TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, AUG. 8, the 220th day of 2019. There are 145 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1974, President Richard Nixon, facing damaging new revelations in the Watergate scandal, announced he would resign the following day.
In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte set sail for St. Helena to spend the remainder of his days in exile.
In 1876, Thomas A. Edison received a patent for his mimeograph.
In 1942, during World War II, six Nazi saboteurs who were captured after landing in the U.S. were executed in Washington, D.C.; two others who cooperated with authorities were spared.
In 1945, President Harry S. Truman signed the U.S. instrument of ratification for the United Nations Charter. The Soviet Union declared war against Japan during World War II.
In 1968, the Republican national convention in Miami Beach nominated Richard Nixon for president on the first ballot.
In 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew branded as “damned lies” reports he had taken kickbacks from government contracts in Maryland, and vowed not to resign — which he ended up doing.
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 2000, the wreckage of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, which sank in 1864 after attacking the Union ship Housatonic, was recovered off the South Carolina coast and returned to port.
In 2002, Saddam Hussein organized a big military parade and then warned “the forces of evil” not to attack Iraq as he sought once more to shift the debate away from world demands that he live up to agreements that ended the Gulf War.
In 2003, the Boston Roman Catholic archdiocese offered $55 million to settle more than 500 lawsuits stemming from alleged sex abuse by priests. (The archdiocese later settled for $85 million.)
In 2006, Roger Goodell was chosen as the NFL’s next commissioner.
In 2008, China opened the Summer Olympic Games with an extravaganza of fireworks and pageantry.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actress Nita Talbot is 89. Actor Dustin Hoffman is 82. Actress Connie Stevens is 81. Country singer Phil Balsley (The Statler Brothers) is 80. Actor Larry Wilcox is 72. Actor Keith Carradine is 70. Movie director Martin Brest is 68. Radio-TV personality Robin Quivers is 67. Percussionist Anton Fig and actor Donny Most are 66. Rock musician Dennis Drew (10,000 Maniacs) is 62. TV personality Deborah Norville and actor-singer Harry Crosby is 61. Rock musicians The Edge (U2) and Rikki Rockett (Poison) are 58. Rapper Kool Moe Dee and rock musician Ralph Rieckermann are 57. Middle distance runner Suzy Favor Hamilton is 51. Rock singer Scott Stapp and country singer Mark Wills are 46. Actor Kohl Sudduth is 45. Rock musician Tom Linton (Jimmy Eat World) is 44. Singer JC Chasez (‘N Sync), actress Tawny Cypress and rhythm-and-blues singer Drew Lachey (98 Degrees) are 43. Rhythm-and-blues singer Marsha Ambrosius and actress Lindsay Sloane are 42. Actress Countess Vaughn is 41. Actor Michael Urie is 39. Tennis player Roger Federer, actress Meagan Good and rock musician Eric Howk (Portugal. The Man) are 38. Actress Jackie Cruz (TV: “Orange is the New Black”) is 35. Britain’s Princess Beatrice of York is 31. Actor Ken Baumann and Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo are 30. Pop singer Shawn Mendes is 21. Actress Bebe Wood (TV: “The Real O’Neals”) is 18.