Today in history

On Aug. 8, 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena to spend the remainder of his days in exile.

In 1844 Brigham Young was named to lead the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the killing of Joseph Smith.

In 1876 Thomas Edison received a patent for his mimeograph.

In 1919 film producer Dino DeLaurentiis was born in Torre Annunziata, Italy.

In 1937 actor Dustin Hoffman was born in Los Angeles.

In 1942 six convicted Nazi saboteurs who had landed in the United States were executed in Washington, D.C.; two others received life imprisonment.

In 1945 President Harry Truman signed the U.N. Charter. Also in 1945 the Soviet Union declared war against Japan during World War II.

In 1953 the United States and South Korea initialed a mutual security pact.

In 1963 Britain’s “Great Train Robbery” took place as thieves made off with 2.6 million pounds in banknotes.

In 1968 Richard Nixon was nominated for president at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Fla.

In 1973 Vice President Spiro Agnew branded as “damned lies” reports he had taken kickbacks from government contracts in Maryland, and vowed not to resign — which

he eventually did.

In 1974 President Richard Nixon announced he would resign following new damaging revelations in the Watergate scandal.

In 1978 the United States launched Pioneer Venus II, which carried scientific probes to study the atmosphere of Venus.

In 1988 U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar announced a cease-fire between Iran and Iraq.

In 1990, as the Persian Gulf crisis deepened, American forces began taking up positions in Saudi Arabia; Iraq announced it had annexed Kuwait; President Bush warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that “a line has been drawn in the sand.”

In 1992 the U.S. basketball “Dream Team” clinched the gold at the Barcelona Summer Olympics, defeating Croatia 117-85.

In 1993, in Somalia, four U.S. soldiers were killed when a land mine was detonated underneath their vehicle, prompting President Bill Clinton to order Army Rangers to try to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.

In 1994 Israel and Jordan opened the first road link between the two once-warring countries.

In 1995 President Bill Clinton, during a visit to Baltimore, ordered all companies doing business with the federal government to report the pollution they cause.

In 2000 Chile’s Supreme

Court stripped Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s immunity, clearing the way for the former dictator to be tried on human rights charges. (However, an appeals court later ruled Pinochet unfit to stand trial because of his deteriorating health and mental condition.)

In 2001 former President Ronald Reagan’s daughter Maureen died in Granite Bay, Calif.; she was 60.

In 2002 bankrupt telecommunications firm WorldCom said it had uncovered another $3.3 billion in bogus accounting, adding to the $3.85 billion fraud it disclosed in June.

In 2003 the Boston Roman Catholic archdiocese offered $55 million to settle lawsuits stemming from sex abuse by priests. (The archdiocese later settled for $85 million.)

In 2004 Alan Keyes, the Republican two-time presidential hopeful from Maryland, threw his hat into Illinois’ Senate race. (He ended up losing to Democrat Barack Obama.) Also in

2004 actress Fay Wray, the damsel held atop the Empire State Building by the giant ape in the 1933 film classic “King Kong,” died in New York; she was 96.

In 2006 Sen. Joseph Lieberman lost the Connecticut Democratic primary to political newcomer Ned Lamont. (However, Lieberman ended up winning re-election to the Senate by running as an independent). Also in 2006 the Federal Reserve left a benchmark interest rate unchanged after 17 consecutive rate hikes over more than two years. Also in 2006 Roger Goodell was chosen as the NFL’s next commissioner.

In 2013 actress Karen Black, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the 1970 film “Five Easy Pieces,” died near Los Angeles; she was 74.

In 2014 U.S. warplanes and drones attacked Islamic State militants near Irbil, Iraq.