August 9th

Caesar's civil war: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt.

Battle of Adrianople: Goth army defeats Roman forces under Emperor Valens.

Former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, 86, the longest serving Republican in the U.S. Senate, was killed in a plane crash in southwestern Alaska.

Terry Nichols was sentenced to 161 consecutive life sentences on state murder charges in the Oklahoma City bombing.

Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his 600th home run, becoming the fourth major leaguer to reach the mark.

President George W. Bush approved federal funding for existing lines of embryonic stem cells.

Jerry Garcia, lead singer and guitarist of the Grateful Dead, died.

A federal judge in Norfolk, Va., found retired Navy officer Arthur J. Walker guilty of seven counts of spying for the Soviet Union.

Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States following the resignation of Richard M. Nixon.

Actress Sharon Tate and four other people were found murdered in Los Angeles; cult leader Charles Manson and a group of his followers were later convicted of the crime.

Singapore separates from the Federation of Malaysia and gains its independence.

The United States exploded a nuclear bomb over Nagasaki, Japan, killing an estimated 74,000 people.

Mahatma Gandhi & 50 others arrested in Bombay after passing of a 'quit India' campaign by the All-India Congress.

Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the Berlin Olympics as the United States took first place in the 400-meter relay.

Betty Boop Makes Her Debut. The animated cartoon character made her first appearance in the cartoon, Dizzy Dishes. Thought to be modeled after singer Helen Kane, Betty was shown as a woman with an exaggerated body and a child-like face. Created by animator Max Fleischer, she is one of most recognizable cartoon characters in the world.

Britain's Edward VII was crowned king following the death of his mother, Queen Victoria.

Rudolf Diesel of Germany patents the diesel internal combustion engine.

Henry David Thoreau's Walden, recounting his experiment in solitary life on the shores of Massachusetts' Walden Pond, was published.

Robert Gray's Columbia Rediviva returns to Boston after 3 year journey, 1st American ship to circumnavigate the Globe.