TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS FRIDAY, AUG. 9, the 221st day of 2019. There are 144 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1945, three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, a U.S. B-29 Superfortress code-named Bockscar dropped a nuclear device (“Fat Man”) over Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people.
In 1902, Edward VII was crowned king of Britain following the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.
In 1910, the U.S. Patent Office granted Alva J. Fisher of the Hurley Machine Co. a patent for an electrically powered washing machine.
In 1936, Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the Berlin Olympics as the United States took first place in the 400-meter relay.
In 1944, 258 African American sailors based at Port Chicago, California, refused to load a munitions ship following a cargo vessel explosion that killed 320 men, many of them black. Fifty of the sailors were convicted of mutiny, fined and imprisoned.
In 1969, actress Sharon Tate and four other people were found brutally slain at Tate’s Los Angeles home; cult leader Charles Manson and a group of his followers were later convicted of the crime.
In 1985, a federal judge in Norfolk, Virginia, found retired Navy officer Arthur J. Walker guilty of seven counts of spying for the Soviet Union. Walker, who was sentenced to life, died in prison in 2014 at the age of 79.
In 2004, Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols, addressing a court for the first time, asked victims of the blast for forgiveness as a judge sentenced him to 161 consecutive life sentences.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Basketball Hall-of-Famer Bob Cousy is 91. Actress Cynthia Harris is 85. Tennis Hall-ofFamer Rod Laver is 81. Jazz musician Jack DeJohnette and comedian-director David Steinberg are 77. Actor Sam Elliott is 75. Singer Barbara Mason is 72. College Football Hall-of-Famer and former NFL player John Cappelletti is 67. College Football Hall-of-Famer and former NFL player Doug Williams is 64. Actress Melanie Griffith is 62. Actress Amanda Bearse is 61. Hockey Hall-ofFamer Brett Hull and TV host Hoda Kotb are 55. Actor Pat Petersen is 53. Pro and College Football Hall-of-Famer Deion Sanders is 52. Actress Gillian Anderson, actor Eric Bana and producer-director McG (aka Joseph McGinty Nichol) are 51. NHL player-turned-coach Rod Brind’Amour, TV anchor Chris Cuomo, actor Thomas Lennon and rock musician Arion Salazar are 49. Actress Nikki Schieler Ziering are 48. Latin rock singer Juanes and actress Liz Vassey are 47. Actor Kevin McKidd is 46. Actress Rhona Mitra is 44. Actor Texas Battle and actress Jessica Capshaw are 43. Actress Ashley Johnson is 36. Actress Anna Kendrick is 34.