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On This Day: U.S. drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki

On August 9, 1945, a U.S. B-29 bomber dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, three days after doing the same to Hiroshima.

By UPI Staff
On August 9, 1945, two planes of the 509th Composite Group, part of the 313th Wing of the 20th Air Force participated in a mission to drop an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. A few days later, Japan surrendered and World War II was over. UPI File Photo
1 of 4 | On August 9, 1945, two planes of the 509th Composite Group, part of the 313th Wing of the 20th Air Force participated in a mission to drop an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. A few days later, Japan surrendered and World War II was over. UPI File Photo | License Photo

Aug. 9 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1483, the Sistine Chapel opens in the Vatican.

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In 1854, Walden was published by Henry David Thoreau.

In 1936, American track star Jesse Owens won his fourth Olympic gold medal in Berlin.

In 1945, a U.S. B-29 bomber dropped an atomic bomb nicknamed "Fat Man" on the Japanese city of Nagasaki three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Three weeks later, Japan formally surrendered, ending World War II.

In 1969, actress Sharon Tate and four other people were slain in Los Angeles by followers of Charles Manson in the first of two nights of murders.

In 1974, U.S. President Richard Nixon's resignation became effective at noon and Vice President Gerald Ford was sworn in as the nation's 38th chief executive.

In 1991, Vietnamese Prime Minister Do Muoi resigned. He was succeeded by Vo Van Kiet, who vowed to transform Vietnam into a market economy.

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In 1993, King Albert II of Belgium was crowned 10 days after King Baudouin I, his older brother, died of heart failure. King Albert II abdicated in 2013 for health reasons.

In 1995, rock legend and lead guitarist of the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, died at age 53. He had been undergoing treatment at a drug rehabilitation center at the time.

In 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush announced he would allow federal funding for limited stem cell research using human embryos.

In 2004, Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City federal building bombing that killed 168 people.

In 2009, Typhoon Morakot slammed into Taiwan, with more than 80 inches of rain triggering floods and massive mudslides. The death toll was at least 500 and thousands of homes were destroyed.

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In 2010, former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, a six-term Republican from Alaska, was killed with four others in the crash of a small plane in a remote area of his home state.

File Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI

In 2011, the Obama administration announced the first fuel efficiency standards for heavy trucks, projected to save U.S. businesses that operate and own the commercial vehicles about $50 billion in fuel costs over the life of the program.

In 2013, Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, 22, a Bangladeshi man who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges for trying to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank in New York City, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. "I'm ashamed," he said. "I'm lost. I tried to do a terrible thing. I alone am responsible for what I've done. Please forgive me."

In 2014, a white police officer shot and killed a black youth, Michael Brown, 18, in Ferguson, Mo., touching off weeks of protests.

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A memorial was established in the middle of the street in Ferguson, Mo., for Michael Brown, who was shot there by a Ferguson police officer on August 9, 2014. File Photo by David Broome/UPI

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