On This Day in History - August 8th - Almanac

Today is Thursday, Aug. 8, the 221st day of 2024 with 145 to follow.

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

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include the United States' first professional architect, Charles Bulfinch, in 1763; Black explorer Matthew Henson in 1866; Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata in 1879; Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg in 1908; movie producer Dino De Laurentiis in 1919; actor Esther Williams in 1921; actor Dustin Hoffman in 1937 (age 87); musician/actor Connie Stevens in 1938 (age 86); musician Phil Balsley (Statler Brothers) in 1939 (age 85); actor Larry Wilcox in 1947 (age 77); Russian cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya, first woman to walk in space, in 1948 (age 76); actor Keith Carradine in 1949 (age 75); musician Dennis Drew (10,000 Maniacs) in 1957 (age 67); TV personality Deborah Norville in 1958 (age 66); musician The Edge, born David Evans, (U2) in 1961 (age 63); musician Rikki Rockett, born Richard Ream, (Poison) in 1961 (age 63); musician Scott Stapp (Creed) in 1973 (age 51); musician Tom Linton (Jimmy Eat World) in 1975 (age 49); actor Tawny Cypress in 1976 (age 48); musician Drew Lachey (98 Degrees) in 1976 (age 48); musician JC Chasez (NSYNC) in 1976 (age 48); actor Lindsay Sloane in 1977 (age 47); actor Michael Urie in 1980 (age 44); actor Countess Vaughn in 1978 (age 46); tennis legend Roger Federer in 1981 (age 43); actor Meagan Good in 1981 (age 43); musician Eric Howk (Portugal. The Man) in 1981 (age 43); actor Peyton List in 1986 (age 38); actor Katie Leung in 1987 (age 37); Beatrice, princess of York, in 1988 (age 36); actor Casey Cott in 1992 (age 32); musician Lauv, born Ari Leff, in 1994 (age 30); musician Shawn Mendes in 1998 (age 26); actor Bebe Wood in 2001 (age 23); actor Kitana Turnbull in 2005 (age 18).

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 1956, a fire in a Belgian coal mine trapped and killed 262 workers in the worst mining disaster in the country's history.

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, military conservatives overthrew the government of Gen. Efrain Rios Montt in a coup, promising staunch anti-communism.

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.

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 2018, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced plans to add a Popular Film category for the Oscars. The academy scrapped the plans less than a month later after backlash.

In 2021, the U.S. women's basketball team won its record-extending seventh straight gold medal at the Olympics, giving veterans Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi their record fifth gold medal. The Tokyo Summer Games concluded that night with closing ceremonies.

In 2022, the FBI raided former President Donald Trump's Palm Beach, Fla., home and resort, Mar-a-Lago, looking for evidence of potential mishandling of classified documents.

In 2023, President Joe Biden signed a proclamation establishing a new monument in Arizona to protect nearly 1 million acres of public land that some Native American tribes consider sacred grounds. The new designation was named Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kkveni -- Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.

A thought for the day: "It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." - Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata