dies (b. 1914). American physicist.
- 2006 - Philip E. High dies (b. 1914). Science fiction author.
- 2007 - Joe O'Donnell dies (b. 1922).American documentary photographer, photojournalist.
- South Africa: National Women's Day
- Singapore: National Day
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