Today In History - August 9

480BC Persia defeats Spartan king Leonidas at Thermopylae
378 Battle of Adrianople
1638 Jonas Bronck, Holland, becomes the first European settler in the Bronx
1673 The Dutch recapture New York from the English
1778 Captain Cook passes through the Bering Strait
1786 The first ascent of Mt. Blanc
1790 The Columbia becomes the first US flagged ship to voyage around the world
1803 The first horses arrive in Hawaii
1829 The "Stourbridge Lion" locomotive goes into service
1831 The first US steam engine train run: Albany to Schenectady, New York
1842 The US-Canada border is defined by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty
1848 Barnburners (anti-slavery) party merges with the Free Soil Party in nominating Martin Van Buren for president
1849 The Hungarian Republic is crushed by Austria and Russia
1854 Henry David Thoreau publishes "Walden"
1855 Battle of Acapulco
1893 The first US bowling magazine is published: New York
1902 Edward VII of England is crowned after the death of his mother Victoria
1923 The New York State Golf Association is formed
1930 Cartoon character "Betty Boop" debuts in Max Fleischer's animated cartoon "Dizzy Dishes." Boop would be the center of controversy for years to come – including actions taken by the US Congress.
1936 Jesse Owens wins the 4th gold medal of the Berlin Olympics
1942 The British arrests Indian nationalist Mohandas K. Gandhi
1945 The US drops the second atomic bomb, "Fat Man," on Japan and destroys parts of Nagasaki
1956 The first state-wide, state-supported educational TV network airs in Alabama
1956 South African women demonstrate against Pass Laws
1960 Race riots break out in Jacksonville Florida
1961 James B. Parsons is the first black appointed to Federal District Court
1965 Singapore gains independence from Malaysia
1969 The Manson family commits the Tate-LaBianca murders
1970 A Peruvian Airlines jet carrying 45 US exchange students explodes killing all aboard
1971 Le Roy (Satchel) Paige is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
1972 Rockwell receives the NASA contract to construct the Space Shuttle
1974 Richard Nixon resigns the presidency, and VP Gerald Ford becomes the 38th president
1975 The first NFL game in the Louisiana Superdome: Houston beats the Saints 13-7
1977 The NHL refuses merger of 6 WHA clubs
1988 Edmonton Oilers trade Wayne Gretzky to the LA Kings for $15-$20 million
1990 12 Arab leaders agree to send pan-Arab forces to help protect Saudi Arabia
1992 The 25th Olympic Summer games close in Barcelona, Spain

1593 Izaak Walton
1686 Benedetto Marcello
1776 Amedeo Avogadro
1825 Elisha Ferry
1883 George Hoyt
1896 Leonide Massine
1897 Ralph Wyckoff
1901 Charles Farrell
1902 Zino Francescatti
1905 Leo Genn
1909 John Baur
1911 Robert McCormick
1911 William A. Fowler
1913 Harry Mills
1913 Herman Talmadge
1919 Ralph Houk
1921 J. James Exon
1922 Philip Larkin
1927 Marvin Minsky
1927 Robert Shaw
1928 Bob Cousy
1930 Betty Boop (animated character)
1938 Dick Anthony Williams
1938 Rod Laver
1939 Claude Osteen
1940 Beverlee McKinsey
1942 David Steinberg
1944 Sam Elliot
1945 Ken Norton
1955 Doug Williams
1957 Melanie Griffith
1958 Amanda Bearse
1958 Greg Chaisson
1959 Kurtis Blow
1963 Lonnie Quinn
1963 Whitney Houston
1965 Kyle Kyle
1966 Pat Petersen
1971 Mary Joe Fernandez
1972 Elizabeth Vassey