What Happened on August 9
Significant Events
- 48 BC Caesar's civil war: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt.
- 378 Battle of Adrianople: Goth army defeats Roman forces under Emperor Valens
- 1790 Robert Gray's Columbia Rediviva returns to Boston after 3 year journey, 1st American ship to circumnavigate the Globe
- 1898 Rudolf Diesel of Germany obtains patent #608,845 for his internal combustion engine, later known as the diesel engine
- 1942 Mahatma Gandhi & 50 others arrested in Bombay after passing of a "quit India" campaign by the All-India Congress
- 1945 US drops 2nd atomic bomb "Fat Man" on Japan destroys part of Nagasaki
- 1965 Singapore separates from the Federation of Malaysia and gains its independence
- 1974 Richard Nixon resigns as US President and VP Gerald Ford swears the oath of office to take his place as the 38th US President
August 9 in Film & TV
- 1930 Betty Boop debuts in Max Fleischer's animated cartoon Dizzy Dishes
August 9 in Music
- 1997 "Just to See You Smile" single released by Tim McGraw (Billboard Song of the Year 1998)
August 9 in Sport
- 2012 Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt wins the 200m at the London Olympics in 19.32 to become first to win 100/200m double in back-to-back Olympics
Famous Birthdays
Johann Michael Bach
(1648 - 1694)
Amedeo Avogadro
(1776 - 1856)
Bob Cousy
90 Years Old
Rod Laver
80 Years Old
Whitney Houston
(1963 - 2012)
Brett Hull
54 Years Old
Would You Believe?
Longest ever hunger strike ends, Indian human rights campaigner Irom Sharmila tastes honey after 16 years
On August 9, 2016
Famous Weddings
- 1832 King Leopold I of Belgium marries Louisa Maria
- 1949 Film and stage actor Jimmy Stewart (41) weds former model Gloria Hatrick McLean (31) at the Brentwood Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles
- 1958 Actor Robert Redford (21) weds Lola Van Wagenen in Las Vegas, Nevada
- 1968 Detective writer Erle Stanley Gardner (79) weds his long-time secretary Agnes Jean Bethell
- 1973 Actor Anthony Perkins (41) weds photographer Berinthia Berenson (25) in Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Famous Divorces
- 1922 Actress Gloria Swanson (23) divorces businessman Herbert K. Somborn after almost 3 years of marriage
- 1955 Actress Elizabeth Montgomery (22) divorces socialite Frederick Gallatin Cammann after more than a year of marriage
Trajan
Hermann Hesse
Cecil Frank Powell
Sharon Tate
Dmitri ShostakovichAugust in History
The Strange, Mysterious Story of the Balloon Expedition to the North Pole
The discovery of Swedish engineer S. A. Andrée's tragic, long-lost polar expedition in 1930 led to more questions than answers.
August 5, 1930
A Pill to Cure All Ills
Not well? Take a Beecham’s Pill was often the advice. So popular was it that nobody doubted it’s extravagant claim in the world’s first advertising slogan.
August 6, 1859
Why Mata Hari Was Not the Spy You Thought She Was
The controversial life and death of Mata Hari, the glamorous WWI double agent, executed in 1917, has recently been reassessed in the light of new evidence.
August 7, 1876
Ship Of Gold Sails Into Oblivion
A frigate with more than 150 souls on board, as well as nearly three tons of gold, sailed out of Melbourne on this day – never to be seen again.
August 12, 1853