August 9

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

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances
5 External links

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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.
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, launching the Quit India Movement.
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 70,000-90,000 are killed and 80,000 more are injured.
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.
1969 - Members of a cult led by Charles Manson murder five people,Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, Steven Parent, and Abigail Folger. Also, Disneyland's Haunted Mansion ride opens.
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.
1983 - Peter Jennings hosts his first broadcast of ABC's World News Tonight as sole anchor.
1986 - The Headington Shark is erected in Oxford.
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.
1989 - Kaifu Toshiki becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
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.
1993 - King Albert II of Belgium is sworn into office nine days after the death of his brother, King Baudouin.
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 wounded in the Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing.
2005 - Space Shuttle Discovery makes successful touchdown at Edwards Air Force Base, California