Today is Thursday, August 8, the 221st day of the 12 months 2024. There are 145 days left within the 12 months.
Today in history:
On August 8, 2023, a series of wind-driven wildfires broke out on the Hawaiian island of Maui, destroying the town of Lahaina and killing over 100 people.
Also on this date:
In 1814, in the course of the War of 1812, peace talks between the United States and Great Britain began in Ghent, Belgium.
In 1876, Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric pen, the forerunner of the duplicating machine.
In 1908, Wilbur Wright conducted the Wright brothers' first public flight demonstration on the Le Mans race track in France.
In 1911, President William Howard Taft signed a law increasing the variety of members of the House of Representatives from 391 to 433. This law took effect from the subsequent Congress, with the supply that two more members can be added if New Mexico and Arizona were declared states.
In 1963, Britain’s “Great Train Robbery” occurred, wherein thieves stole banknotes price £2.6 million.
In 1969, photographer Iain Macmillan took the enduring photo of the Beatles that might appear on the duvet of their album “Abbey Road.”
In light of latest, incriminating revelations within the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon announced his resignation the next day in 1974.
In 1988, the first-ever night baseball game took place at Wrigley Field in Chicago; the sport between the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies was called off within the fourth inning because of rain.
In 2000, the wreck of the Confederate submarine HL Hunley, which sank in 1864 after an attack on the Union ship Housatonic, was salvaged off the coast of South Carolina and returned to port.
In 2009, Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as the primary Hispanic and third female justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 2022, FBI agents executed a search warrant on former President Donald Trump's Mar al Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida; over 13,000 government documents, including 103 classified documents, were seized.
Today's birthdays:
- Actress Nita Talbot is 94.
- Actor Dustin Hoffman is 87.
- Actress Connie Stevens is 86.
- Country singer Phil Balsley (The Statler Brothers) is 86.
- Actor Larry Wilcox is 77.
- Actor Keith Carradine is 75.
- Film director Martin Brest is 73.
- Radio and tv star Robin Quivers is 72.
- US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is 71.
- Drummer Anton Fig is 71.
- Actor Donny Most is 71.
- Rock musician Dennis Drew (10,000 Maniacs) is 67.
- Television personality Deborah Norville is 66.
- The rock musician The Edge (U2) is 63.
- Rock musician Rikki Rockett (Poison) is 63.
- Rapper Kool Moe Dee is 62.
- Middle-distance runner Suzy Favor Hamilton is 56.
- Rock singer Scott Stapp is 51.
- Country singer Mark Wills is 51.
- Actor Kohl Sudduth is 50.
- Rock musician Tom Linton (Jimmy Eat World) is 49.
- Singer JC Chasez ('N Sync) is 48.
- Actress Tawny Cypress is 48.
- R&B singer Drew Lachey (lah-SHAY') (98 Degrees) is 48.
- R&B singer Marsha Ambrosius is 47.
- Actor Lindsay Sloane is 47.
- Actress Countess Vaughn is 46.
- Actor Michael Urie is 44.
- Tennis player Roger Federer is 43.
- Actress Meagan Good is 43.
- Actor Jackie Cruz (TV: “Orange is the New Black”) is 40.
- The British Princess Beatrice of York is 36.
- Actor Ken Baumann is 35.
- New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo is 35.
- Pop singer Shawn Mendes is 26.
Originally published:
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