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9th August 2008
On This Day: August 9
Today is Saturday, August 9, 2008. This is the 222nd day of the year, with 144 days remaining in 2008.
Fact of the Day: Alaska
"Alaska is the largest of the United States, but among the least populated. The 49th state to join the Union (January 3, 1959), Alaska contains Point Barrow, the northernmost point of the U.S. and Mount McKinley, the highest mountain in North America. About one-third of the state lies within the Arctic Circle and its westernmost point is only 50 miles (80 km) from Russia. Most of the inhabitants live in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and the capital, Juneau. Alaska is known for its oil industry, discovered in 1969, and for gold, natural gas, minerals, fishing, and lumber. There are many active volcanoes and the state has had several bad earthquakes. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867 for about $7 million or two cents an acre. Its name comes from the Aleut word ""alakshak"", meaning peninsula."
Holidays:
Feast day of St. Oswald of Northumbria, Saints Nathy and Felim, St. Romanus, and St. Emygius.
Singapore: Independence Day.
South Africa: National Women's Day.
Events:
378 - A large Roman army under Valens, Roman emperor of the East, was defeated by the Visigoths at the Battle of Adrianople in present-day Turkey.
1678 - American Indians sold the Bronx to Jonas Bronck for 400 beads.
1790 - The Columbia returned to Boston Harbor after a three-year voyage. It was the first ship to carry the American flag around the world.
1831 - The first steam locomotive began its first trip between Schenectady and Albany, NY.
1842 - The U.S. and Canada signed the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, which solved a border dispute.
1848 - Martin Van Buren was nominated for president by the Free-Soil Party in Buffalo, NY.
1854 - "Walden" was published by Henry David Thoreau.
1859 - The escalator was patented by Nathan Ames.
1893 - "Gut Holz" was published. It was America's first bowling magazine.
1902 - After the death of Queen Victoria, Edward VII was crowned king of England.
1910 - A.J. Fisher received a patent for the electric washing machine.
1930 - Betty Boop had her beginning in "Dizzy Dishes" created by Max Fleischer.
1936 - Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the Berlin Olympics. He was the first American to win four medals in one Olympics.
1942 - Mohandas K. Gandhi was arrested Britain. He was not released until 1944.
1942 - CBS radio debuted "Our Secret Weapon."
1944 - The Forest Service and Wartime Advertising Council created "Smokey the Bear."
1945 - The U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. The bombing came three days after the bombing of Hiroshima. About 74,000 people were killed. Japan surrendered August 14.
1945 - The first network television broadcast occurred in Washington, DC. The program announced the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan.
1956 - The first statewide, state-supported educational television network went on the air in Alabama.
1958 - Jordan uncovered a large pro-Nasser spy ring.
1965 - Singapore proclaimed its independence from the Malaysian Federation.
1969 - Sharon Tate and four other people were found murdered at Tate's residence in Los Angeles, CA. Charles Manson and several members of his cult were later convicted of the crime.
1973 - The U.S. Senate committee investigating the Watergate affair filed suit against President Richard Nixon.
1974 - U.S. President Richard Nixon formally resigned. Gerald R. Ford took his place, and became the 38th president of the U.S.
1984 - Daley Thompson, of Britain, won is second successive Olympic decathlon.
1985 - Arthur J. Walker, a retired Navy officer, was found guilty of seven counts of spying for the Soviet Union.
1988 - Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers was traded. The trade was at Gretzky's request. He was sent to the Los Angeles Kings.
1989 - 112 people were killed when a train fell into the San Rafael River in Mexico. The incident was caused by a bridge that collapsed.
1990 - The U.N. declared the Iraqi annexation of Kuwait void.
1996 - Boris Yeltsin was sworn in as president of Russia for the second time.
1999 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin fired Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin and his entire cabinet for the fourth time in 17 months.
2000 - Former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin was arrested on a Class B misdemeanor of possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana.
2001 - U.S. President Bush announced he would support federal funding for limited medical research on embryonic stem cells.
2001 - In Jerusalem, a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated an explosive inside a pizzeria. The lunchtime bombing killed 15 and wounded about 90 others.
2003 - The Israeli army killed two of Hamas' bombmakers in a raid. Hamas claimed responsibility for a bomb at an Israeli bus stop on August 12 in response.
2004 - Donald Duck received the 2,257th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2004 - Trump Hotel and Casion Resorts announced plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Lebanon's related events:
2006 - Israel's Security Cabinet approved a wider ground offensive in south Lebanon that was expected to take 30 days as part of a new push to badly damage Hezbollah. Al-Jazeera reported that 11 Israeli soldiers were killed in heavy fighting with Hezbollah guerrillas near the border in south Lebanon. Israeli's military struck Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, killing at least one person and wounding three others.
Births:
1631 - John Dryden, first official Poet Laureate of Great Britain.
1633 - Izaak Walton, English biographer and author.
1896 - Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist.
Deaths:
1962 - Hermann Hesse, Nobel Prize-winning German author.
1995 - Jerry Garcia - guitarist and lead singer of the psychedelic rock band The Grateful Dead. |