1173: Leaning Tower of Pisa
In Pisa, Italy, construction began on a bell tower that became internationally famous as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
1721: Prisoners at Newgate Jail, London were used as ‘guinea pigs’ to test vaccines used against disease.
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1854: Henry David Thoreau Publishes Walden
An American transcendentalist, Thoreau wrote the book in just over two years while residing near Walden Pond, a lake in Concord Massachusetts. The book, which is also known as Walden; or, Life in the Woods is about his time living near the lake and is a reflection on living a life of simplicity and austerity.
1870: The Elementary Education Act was passed. It gave compulsory, free education to every child in England and Wales between the ages of five and 13.
1930: 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 the most recognizable cartoon characters in the world.
1942 Quit India Movement Begins in India
The civil disobedience movement against the British colonists was spearheaded by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhi had called for peaceful protests in a speech a day earlier at the Gowalia Tank Maidan, Mumbai. In the speech, he made a call of “do or die” and asked his followers to adopt nonviolence when interacting with the British. The movement began with the British imprisoning the Congress Party leadership, including Gandhi. The British ruled India from 1858 when the British Crown took over control of the country from the British East India Company. India gained its independence on August 15, 1947.
1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. On August 9, 1945, a second atomic bomb is dropped on Japan by the United States, at Nagasaki, resulting finally in Japan’s unconditional surrender. The devastation wrought at Hiroshima was not sufficient to convince the Japanese War Council to accept the Potsdam Conference’s demand for unconditional surrender. The United States had already planned to drop their second atom bomb, nicknamed “Fat Man,” on August 11 in the event of such recalcitrance, but bad weather expected for that day pushed the date up to August 9th.
A few days later on August 15, Japan surrendered to the Allies, effectively bringing the War to a close by September 1945.
1965: Singapore Leaves Malaysia
The Southeast Asian Island country had joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963 as part of the Malaysia Agreement. In 1965, due to disagreements between leaders of the other members of the federation and Singaporean leaders and race tensions, the Malaysian parliament decided to expel Singapore from the Federation. The country reluctantly became independent on August 9 under the leadership of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
1967: Biafran offensive against Nigerian army
The Midwest Invasion of 1967 codenamed Operation Torch, was a military operation between Nigerian and Biafran military forces during the Nigerian Civil War. The invasion began on August 9 when 3,000 Biafran soldiers led by General Victor Banjo crossed the River Niger Bridge into Asaba.
1974: Gerald Ford becomes president after Richard Nixon resigns
Richard M. Nixon officially ends his term as the 37th president of the United States at noon on August 9, 1974. Minutes later, Vice President Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as the 38th president of the United States in the East Room of the White House. After taking the oath of office, President Ford spoke to the nation in a television address, declaring, “My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.”
1979: Brighton established the first nudist beach in Britain, despite protests from those fearing depravity.
BIRTHS ON THIS DAY: August 9
Jean Piaget (9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980)
Jean William Fritz Piaget was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are called genetic epistemology. Piaget placed great importance on the education of children. He died at 84.
Whitney Houston (9 August 1963 – 11 February 2012)
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer, actress, film producer, and philanthropist. Known as “the Voice”, she is one of the most awarded entertainers and one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of over 220 million records worldwide. She died at 48. A coroner’s report released in March 2012 stated that the cause of death was accidental drowning, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors.
