Today is Tuesday, August 9, the 221st day of 2011. There are 144 days left in the year.
480 B.C. ― Persia defeats Spartan king Leonidas at Thermopylae
378 ― Battle of Adrianople, Visigoth Calvary defeats Roman Army
1786 ― First ascent of Mt. Blanc
1854 ― Henry David Thoreau publishes ``Walden"
1936 ― Jesse Owens wins fourth gold medal of Berlin Olympics
1942 ― British arrests Indian nationalist Mohandas K. Gandhi
1945 ― U.S. drops second atomic bomb ``Fat Man" on Japan destroys part of Nagasaki
1969 ― Manson family commits Tate-LaBianca murders
1974 ― Richard Nixon resigns presidency, V.P. Gerald Ford becomes 38th president
1990 ― Twelve Arab leaders agree to send pan-Arab forces to protect Saudi Arabia