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UPI Almanac for Monday, Aug. 8, 2016

On Aug. 8, 1974, facing expected impeachment over the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to resign. He left office the next day.

By United Press International
President Nixon resigns from the Office of the President, on August 8, 1974, following his role in the Watergate scandal. File Photo by CBS/UPI
President Nixon resigns from the Office of the President, on August 8, 1974, following his role in the Watergate scandal. File Photo by CBS/UPI | License Photo

Today is Monday, Aug. 8, the 221st day of 2016 with 145 to follow.

The moon is waxing. Morning stars are Neptune and Uranus. Evening stars are Venus, Mercury, Mars, Saturn and Neptune.

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Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include the United States' first professional architect, Charles Bulfinch, in 1763; American black explorer Matthew Henson in 1866; Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata in 1879; poet Sara Teasdale in 1884; author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings ("The Yearling") in 1896; film music composer/conductor Victor Young in 1900; musician Benny Carter in 1907; Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg in 1908; actor Sylvia Sidney in 1910; movie producer Dino De Laurentiis in 1919; aquatic actor Esther Williams in 1921; actor Rory Calhoun in 1922; singer Mel Tillis in 1932 (age 84); singer Joe Tex in 1933; actor Dustin Hoffman in 1937 (age 79); singer Connie Stevens in 1938 (age 78); actor Keith Carradine in 1949 (age 67); writer/journalist Randy Shilts in 1951; former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi (age 65) in 1951; TV personality Deborah Norville in 1958 (age 58); musician The Edge (born David Evans) in 1961 (age 55); tennis star Roger Federer in 1981 (age 35); actor Katie Leung in 1987 (age 29); Beatrice, princess of York, in 1988 (age 28).

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On this date in history:

In 1911, newsreels became a standard part of U.S. movie screenings when the French film company Pathe began releasing weekly black-and-white features to theaters.

In 1940, the German Luftwaffe began a series of daylight air raids on Britain.

In 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, two days after an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and several days before Tokyo surrendered.

In 1968, Richard Nixon won the Republican nomination for president. He was elected in November, defeating Democrat Hubert Humphrey and independent George Wallace.

In 1974, facing expected impeachment over the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to resign. He left office the next day. Listen to UPI Radio's original report.

In 1988, the first night game at Chicago's Wrigley Field was played. The park was the last major league stadium to add lights for night baseball.

In 1990, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein annexed Kuwait.

In 2003, U.S. leaders of the Episcopal Church approved a landmark local-option resolution on the issue of same-sex marriages, leaving it to local dioceses whether to bless unions of gay and lesbian couples. Church leaders earlier in the week approved their first openly gay bishop.

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In 2007, U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct on a charge of making sexual advances to an undercover police officer at a Minneapolis airport restroom.

In 2008, former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., who ran for president in 2004 and dropped out of the 2008 race in January, admitted he had an affair in 2006 with a campaign worker.

In 2009, a sightseeing helicopter with six people aboard collided with a small plane carrying three people over the Hudson River in New York. There were no survivors.

In 2010, U.N. officials estimated 1,600 people had been killed in monsoon-triggered flooding in Pakistan, and authorities said China's deadliest mudslides had claimed more than 1,100 lives. Hundreds of people were missing in the two disasters.

In 2012, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, expressing his support for tougher anti-gun laws, said it's "hard for anyone to refute" the damage being done by firearms.

In 2014, U.S. officials said airstrikes killed dozens of Islamic State militants in Iraq, hitting targets that included artillery units and a convoy.

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A thought for the day: Actress Julia Roberts said, "You can be true to the character all you want but you've got to go home with yourself."

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