TODAY IN HISTORY

In 1861, Confederate forces routed Union troops in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek in Missouri, the first major engagement of the Civil War west of the Mississippi River.

In 1944, during World War II, American forces overcame remaining Japanese resistance on Guam.

On August 10, 1945, a day after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Imperial Japan conveyed its willingness to surrender provided the status of Emperor Hirohito remained unchanged. (The Allies responded the next day, saying they would determine the Emperor’s future status.)

In 1969, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were murdered in their Los Angeles home by members of Charles Manson’s cult, one day after actress Sharon Tate and four other people were slain.

In 1975, television personality David Frost announced he had purchased the exclusive rights to interview former President Richard Nixon.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed a measure providing $20,000 payments to Japanese-Americans who were interned in World War II.

In 1991, nine Buddhists were found slain at their temple outside Phoenix, Arizona. (Two teen-agers were later arrested; one was sentenced to life in prison, while the other received 281 years.)

In 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was sworn in as the second female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1995, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were charged with 11 counts in the Oklahoma City bombing (McVeigh was convicted of murder and executed; Nichols was convicted of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to life in prison).

In 2004, a boat carrying Dominican migrants seeking a better life in Puerto Rico drifted back to almost the same spot where the voyage began nearly two weeks earlier; at least 55 of the 86 people on board had died.

In 2006, British authorities announced they had thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously blow up 10 aircraft heading to the U.S. using explosives smuggled in hand luggage.

In 2008, at the Beijing Olympics, Michael Phelps began his long march toward eight gold medals by winning the 400-meter individual medley in 4:03.84 — smashing his own world record. Also: Soul crooner Isaac Hayes, 65, died in Memphis, Tennessee.